‘How to be a Cancer Maverick’ by Nina Joy – a Review

This post is a review of Nina Joy's new book 'How to be a Cancer Maverick', a follow up to the highly successful ‘The Adventures of a Cancer Maverick’. Nina has spent the last two years defying predictions on her cancer prognosis by taking control of the management of her health. Since the publication of her first book Nina has taken daily calls on ‘how she is managing to live so successfully with cancer’, in this book she sets out to offer some answers. To purchase a copy please click here

Sometimes you pick up a book, and you know within a few pages that the person who sat down to write it is a truly remarkable individual. This is one of those books, and Nina Joy is one of those people. In August 2012 Nina was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, she was labelled ‘incurable’ and offered systematic chemotherapy as her last and only option.

‘In the blink of an eye, your life changes beyond comprehension. Everything you have held dear, and have taken for granted, is blown into smithereens. The future you thought you had – gone. The events and experiences you thought were yet to come – gone. Have you had you last birthday, your last Christmas? And bizarrely, I wondered if I would get to see the next series of Downton Abbey.’

The prognosis didn't sit well with Nina, who instinctively felt that she did have other options and it was just a case of finding them. Now almost three years later, Nina is enjoying good health and living life to the full. Having already shared her personal story in ‘The Adventures of a Cancer Maverick’ this follow up book is her guide to dealing with a cancer diagnosis and coming through it stronger than ever:

‘It has been said that what has happened to me is nothing short of a miracle. It feels like it to me! But the good news is that this miracle didn't just land on me from heaven. It’s one which I have had to figure out and work for, which makes it all the sweeter. More importantly it means that I can share the steps that I have taken, so that you may be able to create your own miracle too.’

As Nina would say, ‘hang on to your hats, let’s go Maverick!’

10 Great Things about Yes to Life's First 10 Years

In case you didn't already know, this month Yes to Life is celebrating its 10th birthday. In today's post our founder and chairman Robin Daly shares his top 10 great things about Yes to Life's first 10 years. Find out more about how you can get involved here.

1. Well number one has to be people: I have met so many extraordinary and lovely people on this journey. Before we even started to run any services, warm, resourceful, passionate and caring people started to get on board to help make Yes to Life into a reality. And that has only accelerated over the years, as more and more fantastic people are working in the charity and volunteering their skills, time and passion in an enormous variety of ways.

2. And number two - people: Once we had the bare bones of a service in place, we started interacting with, and supporting the most courageous, determined, creative people who came to us for help. It is an absolute privilege to be able to share a little part of their extraordinary lives - the immense challenges, the joys, the tears, the losses and the triumphs.

Robin hits the Airwaves - Watch out UK Health Radio!

Today's post is about a really exciting new development - Robin is hosting our very own show on UK Health Radio. The brand new 'Yes to Life Show' will be launching tomorrow at 9am (repeated at 9pm) with an interview with health journalist Jerome Burne, so don't miss it! 

As any of our followers will know, a few months ago we let our Founder and Chairman Robin Daly loose on the blog. His page 'Words from our Founder' has proved to be a big hit with Robin taking on many contentious topics and giving a wealth of insight and evidence as to why we need to rethink the way we approach cancer in the UK.

But Robin, never one to rest on his laurels, decided this platform was not enough. Now he has convinced the good people of UK Health Radio to give him his very own show! The 'Yes to Life Show' will be your weekly dose of everything that is moving forward in the world of cancer. Robin will be interviewing a diverse mix of scientists, oncologists, practitioners and extraordinary survivors who have exceeded all expectations by thinking outside of 'the box'.

Robin is planning on interrogating this 'box' and we are looking forward to hearing about all he may discover.

Top 10 Tips for a Personal Spring Clean

In today's post, the Igennus team give us their top ten tips for giving your body a Spring cleanse.

Now that spring has well and truly sprung, many of us are starting to get that nagging sensation that it’s time to get down to some serious spring cleaning, and this doesn't just apply to our homes!

With the improving weather and longer daylight hours, the desire to be outside and generally be more sociable and active is growing. Unfortunately, many ailments and illnesses and comfort-food eating, all too common during the cold dark winter months, can heavily impact our energy levels and can make the thought of venturing too far from home or engaging in active outdoor fun quite daunting.

The organ responsible for processing and purifying/removing toxins in the body is the liver, so any strategy to clean from the inside out should focus on foods that support liver function and the detoxification processes that occur in the liver.

Embracing Better Health through 'Coffee with a Purpose'

Today's post is from founder of Loveursoul and creator of 'Coffee with a Purpose', Lucy Batham-Read. 'Coffee with a Purpose' is a support group scheme designed to bring together practitioners and those interested in taking control of their health holistically to share knowledge, experiences and of course coffee! Lucy is working in partnership with us to win funding to start a 'Yes to Life Coffee with a Purpose' scheme specifically run by, and for, people who have or have had cancer. To find out more and vote for us to win please click here it is free and takes a few minutes, thank you!

‘Coffee with a Purpose’ is all about bringing people together to find ways to boost well-being and define boundaries to remain healthy in mind, body and soul. These groups are supportive spaces where people can begin to work out what is right for their own health and start to make choices that will help them to live the life they want.

Living in the 21st century is tough at the best of times but living life to the full can be made much easier if you listen to your body, live from the heart, trust your instinct, and forgive yourself for being human. Sometimes it takes trauma for us to wake up and ‘smell the coffee ‘and whilst this may be an incredibly tough way to do it, for some it is the beginning of their freedom.

My own life has, in parts, been incredibly tough both physically and emotionally and I have learnt some hard lessons. Now it is time to put those lessons to good use.

'Tripping Over the Truth' - a discussion on the origins of cancer

Today's post, from our chairman Robin Daly, is a review of the recently published 'Tripping Over the Truth: the Metabolic Theory of Cancer' by Travis Christofferson.

In 2012 Thomas Seyfried’s game-changing book ‘Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer’ hit the bookstore shelves with a thud. At £90 or so, this heavy duty science book was clearly not aimed at the ‘man in the street’, however strong his interest in cancer.

Seyfried wanted to make the scientific community aware that a fundamental feature of cancer, known about for almost a century, has been systematically ignored to the detriment of the growing number of people with cancer. He wanted to put forward the radical suggestion that simply targeting an ever increasing number of cancer causing genes was not going provide the long sought for solutions. He went on to put forward a plausible and novel strategy of targeting cancer’s energy supply, its metabolism, through a specialised dietary regime - the ketogenic diet.

The task of communicating Seyfried’s crucial messages to a wider audience was picked up by Travis Christofferson, who published ‘Tripping Over the Truth: the Metabolic Theory of Cancer’ late last year. Written, in the most part, in very accessible English, and priced at around £10 this new offering hits the spot for readers like me.

Welcome to Sub-saharan Africa - Senegal, The Gambia and Mali - Part 3

Today’s post is our third from Mike ‘the Bike’ McLellan, cycling enthusiast and long-time supporter of Yes to Life who is cycling from Italy to West Africa to embark on the adventure of a lifetime and raise lots of money to help us support people with cancer along the way.

The cultural differences between Mauritania and Senegal was probably the most striking of any of the border crossings. Senegal was colourful, noisy and much more in your face than any of the previous African countries.

St Louis is the first city you come to heading South, and was fascinating with its French colonial architecture and vibrant markets. A few kilometres south of St Louis at the popular over-landers destination of the Zebrabar camp site Annie and I met up with Belgium couple Antoine and Elizabeth who now live in the Gambia and were touring northern Senegal on their interestingly designed tandem, so we decided to continue together.