Preparing my Journey

Today, I’m incredibly grateful to share that my most recent scan shows no evidence of disease.

Six years ago, I was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer. After multiple recurrences in my liver and lungs, I was told it was incurable. But with the support of an extraordinary medical team in Luxembourg and Germany, my cancer has, for now, gone to sleep.

I may never be declared cancer-free, but I’ve been given something even more precious: time. And time is everything.

Next week, I’ll receive my latest cancer vaccine. My next scans are scheduled for September. So, in this quiet window between treatment and uncertainty, I’ve made a decision to act.

I’m setting off on a global journey to investigate the science that may have helped me this time, cancer vaccines. Could this be the breakthrough? Could this even be the cure?

I ask myself that question quietly sometimes: Am I cured?
No one can say for sure. The science is still evolving. My cancer has always been unpredictable. But something has happened. Something worked. And now, I want to find out what, why, and whether it might work for others too.

I’m beginning this journey in Asia and Australia. I’ll be visiting hospitals, labs, biotech companies, and clinics, speaking to researchers, doctors, scientists, and patients.

This is more than a podcast.
It’s a conversation.
A community.
A resource.
Something others can find when they need it most.
It’s a way to push things forward. To build a community of understanding, of knowledge, of hope.

My cancer carries the G12D mutation and is microsatellite stable (MSS), a type that typically doesn’t respond to immunotherapy. It’s an incredibly difficult cancer to survive, and I know that being here today is frankly extraordinary.

I’m not here just because of treatments. I’m here because of people, researchers, clinicians, strangers who became allies. Those who quietly believed I could make it. I carry all of that belief and kindness with me into this journey.

I’m doing this because I believe patients and families need better information, clear, human, science-based stories all in one place. We need understanding. We need access. And we need hope.

That’s why I’m traveling, even though I don’t love traveling anymore, even though I’m tired, exhausted, really. I’m doing it because it matters.

A few weeks ago, I went to The Podcast Show in London, to learn, to network, to remind myself what great storytelling sounds like. Since then, I’ve been reaching out to people around the world, from Singapore to Japan to Australia, and I’m so grateful to everyone who’s said yes, or is even considering it.

I know what a responsibility it is to reflect the incredible work being done. To honor the doctors and scientists who are giving everything, literally their lives, to find answers for the rest of us.

I don’t want to let them down.
I don’t want to let myself down.

I want the standard of this work to reflect what I’ve always tried to do in my journalism—and in my life.

And yes, I keep calling this a podcast, but truthfully, in my head, it’s a radio documentary series.

This isn’t going to be a bunch of long, rambling interviews where people tune out after 10 minutes, or 30 seconds. I want people to listen. To stay. To care. To learn. To feel. To be entertained.

That’s the standard I’m setting, even if it’s just me, my daughter, and a recorder on the road.

Of course I question what I’m doing, there are language barriers, complex topics, a steep learning curve. But my friends and family keep telling me:
Mum, just go. Just do it. You’ll learn, you’ll improve, and you will do it.

And they’re right.
Because if I don’t do it, I’ll never know.

So this is the beginning of The Complete Guide to Cancer Vaccines.
Thank you for being here.

Let’s begin.