Hearing that cancer has come back is devastating. You may be asking, “Why me, and how can I get through this again?” Support can feel thinner the second time around, and you’re trying to understand new treatment options, second opinions and clinical trials, without knowing what to ask or where to start.
Alongside clear information about your options, I use cognitive behavioural coaching to help with the anxious, “why me” thoughts that a recurrence can bring, so you can think more clearly about the decisions ahead.
How I help
- Talking through what recurrence means for you, at your pace
- Understanding your treatment options and preparing your questions
- Exploring second opinions, and how to ask for one
- Making sense of clinical trials: how they work, how to find them, and what to ask (drawing on my years as a research nurse). Clinical trials
- Emotional support for you and your family, including practical coaching tools for anxiety
What changes: you understand your options, feel able to ask the right questions, and don’t face this chapter alone.
Not ready to talk yet? Get the free Cancer Anxiety Toolkit
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
Join my mailing list and get the Cancer Anxiety Toolkit straight to your inbox. You'll also get A Nurse's Note, my weekly email with practical tips for life with and after cancer. Unsubscribe any time. No pressure, ever.
Wherever you are right now, I can help
Surgery and what comes next
Understanding your diagnosis and preparing for surgery and recovery.
Find out more about surgery and what comes nextLiving well on treatment
Managing chemotherapy, maintenance therapies and their side effects.
Find out more about living well on treatmentLife after cancer
Scan anxiety, menopause, intimacy, returning to work and finding your feet again.
Find out more about life after cancerYou might find these helpful
From Rachel’s Reflections

Rebuilding Intimacy After Cancer: Gentle Ways to Reconnect with Yourself and Your Partner
Read the article
Managing Cancer-Related Fatigue: The Current Account & ACE Strategy Guide
Read the article
The Power of Perspective: What a Fallen Tree in the Woods Taught Me About Cancer Support
Read the articleWritten by a specialist gynae cancer nurse

Rachel Mugnai
I'm Rachel Mugnai, an NMC-registered Specialist Cancer Nurse and former gynae-oncology clinical nurse specialist with more than 25 years of oncology nursing experience, including years as a research nurse.
You don’t have to work this out on your own
Book a free, no-pressure 15-minute chat and let’s talk about what would help.
Already know you’d like to start? Book your initial consultation (60 minutes, £85) →
Or call 07356 232160