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You are here: Home / Podcasts / PonderMed #6: Dr. Liz O’Riordan. Breast Surgeon with Breast Cancer

PonderMed #6: Dr. Liz O’Riordan. Breast Surgeon with Breast Cancer

October 18, 2018 By Pondering EM 2 Comments

About Liz

Dr. Liz O’Riordan is a Consultant Breast Surgeon. In July 2015 she was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer at the age of 40. She started a blog after her diagnosis to document her experiences as a patient. The blog has become a hugely popular (and award-winning) resource, paving the way for a “Woman of the Year” nomination in 2016. Liz is now a regular keynote speaker and media personality. She had a local recurrence of her cancer in May 2018, and completed her treatment in September.

Liz co-authored “The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer: How to Feel Empowered and Take Control” with Professor Trisha Greenhalgh – a GP and fellow breast cancer survivor. The book was published in September 2018.

Her latest project is cancerfit.me – a website providing a range of resources regarding exercise for people living with cancer. She has plans to run an Iron Man triathlon in the near future.

Stuff we chatted about

03:44 Liz’s recent media whirlwind

06:34 The decision to pursue a career in breast surgery

09:10 Surgery is an art form

10:03 The moment Liz was diagnosed with breast cancer

12:21 What role did the “breast surgeon brain” have in dealing with the diagnosis?

13:57 How Liz has changed the language she uses when she talks to her patients/should there be a change in the medical school curriculum?

18:20 Social Media as a coping/support strategy

19:36 Blogging made the diagnosis real (and changed Liz’s world forever)

22:10 The book – “The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer”

25:09 Alternative/complementary therapies – complete bollocks?

26:47 Dr. Skylar Johnson’s CRAP test

28:33 Being a triathlon career… whilst on chemo

32:18 Cancer has come back? Planning for an Iron Man

32:46 The inception of cancerfit.me, and the evidence-base for the benefit of exercise on chemo

33:50 Isn’t yoga great?

36:00 The challenge of cancer conversations in the ED

Want more from Liz?

Liz’s blog – liz.oriordan.co.uk

@Liz_ORiordan on twitter

oriordanliz on instagram

“What happens when the doctor becomes the patient?“- Liz and Trisha speaking to Jon Snow on Channel 4.

Liz’s appearance on “You, Me and the Big C” on BBC Radio 5 Live

You can buy a signed copy of Liz’s book “The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer” here. Order it as a paperback or e-book from Amazon, Wordery and Hive.

Liz’s Book Recommendation

“The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k: How to Stop Spending Time You Don’t Have with People You Don’t Like Doing Things You Don’t Want to Do (A No F*cks Given Guide)” by Sarah Knight

What a podcast!

Until next week.
Robbie
@Ponder_Med

Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: Blogging, Breast cancer, Breast surgeon, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Iron Man, Jar of Joy, Liz O'Riordan, Me and the Big C, Podcast, PonderMed, PonderMed Podcast, Tedx, The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer, Triathlon, Trisha Greenhalgh, Twitter, You

Authors

  • Adam Walker
  • Andrew Wilkinson
  • John Gilbert
  • Pondering EM

Comments

  1. Isobel says

    October 21, 2018 at 11:30 am

    Such great podcast Robbie your relaxed style of interview made me feel I was listening to 2 people having a chat over a cup of coffee. Liz was as always brilliant to listen to no airs and graces just my wee girl trying to make a difference to so many lives touched by cancer

    Reply
    • Pondering EM says

      October 21, 2018 at 8:52 pm

      Hi Isobel, thank you for such lovely feedback! I really appreciate you taking the time to comment.

      Robbie

      Reply

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