Naman Julka-Anderson (00:00)
Hello everyone and welcome to Rad Chat, founded by me, Naman Julka- Anderson.

Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (00:04)
and me, Jo McNamara. So Rad Chat is a forward thinking global knowledge hub where healthcare professionals can advance their expertise in radiotherapy and oncology. Unlike traditional academic resources, we blend real world experience, expert insights, best practice, and of course, most importantly, patient perspectives.

Naman Julka-Anderson (00:23)
We make advanced knowledge engaging and accessible, supporting continuous learning and professional development without compromising patient care or personal time. By providing insights into both technical skills and career development, helping you progress confidently in your field and shape your professional future.

Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (00:39)
Just to let you know, our episodes may contain sensitive and difficult topics that you may find distressing or triggering.

Naman Julka-Anderson (00:46)
Okay so this is episode 197 which is part of the Living With and Beyond Cancer series where we will be hearing from our guest Carly Moosah about her experience of breast cancer, BRCA gene testing and Plexaa Bloom 43 device. Hi Carly, how are you?

Carly (01:00)
I'm good thank you, how are you?

Naman Julka-Anderson (01:02)
Great, good to have you here. Would you mind just introducing yourself and telling our guests a bit about you?

Carly (01:07)
Yeah, so I'm Carly and I am the patient champion of what you mentioned, Bloom 43, which is part of Plexaa. It's a medical device and a free app all around breast surgery and very specifically kind of the power of prehab and rehab around these surgeries. I am also a

breast cancer advocate. I do a lot of advocacy since my own diagnosis and I co-host a BRCA support group in London and do a lot of BRCA awareness as well.

Naman Julka-Anderson (01:45)
If you feel comfortable, Carly, would you mind telling us how you were diagnosed?

Carly (01:48)
Yeah, absolutely. I have had such an awareness of breast cancer. So I always kind of have to start with the story that my mum had already had a breast cancer diagnosis, primary, her cancer returned, she was secondary breast cancer and

She died of secondary breast cancer 10 years before my diagnosis. But also there was already a history of breast cancer before my mum's diagnosis because I never met her mum. So my maternal grandmother also had died of secondary breast cancer before my mum had children. So I was always aware of breast cancer. I was raising awareness of breast cancer. In fact,

in October 2019, I was doing, I guess, my bit as someone who had lost someone they loved so much to breast cancer. I was raising awareness, I was wearing a pink bra in Notting Hill with loads of other amazing people, and had no idea at the time that I had breast cancer.

In the July of 2019, my older sister, who is my half-sister on my dad's side of the family, so we do not share a mum, she was diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer and it came as a massive shock to all of us. And she was only 43 at the time. She, because of her diagnosis, was tested for the BRCA gene mutations.

and she discovered that she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation. It's a little bit back and forwards because three years earlier than this, I went to try and get tested to see if I carried the BRCA gene mutation. And I went along thinking I would get tested that day. And because it was my mum and her mum only at that point with any cancer in my family, they said they would be a lot younger.

there would be a lot more young breast and ovarian cancer in your family. So we won't test you today. So I walked away thinking, okay, I've done my bit in terms of trying, know, seeing, I felt really kind of quite good about myself in that I'd been proactive and advocating, but I basically wasn't tested. so then obviously my sister finds out she carries the G mutation. And they said at the time, it's really likely it's come from your dad's side of the family because my dad...

is of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage and it's really prevalent with that community of people. So I was going to get tested, but sadly I was on a chemo ward with my sister and I kind of felt this really uncomfortable feeling under my armpit. And I went to kind of have a feel thinking, did I pull a muscle that morning working out? And there was a really big swelling under my armpit. And obviously being on a chemo ward.

