DOCTOR’S NOTES
Steph McGovern
says she is proud of who she is
This time, we were just having a good conversation – even asking him about all his different paint brushes, I’d never really asked what they’re all for.
“When it’s something you’ve grown up with, you don’t ever stop and ask.
“It was a privilege to have that time, and hear my dad talk about how he feels about things and his life,” she adds. “I’ve learned so much more about him as a young man and being an artist in the Seventies.
“It made me think about how weird it was for him being an artist in an Irish family, where no one had gone to uni before him... You don’t stop and have those conversations, really.”
It inspired her to start “documenting” more conversations.
“I’ve started recording conversations with people in my family and asking them about stuff. I have family in Northern Ireland, so asking them about The Troubles. All of that is knowledge and history, and capturing their voice, capturing the skills and stories of other people, it’s really important.”
Steph says she’s been thinking more about documenting things for her daughter too – especially since she was born at such an unusual time – the start of the pandemic.
“In the world we live in now, we don’t stop and go, ‘Oh, tell me about this then,’ and just listen, (and then ask), ‘How did you deal with that?”’
Storytelling is a passion for Steph – yet she’s very clear on her boundaries with social media. “I never put my family on there – and when I say family, I mean my partner and my daughter, obviously I’m doing this campaign with my dad.
“But I haven’t even shared my little girl’s name or any pictures of her, because I want it to be her choice when she’s older, whether she wants to put herself out there or not,” Steph explains. “And the same with my partner, she’s not in the public eye and we keep that separate and that’s healthy, because no one’s making an opinion about our family life. If they have an opinion, it’s about me – and that’s fine because I’ve chosen to put myself out there.”
Parenthood has “really changed” her approach to taking care of her health too, Steph admits.
“It’s always been career, career, career, and survival mode when it comes to health. I did dancing for a long time growing up (she’s a former Irish dancing champion) and I like to run, but I never really did anything seriously thinking ‘is it going to make me live longer?’
Now, since having our little girl, I have more work-life balance, which means I’ve also got a really good relationship with my partner, and I focus on my spiritual wellbeing,” adds Steph.
“Not in a cheesy getting-the-crystals-out kind of way, more in the sense of what makes me happy. And doing more of what makes me happy, so it doesn’t feel like it’s all about my job.”
To find out more, visit specsavers.co.uk/generation-wow
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■ New cancer technology can kill advanced ovarian, pictured, and colorectal tumours in as little as six days, according to a clinical trial on mice.
The technology involves inserting tiny drug “factories” the size of a pinhead into the tumour.
The factories keep making and releasing immune-boosting proteins until the body destroys the tumour altogether.
The treatment killed ovarian tumours in all of the animals, and it also removed tumours in seven out of eight mice with colorectal cancer. could
help lower the risk of cancer
■ Vegetarians have a 14% lower chance of developing cancer than meat-eaters, according to researchers from Oxford University who analysed data from more than 470,000 Brits. Male vegetarians have a 31% lower risk of prostate cancer, while the risk is 20% lower for male pescatarians (fish-eaters).