Where do you find support online?

When 1st Diagnosed and struggling to work out what next (in Thailand) Cancer Research uknurses on line were just brilliant. Speedy, professional, infornative. Now I tend to use Mayo and Cleveland websites for late effect chemo info. And I try to offer support to others on Macmillan 

We have a ‘Men’s Group’ run by our local Hospice. Used to meet every Friday but now only on Zoom once every two weeks.

The sites I trust and find very helpful are this MacMillan Community and Cancer Chat on the Cancer Research website. But what has helped most has been highly-professional hypnotherapy via Zoom from the Olive Tree Cancer Support Centre. Because I have a good chance of two-year survival, I told my medical oncologist in the final appointment after treatment ended that I need to find work I can do as the fatigue means I can no longer work with lively teenagers. He told me that the charity Olive Tree Cancer Support Centre can help with web-based mentoring. They offer various types of mentoring and I am very glad I chose hypnotherapy. I'd never have considered this before (e.g. I refused hypnotherapy during childbirth and tooth extractions), but reading the description of it on the Olive Tree website made me realize how helpful it might be. And it was. It has changed my life in wonderful ways I had not thought possible. And now that the sessions have ended, I use the training the hypnotherapy gave me for self-hypnosis for twenty minutes every day. By the way, they work with all relgions/ faiths and none and if you have a religion/ faith it's fine to combine that with the therapy. I'm a Catholic Christian, and this was very important.

I find a wealth of information for Bile Duct Cancer on Facebook private groups. Not only is there a dedicated group for Cholangiocarcinoma but also for immunology and targetted therapy. There are both international and UK & European groups. 

Hi

Thank you for your comment, I hope you don’t mind me responding today, my name is Rachel and I work as part of the Community team here at Macmillan. I’m so sorry to hear about your mam’s diagnosis and everything you are going through at this time, it sounds like a lot to cope with and I am glad that you have reached out for some support.

The Community is here for you as a safe and supportive place online where you can speak to others who may have been through a similar situation for peer support. You might find it helpful to post about what you are going through in our ‘Head and neck cancer’ group, or our ‘Family and friends’ group. Here on the team we see every day the benefits of peer support, so I hope you find these groups to be a source of comfort.

If it helps to talk, Macmillan also have a ‘Support Line’ that is open 7 days a week from 8am-8pm. Our Support Line teams are here for you at this time – even if all you need is a listening ear. That number is 0808 808 00 00, or you can live chat to an adviser via our webchat facility during these hours by clicking here.

I hope that the above information is useful but if you have any questions, or ever need any support, please do get in touch with the Community team by emailing community@macmillan.org.uk.

Kindest regards,

Rachel
Macmillan’s Community team