There was enough of a reason to be like, I think I should get this checked. My sister then had a feel, was like, yeah, you should get that checked. She also got her nurse that day on the chemo ward to have a feel who said, yeah, you should get this checked. So it's like, just because of your family history. So because of all that, I managed to get an appointment that day to see a GP. I really, really didn't leave any time. I was like, right, let's go. But I really knew a lot about

I thought I knew a lot about breast cancer. Turns out I didn't know much at all. But I thought pain and that I thought be okay, it'd be okay. But I went to the GP, they said they could feel three swollen lymph nodes. And they said that I would need to go for an ultrasound. And it was on the ultrasound that they noticed that there was like maybe a, yeah, you could never feel a lump by hand basically with my diagnosis, but they noticed something that looked like it could be.

cancerous, biopsy, MRI, and I got a diagnosis of triple negative breast cancer, stage two, grade three. ⁓ Yeah, like basically, it was quite quick. It was a week after actually, from finding the lump, the swelling, I shouldn't say.

Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (06:07)
Thank you so

much for sharing. can imagine having kind of already lost your mum knowing that your grandmother also died of breast cancer, that that was quite a scary time having that diagnosis. What was going through your head at that stage?

Carly (06:22)
Oh, I'll be honest, was completely, I mean, a cancer diagnosis is a shock at any point to anybody. You hear those words, you're like, floored. Because my mum had been 54 when she was diagnosed and her mum had been kind of close to 50, I think in the back of my head, I'd always lived with this like thought that breast cancer might come into my life, but...

I know it sounds really naive now, but I kind of thought, I've got time. I've got time. was 37. I was really feeling healthy and good and a bit tired, a bit more tired than usual, I'd say, but otherwise, like, so to get diagnosed at 37 and with that history with my mum, it was terrifying. The only thing, obviously I hate that my sister had her diagnosis too, but...

I do feel like she provided me with so much support in those early kind of diagnosis days, just like, because she was in it already and it was just, and I'd been with her to all her chemo. So there was a lot of things going on that were like, I didn't have to go and sit on a chemo ward, not knowing what they looked like and you know, that kind of stuff. Because I'd been doing it with her. was, so yeah, and I really, very, very quickly was like,

I am, and again, I know that it doesn't work like this, but I was just like, I am not gonna die from this. I'm not gonna die. Everything in my head and my approach was, just gonna get the treatment done. My story's different, my diagnosis is different. It came from being a bracket carrier. So actually, I was able to compartmentalise a bit, my mum.

And her mum, because I was like, no, my cancer diagnosis has come because of this, because I carry this G mutation, which I didn't know at the time of my diagnosis, but it was very, very kind of likely, they said. And actually with testing, it does take some time before you find out. So I didn't actually find out until I was kind of already in my chemo, starting my chemo.

Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (08:31)
What treatment did you go on to have then, Carly?

Carly (08:33)
And so again, this and it's funny because yeah, all these things did help me mentally, like even my treatment plan was so different to what my mum had gone through for her primary. So because I was triple negative, which is a very aggressive form of breast cancer and quite common with brackaging mutations and younger women, it meant that I started my treatment plan with

chemotherapy and that wasn't what happened with my mum, she had her, so you know, so in my head all these things were like, you know, okay, we're different, we're different, everything's going differently. I had 16 rounds of chemotherapy, alongside the timing of my diagnosis in December 2019, a paper had just, I think, come out or just like very early stages of then realising that

an immunotherapy drug called Pembrolizumab was shown to be really beneficial with early stage triple negative breast cancer. It was already being used with later stage, but my oncologist happened to be someone involved in that paper and that work. So I was able to get Pembrolizumab as well alongside my treatment, was, yeah, amazing. It's obviously a more...

drugs and more treatment to have, but I just felt like, just give me anything can everything possible. So I did that and I did, again, because of taking the immunotherapy, I did the 12 weeklies, Paclitaxel and Carboplatin first, whereas often they give AC first. That came after for me. It was so intense. ⁓

That was, yeah, six months of real kind of digging, digging deep. I found chemo really hard. It also came at a terrible time globally because there was a pandemic. And so I went, had to go to a lot of my treatment alone. My kids, who I wanted to shield from a lot of the treatment.

stuff and I kind of timed my treatments before lockdown happened so that I'd be like well for them on the weekends or well as well as I could be. You know suddenly they were not at school ever, they were at home being homeschooled so there was a lot on that six months of like not being able to shield them from a lot of the kind of harsher stuff and I really struggled with my neutrophils during treatment so I had to have a few hospital stays.

