{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Rad Chat","title":"E213: Louise Butcher - Living with Breast Cancer, Running Topless and Body Confidence Advocacy","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2369,"description":"Trigger Warning: this episode discusses breast cancer, cancer, self esteem and mental health.\n\nEpisode 213: Part of the Living with and Beyond Series (Part 74)\n\nDescription: In this powerful and deeply inspiring episode of the Living With and Beyond Cancer series, Naman Julka-Anderson and Jo McNamara are joined by Louise Butcher, who shares her extraordinary journey of living with breast cancer, finding strength through running, and challenging perceptions of body image after cancer.\n\nLouise first turned to running as a way of managing severe health anxiety, using exercise as a form of self-medication and reassurance that her body was healthy. Ironically, while training for her first marathon, she was diagnosed with invasive lobular breast cancer, a devastating shock, particularly as her mammogram had shown no abnormalities just three weeks earlier.\nDetermined not to let cancer define her, Louise continued training throughout her treatment. She underwent bilateral mastectomies and remarkably completed her first marathon just six weeks after surgery and during the same week as her radiotherapy treatment. Running became more than exercise; it became her therapy, her resilience, and her way of reclaiming control during one of the most traumatic periods of her life.\n\nSince then, Louise has completed five marathons, four of them running topless to proudly display her mastectomy scars. Through this courageous act, she is challenging societal perceptions of women's bodies after breast cancer, promoting body positivity, reducing the stigma surrounding mastectomy and flat closure surgery, and demonstrating that choosing not to undergo breast reconstruction does not diminish femininity, strength or confidence.\n\nIn 2024, Louise made history by becoming the first woman in the world to complete the London Marathon topless following bilateral mastectomy, earning a Guinness World Record while raising more than £3,500 for Breast Cancer Now. Her advocacy has inspired thousands of...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/0wFiffqRab_C_nPB5bCBJUg_mULsM2eF_DxRLoq0kVA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8xZDE3/OGQ3YjY4OTE4Yjkz/ZmQzNTJhNDlkYmQz/OTY3ZC5KUEc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}