For their June 2022 issue, the UK edition of Women’s Health magazine featured DJ Adele Roberts on their cover. So far, so normal, right? There’s a significant visible difference though: Adele’s been in treatment for bowel cancer, documenting her journey via social media and, for the cover shoot, she’s wearing a crop top and trousers, with her stoma pouch(dubbed Audrey by the model herself) on display.
Women’s Health is known for celebrity fitness model cover stars: whilst they tend to have a broad range of people on the cover in terms of ethnicity, they also typify the stereotypical fitness body type. I can’t recall any model with a visible disability having graced the cover. Stomas can be required for a number of reasons, and Adele’s is specifically linked to cancer treatment (and may be reversible in time). There’s been an outpouring of response via social media – here’s why this cover and feature have mattered so much to me.
Cancer centred
It’s kind of fitting that Adele has shared her journey so openly in the digital age, as she first became publicly recognisable thanks to competing on Big Brother when the show was still reasonably new. In another link to the cancer community, one of Adele’s housemates during the series was Jade Goody. When they entered the house, Jade and Adele were the same age. Jade was famously diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2008 and, at a time when social media barely existed, she shared her journey via other means which were available, a decision made in order to financially-assure the future of her two children.
Jade died in March 2009, and her story has become a fairly typical cancer narrative, particularly for those in the AYA (adolescent and young adult – “young” in cancer terms meaning anyone who’s diagnosed before the age of 40) category: diagnosis, leading to gruelling treatment which isn’t particularly effective, prior to a sharp decline and a quick death. There are others in the media who’ve mirrored this narrative, sharing their journeys to different extents: Sarah Harding (of Girls Aloud), Rachel Bland (one of the creators of You Me and the Big C), Chadwick Boseman (actor, whose diagnosis was only made public after his death).
Cancer, historically, falls into the category of Very Bad News. I’m not here to say that a cancer diagnosis is Good News, but I am pointing out that there are very few examples of younger people surviving cancer and going on to thrive…
The typical image of cancer
I once heard author, Matt Haig, say that one of the big problems with public perception of mental health issues is that they have a “look”. He pointed out that magazine articles are often illustrated by a photo of someone sat in a tunnel clutching their head, and it leading people to believe that if that’s not what they’re doing, their condition isn’t legitimate, or “bad enough”. I found it highly relatable.
The same applies to cancer: public understanding is that all patients lose their hair, and experience crippling nausea. And that’s about where it begins and ends. The truth is that the experience is much broader. According to the UK Government, of cancer patients treated between 2013 and 2016, 45% had surgery, 27% received radiotherapy, and 28% required chemotherapy. Not only is chemotherapy far from a given, but further research reveals that alopecia impacts approximately 65% of patients receiving chemotherapy (for a bit of context, about 68% experience peripheral neuropathy – nerve damage in the body’s extremities – a side effect which has a low public awareness)
To see someone on cancer treatment smiling is far rarer, and for them to be talking about having exercised and worked whilst receiving treatment is almost unheard of. And that’s why this conversation and these images matter so much. Myself and other cancer exercise specialists – whether they are in the medical field, working in research, or delivering programmes directly to clients – still struggle to discuss exercise with healthcare professionals, and impress upon them the importance of talking to their patients about it.
The evidence is continuing to build: exercise improves treatment tolerance and efficacy; exercise improves recovery times; exercise can even prevent recurrence in certain types of cancer; exercise promotes a return to activities for daily living; exercise continues to support a healthy lifestyle during survivorship. This is all evidence we have to share, and features such as this one help.
Early diagnosis of cancer is key
Making it as far as survivorship depends on a few things, and one of the key factors is that, unfortunately, there is a point of no return for the vast majority of cancers. This meaning, a time when the disease is not curable due to the advanced stage of it. There’s a simple solution to this problem: find it sooner, and you stand a better chance of curing it – early detection saves lives.
Much is said within the cancer community about some cancers being easier to diagnose than others, and there certainly is a pattern: we have screening programmes for breast, cervical and prostate cancers; we tend to be aware of who is at increased risk of developing cancer due to genetics, other health issues, or lifestyle factors. And there are some types for which we can’t or don’t screen, and awareness is perhaps lower, plus the symptoms are less immediately indicative of cancer (pancreatic and ovarian cancers are good examples of these).
The statistics back this up: Cancer Research UK states that more than 80% of those diagnosed with an “easier to diagnose” cancer will survive 10 years or more post-diagnosis; the figure for those who are diagnosed with a disease which is “difficult to diagnose” is less than 20%.
Being fit for cancer
In the Women’s Health feature, Adele shares that fitness has been important to her for a long time, and that she had a conversation with her medical team upon diagnosis in October 2021. This mirrors my own experience: when I was diagnosed, it was me who raised the conversation of continuing to exercise during and after treatment, not my doctor. I was 31 at the time, and had the luxury of a positive prognosis. Which makes the memory of this situation galling – why, at that age in particular, was consideration of a good future not made?
My experience proved to me that fitness is a help when in a poor health situation, and that as much as exercising is about supporting our mental health, and enjoying how our bodies feel when they are strong, it is also about futureproofing them.
Women’s Health and other magazines: what next?
I see a logical step here: let’s take the conversation further. According to Trekstock, 34 people in their 20s and 30s are diagnosed with cancer in the UK each day, so let’s show the world who they are, and let’s talk about how they can and should train before, during and after treatment. Whilst it’s not possible to prescribe a personalised fitness programme via a national magazine, it is absolutely acceptable to reference exercise prescription guidelines – myself and other experts are ideally-placed to share the specific benefits of cancer exercise, as I have done here, as well as how to find someone to help you, the types of training you can be doing, how to talk to your doctor about it, and much more.
The only question that remains is which mainstream magazine wants to feature me first?