A blood transfusion so yeah it was it was tough but you kind of what I did I ticked them off each time I got to do a treatment I very much was like focused on getting those 16 ticks and getting through and then after that I had um because I was BRCA and I found out I was BRCA had a double mastectomy

reconstruction with my own tummy tissue, which I just am still kind of, my mind is still blown about the surgery I had because it's just so incredible. And I was in hospital for a week again in lockdown, no visitors, tricky and tough. And then it was all very kind of quick to after surgery getting back to treatment.

And that's kind of when I started my radiotherapy and was back on immunotherapy. I don't think I've ever felt so awful in my whole entire life. Like, you know, it's just, it was just a bombardment at that point of like trying to get over the chemo and feel better. Then having this huge surgery, which was just ⁓ a complete, you know, hip to hip scar.

There's so, so much going on with my body. And then suddenly you're going every day for radiotherapy. And people were saying, you know, it's just radiotherapy. You'll be fine. You've done the chemo. It's just radiotherapy. And I actually really, really was passionate about coming on today because it's not just radiotherapy. And I felt really, felt really like, I don't know, am I really weak?

Because I'm struggling and actually, it was a really, really dark time, all of that, and that was when the team that I was under when I was having my radiotherapy was so incredible. One day I arrived, I think it was around the third or fourth radiotherapy treatment, I arrived, felt fine, walked through the doors and

was overwhelmed with nausea and basically ended up being sick in the bathroom there and was likely I had a bug, I don't know, like it was terrible. Anyway, they plied me with ondansetron and I was lying on the bed in the main radio therapy, the head of the unit and she was like, know, making me feel better and...

things that I did eventually have my treatment that day, which also just feels incredibly brutal in hindsight. Like, you know, the last thing you want to do is go lie there and have it. But I think I understand, am I understand right, that they just have kind of can't miss one once you're in it. yeah, there was a lot that was so horrible. And then I'm just getting home being like,

oh my god, I'm got a vomiting bug. I've just had to have radiotherapy. There's no time to even be ill. Like this is crazy. But the lady whose room I lay on the bed in and got better, I basically just broke down to her and said, I'm not doing well. Like this is so hard. I feel so bad. And she said, I really think you'd benefit from some oncology counseling. And so thanks to her.

in step this most incredible counselor who just, it was just the most divine timing ever and I'm so grateful that she kind of suggested that and then I was able to get counseling at that point. But yeah, radiotherapy and then carried on with immunotherapy for a bit longer. 15 months of treatment and because it's triple negative breast cancer, once treatment is finished, you don't get to take anything else to kind of...

try and hold it at bay. So I am coming up to five years though since treatment finished in February.

Naman Julka-Anderson (15:17)
Thank you for sharing, it's a very long journey for you. So many different aspects of treatment and I think you highlighted as well that a lot of patients or people say to us that when they come to radiotherapy everything kind of just clicks and hits them and obviously we just get you to lie on a bed, ignore us as we move you millimetres and talk some random numbers and stuff over you and then a lot of people are kind of left there obviously we leave you, we can see you on the cameras but...

you're with your thoughts and then you're just having to get through the treatment until you finish. I think a lot of people say that to us on Rad Chat as well.

Carly (15:47)
I felt so exposed.

Like I just had this surgery and I had no nipples suddenly, you know, and I'm trying to get my head around that, but I've just got these circular disc scars and you're just having to strip off with it, you know, and it's not, it's not, like I say, everyone I met that I met during my radiotherapy treatment was so lovely. It's just, you are just, especially if you've had

⁓ that six months of chemo before like I had, not even especially actually, regardless, I just think I was just very weak. I was very physically weak. When I came to radiotherapy, I was not good.

Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (16:29)
You make a really good point Carly, you know, if I had to go into a room now and expose my breasts to any healthcare professional, even though I'm quite okay with my body, I would still find that difficult. I would find it very exposing. You know, if I had to walk over to a bed, I would still do the whole, I'll cover my nipples until I absolutely have to show you that. But to kind of do that, but when you don't even feel like it's your body.

Carly (16:49)
Yes.

Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (16:57)
I think is really insightful for us to think about, you know, as healthcare professionals that walk across a room when you don't feel like that body is yours or you're really insecure about it or, you know, you're coming to terms with everything that has happened to your body, I think is something that we really need to appreciate as well.

Carly (17:19)
No, it's exactly that, isn't it? And also, with the breast surgery, had lymph nodes, and even suddenly I'm having to lie there with my arms. There was so much of it that was exposing and uncomfortable. And this is the other thing, when people say, oh, it's just radiotherapy. I was exhausted, and it built that exhaustion.

I actually was speaking to a really good friend who's just had brain radiotherapy. She said, I was, I'm floored by it way more than I thought I would be. said, this is because...

I don't think it's talked about enough that radiotherapy can lead to this like extreme fatigue and you can get these other side effects. You we all kind of know about the skin and I put on my aloe vera religiously and my skin actually was fine. It really was okay. I was really lucky in that respect because I remember my mum showing me her skin at the time and maybe that's, I don't know, a time thing that maybe it's improved. doesn't, yeah.

Because I also I know now not everyone has the tattoos. I've got three whole wide worlds as Rachel and friends got, didn't she? Three whole wide worlds, but some people don't get tattoos now. So it's changing and it's amazing and improving.

Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (18:34)
Yeah, we have a bit of kit now called surface guided radiotherapy. So it's essentially using light fields onto the skin surface so that you don't necessarily have to align a patient with those tattoos. ⁓ And it's just as accurate and reproducible. So it's a great bit ⁓ of kit.

Carly (18:52)
In terms of patient

experience, like, and taking into account everything that's going on for them. So to not have to give people these permanent marks that are forever reminding them of treatment, it's just, it's incredible. Yeah.

Naman Julka-Anderson (19:15)
Carly, you're nearly five years on. How are you managing with any late effects or mental health issues, things like that now?

Carly (19:23)
So in terms of my mental health, it's pretty good, I think, most days. In terms of the things I live with, I would say I am quite a positive person, generally, and potentially a kind of very naive optimist about life a lot of the time. But...

I do think it's really important to kind of also make space for the things that you do, you know, that are left behind after cancer. And I had to have my ovaries removed and preventative because of carrying BRCA and my increased chances of getting a variant cancer. surgical menopause. I've really started to recently think of it as more of a chronic illness now and

the things that I kind of deal with day to day. You know, thinking of my energy a lot more and how that is and knowing that if I have a really fun night, it's going, you know, it's just gonna impact me in a different way to maybe my friends who aren't yet fully menopausal or having, I've got an underactive thyroid from my treatment, from immunotherapy.

So, you know, there's a lot of things that go on that wasn't my health pre-cancer. But I accept them and I kind of surrender to the fact that I am a little bit achier and, you know, I have my tools that help. But generally, I'm...

I'm really good and I'm really, and a lot of that does come down to, I think, like the community and amazing support within the community that I've found of people that kind of get, well, as the tagline goes for the charity and trustee of Cancer in Common, we get it because we've got it. I think that community support is invaluable.

you know, kind of like I said, why I do the BRCA stuff, I think just these conversations are so important and really help. You can kind of just, you know, bad mouth menopause together

Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (21:45)
I'll join

So Carly, tell us a bit more about BRCA because obviously you said you host lots of support groups and you support people with having those conversations and those discussions. Tell us a little bit about that and potentially for any listeners thinking about going for testing. How do they get it? What conversations do they need to have? How can they advocate for themselves?

Carly (22:17)
And so obviously, like I said earlier, I didn't get tested on the NHS when I first went. And had I been tested when I did go, it would have changed a lot because I, although some of my other siblings haven't tested, my older sister is a real doer and a researcher and she would have 100 % been tested. She just would have done and she would have

known she carried it and she would have been being screened. And the ripple effect of that is that she would not have been diagnosed with stage four B ovarian cancer. And she's doing really well, but as we know, with cancer, like the later the stage, it's just more complex, right? I would have been, I would have known I would have maybe been able to take preventative action before my diagnosis. The things that it doesn't change, and this is why, you know,

there does need to be so much more conversation around BRCA. I want people to know, but it has a knock-on effect because it impacts on your whole family. And basically, you get BRCA passed down from a parent. So when I say it came from my dad's side of the family, it means that there's a 50-50 chance that all of his children will have it. So they might not, right?

