It’s Good to Talk! Rian’s Story. Artwork

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

It’s Good to Talk! Rian’s Story.

December 22, 2022 • Charlotte & Greg • Season 2 • Episode 12

In this episode Charlotte & Greg talk to Rian, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) when he was only 14. It is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow that can advance very quickly if not treated.

A year after finishing his treatment, Rian relapsed just before his 15th birthday and had to go through the whole ordeal again. The experience has had a major impact on his life and it is only recently he’s been able to talk openly about it.

Now in his early 20s, Rian is passionate about sharing his experience in the hope it’ll help other men open up. So much so, Rian is now co-organising the MacMillan Cancer Support ‘Men and Cancer’ campaign across social media to help empower more men to speak up about their cancer journeys.

Here is a similar video from a few years ago https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/stories-and-media/videos/lets-talk-about-what-you-cant-say---men-and-cancer so look out for more of that fantastic campaign to come in the new year.

Rian talks about how he first got the courage to start talking about his cancer journey on social media during lock down and began posting videos on his experience of the after affects, to try to help inspire others.

This has been so successful it even led him to land the role as a social media content executive for a media organisation. If you’d like to follow him, his handle is https://instagram.com/thelcard_rh on instagram and https://www.facebook.com/TheLCard on facebook.

Rian has also been organising annual fitness activities for the past four years to raise money for the Anthony Nolan charity for leukaemia and stem cell transplants, which he calls ’The Challenge’. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rian-harvey-264miles?fbclid=IwAR39Ncts7xWu2oLT5EUoHwB05qMob0s5qP4fxsO-WOMoWrNYW4OoQ4x_828

For his summer 2023 'The Challenge' Rian is organising climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. If you are interested in taking part, please look out for the update on signing up for a place on his social media pages.

Rian’s journey has lead him to become a massive advocate of men speaking up about their cancer journey’s and experiences. As he says, it’s good to talk, and would encourage more men to speak up about their experiences in battling cancer!

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People on this episode

Charlotte

Host

Greg

Co-host