In our latest Talk of Hope podcast, we speak to Jules Fielder.
In November 2021, Jules was diagnosed with advanced EGFR+ lung cancer, which had spread to her pelvis and spine. Jules has been taking the targeted therapy, Osimertinib for over three years which, until recently, had kept her cancer stable and allowed her to live a very normal life.
But all that changed at the beginning of 2025 when Jules’s latest scans revealed that her cancer had spread to her brain.
In this latest episode, Jules shares what life has been like since she received the news everyone with cancer fears and how, despite everything, she is still as hopeful as ever.
Bursting the beautiful bubble
“I think the worst thing is your consultant’s face. You walk into the room, and you just know. You know the news isn’t good. For me, when I walked in, I knew before my bum hit the seat, they were going to tell me something was wrong.
“And for it to come at this time in our lives, when our little bubble was beautiful, caused real panic.
“My son was just about to start his GSCEs. He’d been accepted into rugby academy, chasing a professional contract and we had booked a holiday of a lifetime to Japan. I know there’s never a right time to get this news, but it was really hard to deal with.”
Cyber knife doesn’t involve cutting
“I feel so fortunate that I was able to have cyber knife treatment, but I recognise there’s a lot of misunderstanding about what’s involved.
“Cyber knife is just the name of the radiotherapy equipment. You are not having brain surgery or going under the knife. It’s the name of the robotic arm which channels a targeted laser beam to the affected area.
“I think of it as the ‘godfather’ in the radiotherapy world. It is the most elite piece of equipment and when I was told I was going to have it, I felt privileged so even though it’s never the news you want to hear, it still doesn’t mean the end. There are still options and, in my case, pretty incredible options.”
Surrendering your driving licence
“In the three and a half years of being in this situation, the three things that have tipped me over the edge is adjusting my finances, the emotional heartache of seeing your child go through it all and losing my driving licence.
“I love being Mum’s cabs. Some parents hate it, but I don’t so when I had to surrender my driving licence, I felt like I’d really lost something. I didn’t know what my purpose was. I was being stripped of my identify and for one of the only times, I felt really scared.
“But me being me, I soon put a positive spin on it. A wonderful friend got me an electric bike. Decorating it with disco ball strips so you couldn’t miss me out there on the road! I want my son to see that even when you’re hit with a problem, you can turn it into a positive. I didn’t want him to worry about me.”
A full-on Gucci experience
“My heart goes out to anyone who suffers from claustrophobia because, when you have radiotherapy, you are screwed down to the bed. All I can say is you are with the most incredible team of people. The medical staff at The Royal Marsden are remarkable. It’s a full-on Gucci experience.
“You can request what music you want. I ask for quite calming music and ended up sleeping through most of it! I thought you might as well enjoy a little nap!
“At first, I didn’t sleep because I was so fascinated watching the robotic arm. I lay there with this feeling of appreciation that I can have this type of treatment. I was like ‘Oh wow! Someone’s invented this!’ I gazed at it in fascination and I’m just so grateful to everyone involved.”
Being vulnerable again
“When I got the news that my cancer had progressed, it almost felt like I’d gone back to the beginning again. By that point, I understood my diagnosis. I understood my treatment and knew how to deal with my side effects. I knew all my cancer team.
“Then you’re cast back into the unknown, having to meet a load of new doctors, of learning about a new type of treatment, of managing other symptoms.
“As Mandee said, it’s like being a patient again. Obviously, you’re always a patient and you never truly forget you have lung cancer but, because everything had been stable for over three years, you can just live your life. I was in control. Now I felt vulnerable again.”
The results are in…
“You’re scanned six weeks after you have cyber knife and there’s a 12-week embargo on any travel so the wait for the results was agonising.
“When I got my results, it showed that two of the four brain tumours had completely gone, and the remaining two had drastic reduction. They are barely measurable now so we couldn’t have got a better result, and my consultant signed my fit to fly letter.
“I see January as just a blip in my journey now. We’re off to Japan for our incredible holiday. We started saving for this when Toby started secondary school and it was so nearly taken away. But we’re going and I just can’t wait. Robot discos, micropig cafes and gallons of Korea skincare products await.
“I’ve always said you have to keep living and that’s what I intend to do.”
You can listen to Jules’s interview on full on both Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and get in touch if there are any topics you would like to hear about on Talk of Hope.