without testing you don't know. So me and my sister both have it. Now I've got two children, it means that there's a 50-50 chance that I've passed it on to them. sorry, this is the bit that always gets me a bit. So ultimately when I found out I carried BRCA, even though it came after my cancer diagnosis, I was, I felt a deeper grief because in my head cancer had an end date, whereas BRCA,

my kids are now 12 and 10, so it's not a conversation for a while. They can't even get tested until they're 18 if they want to get tested. But it's something that hangs over, right? So that's why the support group's just amazing because it's not going anywhere, BRCA I've got it, I've got it. And there's lots of conversations to be had around that. I don't feel any guilt

about the situation, I actually feel really empowered that I do know and that these are the conversations that we will be able to have with our kids and hopefully then they can be empowered. And the other thing about the BRCA is lots of people that kind of come to our meetups and stuff, they're having children via, you'll know the science term, but you know, via IVF to only implant

the eggs with that don't have the BRCA. So ultimately they are, by knowing they've got it, they're stopping that in their family. So that is just incredible because so many people that come to my meetups, they have lost so many family members because of these gene mutations. really does increase your chances of getting cancer. ⁓

So I do feel really strongly about, I wish everyone could be tested, right? At the minute, that's not how it works. If you are of Jewish ancestry, your chances of carrying the BRCA gene mutation, I believe it's one in 400 for the general population, but it's one in 40 if you have Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.

So at the minute with the NHS, have been doing a testing where if you have one Jewish grandparents, you live in England and you're over the age of 18, they would test you. So they would have tested me back, gone, because I've got two Jewish grandparents on my dad's side. I would just say if you are listening and you do have ovarian and breast cancer in your family history,

Or if you're a Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, just maybe start a conversation and see. And if you can't get tested on the NHS, this is the other thing, is there are ways to pay for it. I just didn't go down that route because I just took it as I was okay hearing I didn't need it. So I just walked away thinking, okay, I don't need it. I'm cool. But little did I know it was a ticking time bomb, right, for cancer. So...

there are ways to test and I know people that have found out they carry it via like these kind of DNA, you know, kits that you can do to find out where you're from in the world, you know, so it's, ⁓ yeah, there are ways.

Naman Julka-Anderson (26:50)
Thank you for sharing, think testing and screening is a really difficult conversation in so many communities. I did see on socials today you posted about a big project you're part of. Is that with AstraZeneca? Would you mind telling us a bit about that?

Carly (27:00)
Yeah, yeah.

So yeah, I've just been part, they've done a global campaign. I hope I get all the countries right. I believe it's Australia, Malaysia, Mexico, and the UK. So I was interviewed by a very good friend of mine actually, who is one of the co-founders of a charity called BRCA Chat.

Kristen, and it's just exactly what it says. It's a global conversation. It's talking about our experiences with BRCA and every single country, I believe, has a different story. So in Australia, I think it's a man talking about carrying BRCA and being a BRCA mutation carrier and some of the experience of his family.

maybe having had some cancer diagnosis, not 100 % sure. They're just all different stories linked to BRCA. Yeah, and obviously mine is coming from the fact that I've had a breast cancer diagnosis because of it, and I have a family member who's also had an ovarian cancer diagnosis. yeah, it's really good to be a part of that. And obviously, just to...

open up these conversations and hope, hope so much that it does lead to someone kind of going, Oh, my mum was only a, you know, 40 or 30 something when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she's doing really well now, but maybe it's worth us looking into this, you know, those kind of things, it can, it can be such a make such a difference.

Naman Julka-Anderson (28:47)
Carly, can I ask you a deep question? So obviously you've been almost coming up to five years, you know, since your diagnosis, your family history, talking about your children. Obviously breast cancer awareness once happens every year. How do you manage with the, I don't know, the fatigue, I guess, of constantly talking about what you've been through and trying to get other people to listen, but also maybe from my experience when I try and when I speak to people and they say, no, I don't want to get tested for something, I think, why?

