Cancer support articles and specialist nurse guidance
Practical guidance and thoughtful perspectives from Rachel Mugnai, drawing on more than 25 years of oncology nursing experience supporting people affected by cancer.
Browse by stage
Cancer Support / CoachingRebuilding Intimacy After Cancer
A specialist nurse-led guide to sex, body confidence and relationships after cancer, including when to seek medical or psychosexual support.
Cancer Support / CoachingManaging Cancer-Related Fatigue: Practical Pacing Strategies
A specialist nurse-led guide to understanding cancer fatigue, planning your energy and knowing when to contact your healthcare team.
ReflectionsFinding Perspective After Cancer: Lessons from a Fallen Tree
Rachel reflects on how a familiar woodland scene became a reminder that cancer support can bring clarity without forcing positivity.
Personal Support
Looking for personal support rather than general guidance?
Choose the stage that best reflects what you or someone close to you is facing and explore the relevant one-to-one support.
Surgery and what comes next
Understand information and prepare for appointments.
Explore Surgery and what comes next supportLiving well on treatment
Manage side effects, fatigue and emotional strain.
Explore Living well on treatment supportWhen cancer comes back
Cope with recurrence and find your way forward.
Explore When cancer comes back supportLife after cancer
Navigate long-term effects, scan anxiety and recovery.
Explore Life after cancer supportOther cancers, family and friends
Find practical and emotional support for yourself.
Explore Other cancers, family and friends supportNavigating Life After Cancer
Finishing treatment is rarely the end of the journey. In this extended conversation Rachel explores what "after cancer" really looks like — from the physical and emotional aftermath to rebuilding identity, relationships, and confidence in a changed body.
Navigating Life After Cancer
Rachel draws on more than 25 years of oncology nursing experience to explore topics that clinic appointments may not have time to cover — survivorship identity, cancer-induced menopause, relationship changes, fear of recurrence, and how to speak up when you need further support.
- The emotional reality of ending treatment
- Cancer-induced menopause and the body
- Rebuilding confidence and intimacy
- Fear of recurrence and follow-up scans
- Finding your voice with your medical team
A Free Toolkit from Side by Side
When anxiety takes over, start here.
Cancer brings a flood of "what-ifs" and worst-case scenarios. The Cancer Anxiety Toolkit gives you five practical, evidence-based strategies to quiet the noise, steady your body, and regain a sense of calm — wherever you are in this.
Free Toolkit
The Cancer Anxiety Toolkit
5 Strategies to Regain Calm
by Rachel Mugnai RGN, Independent Specialist Cancer Nurse
What's inside
- Grounding techniques to interrupt anxious spirals in the moment
- Breathing and body-based practices to calm your nervous system
Send me the free toolkit
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