Real Health podcast: Returning to yourself after diagnosis with cancer coach Karen Kruger

On the Real Health podcast this week, I was joined by cancer coach, Karen Kruger.

In December 2021, Karen was getting ready for her youngest child’s first birthday when she found a lump in her breast. It wasn’t until February 2022 that she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Kruger told me that she has always been a very mentally strong person, but this was hard for her, “so I was knocked down on that ladder (mental health ladder) quite significantly but having studied psychology I actually really understood now what it meant. to be depressed and to struggle with those dark thoughts.”

She spoke to me about how when you are clear of the cancer and you look fine, it is still difficult to deal with the emotional trauma of the disease.

“It took a good few months because physically you look fine. Obviously my hair was growing back, so I didn't really have a whole lot of hair, I didn't look right there, but everything else, you're done treatment, you're not in the hospital every day but you’re still worried. And people are like, great, so when are you going back to work?” she said.

Karen worked in leadership development and coaching for the five years prior to becoming a cancer coach. She said she wanted to offer her expertise to people who don’t have a lot of support and offer her perspective on going through cancer.

“If you can help one person, if you can make a difference with just one person it's quite remarkable,” she said.

You can listen to the full episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.