🎧Yvonne Shapiro’s cancer journey – surviving by outgrowing her old opinions
Can loosening one’s grip on long-held beliefs lead to renewed vitality and extended time to cherish life? Dancer, wordsmith and data squirrel Yvonne Shapiro shares how shifting from resistance to acceptance influenced her journey with breast cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She explores the raw terrain of fear, trauma and joy, and “being both well and ill at the same time.”
If you are new to podcasts, simply click on the arrow to listen to Yvonne and Mariette, or on the download button to download the conversation onto your device.
Please note that Yvonne is not a medical professional and shares her personal experience of cancer.
In ep. 251 of the weekly podcast series Calm, Clear & Helpful, dancer, wordsmith and data squirrel Yvonne Shapiro considers
themes featuring in her life, including a love of numbers, data and dancing
her dread of losing her hair
her oestrogen-positive breast cancer diagnosis, natural treatment, and a mastectomy
four good years, followed by a crisis
“Are you trying to frighten me?”
finally, radiation and hormones
an immense shock and the red devil
a low microbial diet
“I couldn’t just die”
having Covid while being extra vulnerable during a chemo cycle
the many joys of circle dancing
“the paradox of living with the knowledge that I’m both well and ill at the same time”
the sequel to Yvonne’s book
Yvonne and Gail’s soul carer, Rafaela Joffe Peerutin: https://www.soulcarersnetwork.co.za/
Scroll down for more information on Yvonne and her book.
Funky Hats, Hope and Love: Outgrowing old opinions to survive two cancers (self-published, 2026) is available in hard copy (R190) and PDF (R100): send an email to Yvonne at funkyhats.hope.love@gmail.com
Chemo at Mediclinic Constantiaberg Hospital
In Yvonne’s Up Close & Personal article, she writes about Miriam Makeba, a high-maintenance furkid, knitting temperature blankets, and love (with photographs).
About Yvonne
Yvonne Shapiro dances. She dances with life, with learning, with research, with data and information, with activism … and circle dancing is her passion. Yvonne is also an information specialist, copy editor, proofreader and mentor. She loves teaching circle dancing, computer skills, data analysis, earring-making and other skills.
Since she was 60, in 2017, Yvonne has been on a cancer journey, dealing with both breast cancer (which is ongoing) and non-Hodgkins lymphoma (which was successfully treated in 2023). At times, she has been unable to dance. Other than those times: On with the dance!
Yvonne sporting “chemo curls”
Email: at funkyhats.hope.love@gmail.com
Heres’ the link to Yvonne’s Circle Dancing Channel.
You can also listen to international circle dance teacher Judy King’s exploration of the concept of circle dancing, traditional and contemporary choreographies, and “dropping deeper into the dance.”
Podcast music by Mart-Marie Snyman.
Thumbnail image: Unsplash
Photographs of Yvonne Shapiro: supplied