The Graft Podcast

The Graft Podcast

What Nobody Tells You About Life After Cancer Surgery | Dar Barrow

Jun 25, 2026 · 45 min · 13 segments

Dar Barrow was back on Graft to talk about chapter two: chemotherapy. The surgery was hard. What came after it was something else entirely. This conversation covers the side effects nobody prepares…

Dar Barrow was back on Graft to talk about chapter two: chemotherapy. The surgery was hard. What came after it was something else entirely. This conversation covers the side effects nobody prepares you for - frozen eyes, fizzy hands, the complete collapse of taste - the worst mental health day of his life arriving on an ordinary dog walk, the NHS helpline he used more than once, and what recovery actually looks and feels like when you're 80% of the physical version and 60% of the mental version of who you were before. He's also running 107km around the Isle of Wight for Bowel Cancer UK. His second book is out now. **⏱ CHAPTERS** 0:00 Introduction - Dar Barrow returns3:37 Where Dar is now6:07 First day of chemo and the anxiety that arrived the night before7:07 Being hooked up to the matrix10:29 Walking home after treatment — when the side effects kicked in11:41 Like the 90s but without any of the fun12:13 Fizzy hands, frozen eyes and lockjaw13:49 Surgery vs chemotherapy — which is harder14:36 The NHS 24/7 helpline and why he ignored it until he needed it18:47 The ctDNA test: trying to find a medical way out of chemo22:16 The Creamy Curse and never touching pizza again24:03 The worst mental health day — and the front door breakdown29:02 The helpline call that helped, and why he started writing31:29 Never once getting used to it32:49 The scan in October that finally cleared him34:46 Emma and the relationship through the fog35:28 The shocking statistic of men vs women 37:47 Why Dar keeps talking publicly about all of it39:04 The neighbour: "it just gets a little bit less every day"40:55 Recovery: 80% physically, 60% mentally43:31 107km Isle of Wight challenge for Bowel Cancer UK45:55 What the watch says vs what the body felt like a year ago46:17 Book two out now **📚 DAR'S BOOKS** Oh Shit I've Got Bowel Cancer - Amazon / Kindle / Apple Books The Fog of Chemotherapy: The April Shits and the Creamy Curse - out now Profits to Bowel Cancer UK 🏃 ISLE OF WIGHT CHALLENGE - 107km for Bowel Cancer UK Link to Fundraising page ――――――――――――――――――――――――――― 🎙 GRAFT PODCAST New episodes every other week.Instagram: @graft\_podcast

Dar Barrow was back on Graft to talk about chapter two: chemotherapy. The surgery was hard. What came after it was something else entirely. This conversation covers the side effects nobody prepares…

Show signals: SuitabilityLimitedBiasNot politicalAudience≈22k followers

Welcome Back, First Returning Guest0:02 – 1:49

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:02

David Barrow.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:03

I feel uncomfortable calling you that, but I'm going to start with that, David Barrow.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:07

Welcome back to the Graft podcast.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:09

You are our first returning guest.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:12

Am I? Yeah.

Dar BarrowGuest

0:13

Oh, wow.

Dar BarrowGuest

0:14

Thank

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:14

you.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:15

We have invited everyone else, but they all said no.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:17

But you are back.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:18

I'd never go as to do.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:20

Thank you so much for taking the time to join us.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:23

Quick recap for those people who perhaps maybe didn't catch the first episode.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:28

You wrote a book called Oh Shit, I've Got Bowel Cancer, which, as we said at the time, doesn't need a massive amount of introduction.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:37

That was your first book of three as a plan.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

0:41

And the first time that we spoke was at the end of the first book where you were talking about... knowing that something was wrong a discomfort discomforting feeling in your stomach going to have scans seeing something on the monitor about yeah that doesn't look quite right getting that confirmation from the surgeons and then going to have it removed but today we're back to talk about the second stage of that does to give people an insight of what um the treatment looks like thereafter and obviously we've had some conversations about it and you've shared some already but Am I right to think a little bit that when we were talking the first time, that identification, that worry, that removal, when I think about that story, I go, God, that would have been terrifying, obviously.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

1:33

You've had it removed.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

1:34

Happy days.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

1:36

We're all okay.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

1:36

But then you go obviously into a second stage of treatment, which you're going to talk about, which you're going to give a very different view on because we shared some stories.

Ben GlimmerveenHost

1:46

So first of all, how are you? I'm good, thank you.

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