With the theme Your health and healing, three definitions of healing have stood out: to restore to health; the process of making or becoming sound or healthy again; and an intensely personal, subjective experience involving a reconciliation of the meaning you ascribe to a distressing event.Â
Cancer is a physical disease which you are healed from with various treatments but there is substantially more emotional, mental, and spiritual healing that comes along with it. Our wish is that in your healing journey all of those definitions are fulfilled.
Bonni Suckling shares how Making a memory box of her deceased son, Jed, has brought her the most healing while Sindi-marie de Beer gives insight to The physical and emotional challenges of cancer treatment.
Meagan Atcheson advocates Lifestyle choices to live by and Dr Andrew Robson makes all the dog lovers’ day by sharing how they have The scent of hope.
There is so much beauty and growth when you choose to actively heal past trauma.Â
May you be gentle with yourself and find joy in your path to health and healing.Â
Laurelle Williams
Editor – Word for Word Media
Holistic cancer care for multiple myeloma
Dr Jasmine Ramiah unpacks why psychosocial management, pharmacological treatment, coupled with patient advocacy and compliance ensures the best outcomes for multiple myeloma. Understanding multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM) is a blood cancer involving plasma cells, located in the bone marrow. The site is primarily the bone marrow where the abnormal plasma cells grow, displacing normal [...]
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Nuraan Harris – Gaining back life
Nuraan Harris shares how she gained her life back by using Lifegain® Advanced Nutritional Supplement after colon cancer surgery. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies Nuraan Harris (52) lives in Cape Town and has three daughters. Colon cancer diagnosis In 2018, Nuraan had her gallbladder [...]
Colon cancer: when is surgery needed and when is chemotherapy needed?
Dr Daniel Surridge, a colorectal surgeon, explains the cases in which surgery is needed and when chemotherapy is needed in colon cancer treatment. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies When treating colon cancer, there are two options available: chemotherapy and surgery. Radiotherapy can be used [...]
Lynch syndrome: a three-fold increase in cancer risk
Sebastian Barnard explains the hereditary cancer-predisposition syndrome Lynch syndrome and how it increases cancer risk. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies What is Lynch syndrome? Lynch syndrome is a hereditary cancer-predisposition syndrome that significantly increases the likelihood of developing several different cancers at an earlier [...]
The physical and emotional challenges of cancer treatment
Sindi-marie de Beer explores the physical and emotional challenges you may experience during cancer treatment. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies Cancer and its treatment often lead to several physical and emotional challenges, including fatigue, muscle loss, body changes, and reduced activity levels. Additionally, the [...]
Lifestyle choices to live by
Meagan Atcheson reiterates the influence that lifestyle choices have on overall health and well-being. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies Lifestyle choices play a critical role in cancer prevention and prognosis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately a third of cancer cases are [...]
How is your sleep hygiene?
Dr Kerry-Anne Louw advocates healthy sleep hygiene practices to contribute to good physical and mental health. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies Sleep is critical for physical and mental health; both quantity and quality of sleep is important. Sleep difficulties are common and can lead [...]
Endometriosis and the link to female cancers
Dr Sumayya Ebrahim sheds light on the link between endometriosis and female cancers. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies Endometriosis is a medical condition that occurs when endometrial cells exist outside the uterus – in or around the ovaries, fallopian tubes, in the pelvic cavity, [...]
Cervical cancer in Botswana
Dr Memory Bvochora-Nsingo, a clinical oncologist, gives a rundown of how Botswana is tackling cervical cancer. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies Cervical cancer has long been a silent killer in Botswana, often eluding detection until it’s in the advanced stages. However, recent innovations in [...]
The scent of hope
Dr Andrew Robson reviews how dogs are joining in the fight against cancer and are offering the scent of hope. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies In the fight against cancer, the most remarkable breakthroughs come from surprising places. One such innovation involves using dogs [...]
Making a memory box
Bonni Suckling shares how a memory box of her son, Jed, continues to bring her refuge fourteen years after his passing. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies Throughout my son Jed’s journey with brain cancer, I learned a lesson I’ll never forget: the power of [...]
Lynette Nepaul – I’m living proof of a miracle
Lynette Nepaul details how she chose to face four cancer diagnoses with grace and continues to push on to fulfil her calling of being a mother. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies Lynette Nepaul (46) lives in Gauteng with her husband, Vinesh and daughter, Aradhya [...]
Nasopharyngeal cancer
Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is a rare head and neck cancer that occurs in the nasopharnx (space behind the nasal passages, above the soft palate). This is the area where the adenoids (glands) are in childhood. NPC often starts in the space near to the Eustachian tube (passageway that connects the middle ear to the throat) [...]
Gut check
Lailaa Cajee, an oncology nutritionist, helps us understand how a gut check (nutrition) impacts colorectal cancer risk. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies Colorectal cancer (CRC) has quietly become a pressing health challenge in SA, affecting thousands of lives. But beneath the statistics lies a [...]
Challenges in SA’s private health sector
Jana Bartels looks at the current challenges the private health sector is facing in South Africa. You can listen to this article below, or by using your favourite podcast player at pod.link/oncologybuddies The current economic environment in SA with ever-rising inflation isn’t easing the burden on consumers and is adding additional pressure on most insured [...]
Throughout life, healing is an ever-constant, whether it be from physical disease, grief, or steering your way through life and all that it holds. Super Survivor, Jolene van Wyk, has wisdom that we all should take to heart no matter what healing we are processing.
The 2025 Big C Survivor’s Guide: How is it diagnosed? Â
This year we have focused on the diagnostic procedures of various cancers (solid tumours, blood cancers, and childhood cancers) to help you understand what tests will be done, why they are done, and which doctors are likely to do them, as well as the referral pathway. Our hope is that this will outline what you can expect.
Check out the Big C Survivor Guides
We still have The Big C Online Directory to help you find any A-Z listing of all things cancer related.