Cancer Twins

Welcome to the Cancer Twins channel where we discuss all things about living with and beating cancer from our own personal perspectives. This is about taking the good with the bad and discussing what it’s really like to both live with - and also have a close family living with - cancer treatment. We talk about what it’s like, both from a physical and emotion point of view. We hope talking about our own experiences is as helpful for others to hear as it is for us to discuss. Sharing is caring! We are siblings that find ourselves in the unusual situation of both having developed cancer at a young age. Gregory is a young adult that has beaten cancer. He was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma when he was a teenager, a rare and aggressive variety that usually effects young boys. Charlotte, now in her mid-thirties, had just got married when she recently discovered she has breast cancer - very unusual for a woman of her age. She now faces the tough journey that she had to live through with her brother. Now with their roles reversed, they discuss their journeys with a frank but positive outlook in the hope that talking about these tough subjects will make it easier for others to discuss, understand and accept. *Content warning. This channel deals with difficult and adult subject matters related to the reality of living with cancer and is not suitable for all audiences. It also includes the occasional swear word, so is not suitable for younger children or those that are offended by bad language. Although the subject matter can be upsetting, the outlooks of the participants remain entirely positive!

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Cancer Twins

You Can Do It! Chiara's Story

October 25, 2022 • Charlotte & Greg • Season 2 • Episode 4

In this episode Charlotte & Greg talk to Chiara, a young Italian woman who has been fighting advanced melanoma for the past couple of years.

Chiara was only 33 and recently married when she noticed her mole was bleeding, something that advanced more quickly than anyone could have expected. She was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma with multiple mitosis.

The cancer was already 3cm deep and spreading fast. She was immediately put through powerful treatment, which triggered multiple organ failures, but she stayed strong and positive and got through her treatment.

They found out that Chiara's skin cancer was nothing to do with the sun but a mutated gene. Prevention would have saved her a lot of pain and sorrow, so she hopes that in the future everyone will be genetically tested to help prevent diseases like hers from occuring unnoticed in the first place.

Sadly, one of the consequences of the treatment is its impact on fertility. Despite having just married and wanting a large family, she can't even consider pregnancy until 5 years into her treatment. She also opted to undergo fertility treatment, just in case, so underwent IVF to freeze her eggs for the future, something that is thankfully included by the public healthcare service in Italy.

Chiara hasn't given up on the hope of having a big family one day or let the cancer slow her down. Now she is over the worst of it, she wants to share her story and extremely positive outlook to help raise awareness. She went through hell and back but is still smiling and wants everyone to know not to give up, you can get through it, no matter what!

Chiara and her husband Andrea have a company and YouTube channel called Mode Zero! they host creatives and support underground creative music in their beautiful home in Conegliano Italy and livestream music. They also discuss Chiara's cancer journey on the channel: https://youtube.com/c/ModeZeroOfficial Please like, share and subscribe to show your support!

It's breast cancer awareness month and Charlotte & Greg are walking 100 miles for Cancer Research and Breast Cancer Now. Full podcast videos and donation links https://linktr.ee/thecancertwins

People on this episode

Charlotte

Host

Greg

Co-host