Thank you, King Charles — here's how to talk to someone with cancer

As a fellow cancer patient, I watched King Charles’ honesty about his cancer diagnosis with gratefulness, admiration and huge respect. He has already made an incredible impact in instilling the need to recognise the early symptoms of cancer and waste no time in seeking medical help.

But his impact mustn’t stop there. The next cancer taboo I’d like to break down? How to talk, openly, honestly and frankly to friends or family members who have it — even when life is busy, complicated and you’re not sure if they want to hear from you or not (spoiler: they always do).

I was diagnosed with metastatic colorectal in February 2020 and despite having experienced nothing more than abdominal pain for a couple of months, the cancer had already spread to lymph nodes and is regarded as being incurable. The four years since have been painful, scary and often incredibly lonely, but for me, the way certain friends have responded (or not) has been far harder to accept