Carly (29:14)
Yeah.

Naman Julka-Anderson (29:14)
And like,

how do you deal with your emotions of all of this? Obviously all year round, but also in October of a year.

Carly (29:17)
And.

Again, I think having had a lot of therapy, am very much in the knowledge that you cannot control anyone else's actions. can only, you know, really, it's like the oxygen mask, like you've got to look after yourself. so what others do, I can't help, but what I...

do believe is I am okay to share my story. feel like, and I was quite kind of shy before my breast cancer diagnosis. A lot of positives have changed from that, including this stuff. Like I've almost found my voice. I found a purpose that, you know, was unexpected. And so I just focus on that. And I think,

that by doing that and the messages I get back from people and the impact, you know, the times I've had messages from people who have found their cancer because of something I've shared or spoken about, you know, discovered they carry BRCA because they saw something I shared about the Jewish BRCA screening. So I just keep doing that. And, you know, yeah, I think.

that massively helps, just keeping him on my path and knowing that every conversation can have a ripple effect. ⁓ Yeah, and I obviously do this for a living too. I talk about breast cancer and breast surgery day in, day out. A lot of the time, I forget that I've had a diagnosis when I do that now.

So there's a lot of times where I don't feel like the spotlight is necessarily there. These chats are when it's different. These chats are when I'm like, ooh, but also they're very healing because whatever comes up, and it can be so surprising, right? The things that you remember or talk about. I think that it's a good opportunity to kind of go, that, that.

actually, maybe I need to like reflect on that or journal on that a bit. And yeah, my day to day work is, is really feels like I'm helping others because it's all there to help others having their breast surgeries now. As opposed to me, like had my breast surgery. I'm good. I am very body grateful. Now, you know, I've worked to get to these, these

good spaces and I just want to help others to reach that point too.

Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (32:09)
So Carly, you mentioned prehabilitation as someone who is a huge advocate for prehab and rehab and personalised care. Tell us a little bit about kind of your experiences with prehabilitation and what you're doing at the moment.

Carly (32:23)
So yeah, I love that you're passionate Jo as well. That's so good to hear. So I met Saahil who is the founder of Bloom 43. We actually spoke about three weeks after my double mastectomy, a mutual friend put us in touch and he texted and we organised a phone call. I was very like excited to talk to him, hear what he was up to.

but also just to speak to a plastic surgeon because, you know, I just had this really big surgery and I didn't have my plastic surgeon on text. So, you know, it felt like, ⁓ my God, access, I can ask any question that kind of comes to mind. And yeah, we basically just started a friendship and he was telling me about this research that he had done into supraphysiological preconditioning,

ahead of mastectomy, ahead of breast surgeries, in fact. And basically, I am no scientist, so to break it down, it was research into preheating the skin the night before people were having their breast surgeries, and then kind of seeing how that impacted, that preparation of the skin. And what he found, I think, is...

he said himself almost like surprised him because it was so positive in terms of less wound healing complications, shorter hospital stays, ⁓ less kind of follow ups and things like that. So he kind of did the research and then was like, well, we need to do something with this. And that is where kind of we're at now, which is years and years for him of developing this device, which has launched in America.

isn't actually here in the UK yet, but hopefully coming soon. But alongside that, so I came on board as patient champion a few years ago now, gosh, yeah, over two years, after talking for three years before that as friends and just kind of, yeah, like I say.

I could text him and say, so I've got my phase two surgery coming up and they're talking about nipple nubs. What do you think about them? You know, all these kinds of conversations. It became official as patient champion a few years ago and very much it was just the most amazing role for him to ask me to kind of come on board for because it meant bringing the patient voice to the development of this device. It meant getting patient.

experiences of every step of how this could work in terms of where they were at the night before surgery, because you wear it for three hours the night before surgery, speaking about what it would have meant to them. And every single person was like, I just didn't feel prepared. Or I was so anxious doing something like that would have helped me. Or ⁓ I wanted to do anything possible and I didn't know what to do. So all of these chats that we were having about the device.

