How to live life to the fullest (and face your fear of death) with Kris Hallenga
So Now I’ve Got Breast CancerShow Notes
Getting a diagnosis of breast cancer can be terrifying. One of the first thoughts that ran through my mind 8 years ago when I found a lump was ‘Am I going to die?’ It’s often the first question my patients asked me when I told them they needed chemo. You could say it’s a ridiculous question to ask, as we are all going to die at some point, but the fear of dying from breast cancer is real. This week’s guest, Kris Hallenga, has been living with that fear for the last 14 years. She’s the founder of CoppaFeel and author of ‘Glittering a Turd’, and I know she’s an inspiration to many of you. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer when she was only 23, and she’s achieved more in those years than many of us do in a lifetime.
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If you want to find out more about Kris and her work, you can find her here:
Instagram - @howtoglitteraturd Website - How To Glitter a Turd Her book - Glittering a Turd Her podcast - Glittering a Turd Her charity - CoppaFeel
You can also learn more about funerals and living funerals via Legacy of Lives
If you want to read more of Donna Ashworth’s poems, her new book ‘Wild Hope’ is available in all online bookstores. You can find out more about Donna on her website, or follow her on Instagram and Facebook
If you’ve got a question for me, then please get in touch online or send me a voice note. You can find me on social media (see below), or e-mail me at [email protected] .
If you want to find out more about breast cancer whilst you’re waiting for the next episode to drop, you can watch the videos on my YouTube Channel or read my book ‘The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer: How to Feel Empowered and Take Control’
If you’re nosey and want to find out more about my life, my memoir ‘Under The Knife’ - is available in all good bookshops.
You can follow me on social media for regular updates - Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Finally, if you loved the show and want to help other women like you find it, you can leave a 5-star review wherever you get your podcasts, or you can show your support to help keep the show going and buy me a coffee here.
This is the last episode of our first series!
Thank you to all my brilliant guests, to our incredible poet Donna Ashworth and of course to you - for listening, and for sharing all your questions and stories with me.
I've really enjoyed making this and it's been so moving to hear about how the podcast is helping you - so keep your feedback coming.
I'll be re-releasing some old episodes of my previous podcast here in the new year while I prep for Season 2 - I hope you enjoy them.
More from So Now I’ve Got Breast Cancer
Rebecca Charlton is the voice of cycling on Channel 5, as well as a cycling journalist and author, and in the summer of 2025, she was diagnosed with breast cancer while she was breast-feeding her second child. She’s had to navigate presenting on TV whilst dealing with the aftermath of treatment and coming to terms with her delayed diagnosis, and I can’t wait for you to hear her story.
Did you know that after breast surgery your scars can become stuck and painful? This is where a good scar therapist can come in, and I wish I’d known this sooner after my mastectomy. Joana Pedroso is a trained cancer scar therapist who wants everyone to be able to move freely again and she explained why scars get stuck and what we can do about it.
It’s the elephant in the room that no-one talks about when you have cancer - the fact that your sex life can also take a nose dive. But there is support out there, and this episode I’m speaking to Instagram’s @cancersextherapist - aka Zoe Yessian - a registered Mental Health nurse and psychosexual and relationship therapist, who was diagnosed with breast cancer herself two years ago aged just 35. We discuss how cancer can affect our libido and desire and what we can do about it.
I hope this episode bring you as much joy as it did to me to record it - self-proclaimed cancer kicker, poetry prattler, sales director, photo-grapher, animal lover and nature bather (and possibly the world’s wonkiest qualified personal trainer) Dearbhaile O’Hale aka Derv turned to writing when she was diagnosed with breast cancer to help her process the experience. She was generous enough to share some of her poems with us in this special episode, and talk about her own story from diagnosis to now. I hope her words give you some comfort, or perhaps she will inspire you to write yourself.
How do you know what to trust online and even - dare I say it - in podcasts, when it comes to breast cancer? There is so much information out there nowadays including people claiming to have “cures” and alternatives to traditional treatments. That’s why I needed to get Consultant Oncologist and Chief Medical Officer for Macmillan, Richard Simcock, onto this episode to help us sift through fact and fiction.