Did Alcohol Give Me Cancer? with Kelly Gunn

Did Alcohol Give Me Cancer? with Kelly Gunn

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This raw and often funny conversation between Vic and guest Kelly Gunn looks at that question through the brutal lens of breast cancer, regret and going alcohol-free. Kelly shares how casual wine nights escalated into regular heavy drinking in expat communities, where booze was the main hobby and a 3.30pm start was normal.

Years of being told her breast lumps were “probably benign” ended in a 2024 diagnosis: seven tumours, a double mastectomy and the realisation she’d likely had cancer for around a decade. She describes the fury and guilt of thinking, *“Holy shit, I gave myself cancer,”* while Vic repeatedly stresses that no one can say exactly what caused it.

Together they talk honestly about alcohol as a group one carcinogen, the link with breast cancer, and how rarely that information is spelled out on wine bottles or in doctors’ rooms. Kelly explains that she didn’t quit drinking immediately after her diagnosis; it took six more chaotic months, a reconstruction surgery and one last blowout trip before she stopped for good.

You’ll hear about medical menopause, joint pain, American medical bills being haggled by debt collectors, and the pressure to be the brave, upbeat “survivor” even when things feel anything but. There’s plenty of dark humour too, like Vic’s love of the “Irish exit” from boozy weddings and her refusal to pay for everyone else’s drinks.

At its heart, this conversation is for anyone curious about the cancer–alcohol link, women wondering if their drinking might be harming more than just their Sunday mornings, and people who want reassurance that feeling awkward, angry or alone in sobriety doesn’t mean they’re doing it wrong. It might leave you asking: what would change if you had all the facts in front of you?