made Saahil go, God, we need to do more. We need to really look at this because in his experience as a plastic surgeon, everyone was asking him the same question too. What can I do? What can I do to prepare? And no one was really being told enough. So we have developed an app which is free and it's global and it's available in so many countries. And it has

an unbelievable amount of information on there from videos to articles, to a whole prehab program four weeks before your surgery with like, you know, really simple things to incorporate or change or understand about this power of prehab and how much of a difference it can make. And not just a difference to your recovery. I mean, your mindset, like I said, like I

I went into my surgery four weeks after my chemo finished feeling terrible. But if I'd been able to do something, I was so nervous about wound healing complications that I could have done anything to make myself feel like I'd made a difference to this outcome that I wanted to happen, right? That I could recover well and get home quickly and everything would be smooth and I would have done anything. So yeah, it's amazing to be a part of and...

The app was developed again with patient focus groups and I brought, you know, in everyone and anyone I can from the community. I'm like, yeah, running focus groups, anyone want to join? And it's so good because everything that they said in those groups, we've been able to action in the app. And it's, we've only just got started. It's going to build and build and yeah, it's really, it's really great to be a part of and know that,

at that very vulnerable time when people are having these surgeries or just trying to make these decisions, like even just making the decision of implants or my own tissue, I was just so, so overwhelmed. So yeah, this would have just helped me and felt a bit like kind of hand holding at that time.

Naman Julka-Anderson (37:36)
Carly, what's it called and how can people find out more info about it?

Carly (37:39)
So

the app and the device are called Bloom 43. So the website is www.bloom43.com, but you can find the app in all the app stores. But yeah, I'd recommend signing up to the newsletter as well, because we know there are newsletters that are different to healthcare professionals or to patients. So

signing up as well to keep updated on all our news because things are moving fast my goodness. I yeah I think Saahil's coming on this and chatting to you guys but he's made a move to America. Yeah it's really exciting to be a part of something that's going to help so many people.

Naman Julka-Anderson (38:29)
Carly, we're coming to the end of the episode. We always like to end with top tips for our guests and listeners. What do you have for anyone listening?

Carly (38:36)
⁓ As I'm a patient, I'll give a top tip to the patients if they're going for radiotherapy because it was a top tip that I was told when I was finding it so hard is that just clear your diary. don't underestimate how

tough it might be. I should say might because maybe some people do find it really a breeze and I really, that makes me so happy. But I was told when I was kind of broken to the healthcare professional in the radiotherapy team, she said it builds after it finishes the side effects. So she was just like, just clear your diary and

watched the TV and just do that and I did and I am very grateful I did because that tiredness did get worse before it got better. So my top tip, it is not just radiotherapy, it is pretty intense treatment still.

Naman Julka-Anderson (39:46)
Thank you. And I suppose reiterating what you said earlier for therapeutic radiographers, if you have a patient who's taken off their top things, help them to the bed so they're not feeling like they're walking around naked and they're not quite ready for that, that's definitely something that'll stick in my head.

Carly (39:55)
Yeah, yeah. And actually, to be fair to my team, they did that. I was able to still wear the gown until I lay down and then just opened up when I was in position. So, and that did massively help. I would have felt so, so naked, just, you know, walking around with my top half off completely.

Naman Julka-Anderson (40:15)
Brilliant. Thank you so much for coming on, Carly. It's been great to have you on.

Carly (40:17)
Thank so much for having me. It's been so great to talk to you both.

Naman Julka-Anderson (40:20)
So thank you everyone for listening to Rad Chat with me, Naman Julka-Anderson and Jo McNamara. So our next guest to feature will be Juliette Uzoma as part of our Living Within Beyond Cancer series talking about her experience with breast cancer. So thanks all for listening and take care.

Naman Julka-Anderson (40:34)
You can use this episode as part of our free, continual professional development, accredited content, which offers flexible learning that fits your busy schedule. Just check out the show notes for the reflective questions, links to literature and resources, and a link to complete the form to receive your accredited certificate.

Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (40:05)
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Naman Julka-Anderson (40:15)
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Jo McNamara Rad Chat Host (40:31)
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Naman Julka-Anderson (40:47)
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