182: Yes To Life Show with Robin Daly MBE - Episode 182182: Yes To Life Show with Robin Daly MBE - Episode 182
UK Health Radio Podcast
Robin Daly talks with Helen Keogh about her experience with aggressive head and neck cancer, from complex surgery to declining radiotherapy. Helen explains how research, AI and a strong gut instinct shaped her treatment choices and her role as a so-called "difficult" patient.
46:21•23 Jul 2026
A "Difficult" Patient: Helen Keogh’s Mission to Own Her Cancer Care
Episode Overview
- Serious illness often forces people to become hands-on project managers of their own health.
- Understanding the "why" behind each treatment can help patients feel more confident in their decisions.
- AI can be a useful soundboard for summarising studies and generating better questions, but shouldn’t replace medical advice.
- Communication style and openness from oncologists greatly affects how supported patients feel, especially those who ask many questions.
- There is growing need for personalised, whole-person cancer care instead of rigid, one-size-fits-all treatment boxes.
“We sort of have to become a project manager in your own health.”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? This conversation on the Yes To Life Show follows businesswoman Helen Keogh as she turns a shocking mid-life cancer diagnosis into a full-time project in self-advocacy and informed choice. You’ll hear how Helen’s background in project management unexpectedly became a survival skill.
Faced with oral squamous cell carcinoma, aggressive and life-altering, she says people with serious illness "sort of have to become a project manager in your own health." From delayed diagnosis to complex surgery that rebuilt part of her tongue using tissue from her arm, she shares the emotional and practical realities of head and neck cancer, including fears about speech, eating, and everyday accessibility.
The most controversial part of her story centres on her decision to decline recommended radiotherapy, even after four oncologists insisted it was "a no brainer." Helen explains the mix of detailed research and powerful gut instinct behind that choice, describing a "primal scream" after a mask-fitting that left her bolted to a treatment table. She’s very clear that she isn’t against standard care, but wanted to understand the "why" behind every option and look for systemic treatments such as immunotherapy.
Robin Daly and Helen dig into how she used PubMed and AI tools like ChatGPT as a soundboard to break down dense medical studies, assess study quality, and craft better questions for her medical team. They also talk about wider issues: being seen as a "difficult patient," the strain of rigid treatment boxes in UK oncology, and the promise of more personalised, whole-person cancer care.
If you’ve ever wondered how far you can or should go in questioning your treatment, this episode might leave you asking: how actively do you want to manage your own health journey?
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