Community News - Macmillan Online Community

Diet and cancer on the Community...

Who doesn’t love food? It’s a huge part of our lives – both in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but also a social sense – catching up with family and friends, celebratory occasions etc. If you’re healthy, eating the right number of calories and nutrients might not be a problem. However, if you’re receiving treatment for cancer this can be a difficult thing to do – treatment might result in you feeling unwell and unable to eat or digest certain foods. The Community’s a great place to be in the sense that here you can talk to, offer suggestions and support to others who might be struggling with their diet as they go through treatment. I’ve picked a few discussions and highlights from the Community where members have been supporting each other when it comes to diet and cancer. Diet and soya…

Former Member
"...don't immediately start to focus on the worst-case scenario..." - Meet the Champs: latchbrook

Following last month's 'Meet the Champs' Q&A with MikeO , this month we meet latchbrook , who’s been with the Community since early 2017. You'll find latchbrook champing our Melanoma , Skin cancer and Travel insurance groups, and also welcoming newbies to the Community in our New to the Community group, and giving them a ‘nudge’ in the right direction - what a busy Champion she is! How long have you been using the Online Community, and what brought you to the site? I have been an active member of the site since the beginning of 2017, although I had lurked around a bit before feeling confident enough to post. I’d been diagnosed with a malignant melanoma in November 2016 completely out of the blue and wanted to find more information about this type of cancer. I didn’t think to look…

Former Member
Dining with an Ostomate - Chicken and squash gratin

It’s time for another Dining with an Ostomate post – this week Debbie shares with us a DELICIOUS AND SIMPLE ‘Chicken and squash gratin’ recipe. It features the immune boosting, vitamin and fibre-packed butternut squash; and chicken breasts for an added protein punch. Enjoy… Chicken and squash gratin Serves 4, easily halved, and freezes well. Ingredients 1 tbsp vegetable oil. 1 onion, finely sliced. 1 leek, roughly sliced. 450g butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2.5 cm pieces. 3 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized strips. 50g butter. 50g plain flour. 500ml milk. 100g mascarpone cheese. 2 tsp dried tarragon (or 1 tsp fresh, chopped). 100g ciabatta bread, torn into small pieces. "Immune boosting vitamin and fibre-packed butternut squash..." Method Heat the oil in a…

Former Member
"There is nothing better than a cuddle with our cat to cheer Brian up..."

"Animals are such agreeable friends. They ask no questions. They pass no criticisms." - George Elliot Over the past several years the benefits of pets to mental wellbeing has grown clearer and clearer. The companionship pets offer is a great way to reduce anxiety and stress, and dogs especially encourage owners to exercise, and possibly socialise with other dog walkers. Over the past several weeks I’ve been talking to Community members and our own staff about the impact pets have on their lives – here’s what they had to say… Cruton and her ‘quirky dog’, Shady: “There are days, which thankfully are few and far between, that I have a down day. My mum used to say these days are allowed, but you must not set up camp and stay there. “I am fortunate to have my daughters, very good friends…

Former Member
Mother's Day - "The thought of them got me off the floor...talking, smiling and laughing again."

This Sunday’s Mother’s Day , a day to celebrate mothers mean to us; all they do for us, and all they mean to us. To recognise this year’s Mother’s Day , I’ve been talking to several mothers on the Community about how having cancer has affected them as a mother. I’m not going to take any further time introducing or the piece – so without further ado, here are our mothers of the Community… 'The thought of them got me off the floor, got me talking, smiling and laughing again.' Cara19 My first thoughts being diagnosed with bowel cancer were of my babies. I just couldn’t bear the thought that I might not be there for them. But after the inevitable tears, the thought of them got me off the floor, got me talking, smiling and laughing again. I’m one of the lucky ones and so blessed to have…

Former Member
My cancer, my sexuality, me.

Just a couple of weeks back I was fortunate enough to have the LGBT foundation get in touch asking if we’d be interested in hearing from a friend of theirs, David, who was diagnosed with cancer last September. David wished to share with us his story about being a gay man and facing cancer – fortunately, David's recent chemotherapy treatment has been successful! David’s story makes for an extremely heartfelt and eye-opening read, from a perspective perhaps shared too little on the Community. Here it is… My nephew – he’s 12 – and I, are in Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. We find ourselves in front of a large TV screen. There’s a film about the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality which took place in 1967. He’s curious and open minded (a credit to his parents, I say), and he watches…

Former Member
"I once had a pub lunch with Judi Dench..." - Meet the Champs: MikeO

Following on from last month's 'Meet the Champs' Q&A with Greg777 , this month we meet MikeO , who you'll find Champing our Head and neck cancer group . Enjoy... How long have you been using the Community, and what brought you to the site? I found the Community not long after my diagnosis in October 2013, after a bit of manic Googling had got me terrified for my prospects I calmed down and looked for a more balanced view. I've always been a big user of internet forums since first taking the plunge into the computer age in 2004 and I'm active in several, travel based some of them but mostly an Everton football club forum that I'm a co-admin on (somebody has to do it). Not a fan of social media in the Facebook or Twitter sense but I like to get to 'know' people on forums so the Macmillan…

Former Member
"Always trust your gut instinct" - Colleen's story

Colleen got in touch with the Community team a couple of months ago to share with us her experiences following her appendix cancer diagnosis. Colleen’s story offers not a great insight into what is a rare cancer, but also the emotional impact diagnosis had on her and how she reacted. If you’ve been affected by appendix cancer, why not share your experiences in the comments below. So, on being woken on a Friday night in March ’17 with what I can only describe as a pain that I hadn’t experienced before – it wasn’t excruciating, I just knew something wasn’t right... Trip to the out-of-hours service and following a couple of tests I was sent home – the pain went the Saturday, only to return the Sunday, and I was due to fly to Barcelona Monday. So off back to the out-of- hours service, and…

Former Member
Navigating life after losing a loved one

Having recently lost her grandmother, Marie got in touch with myself and the team to share some tips and advice that helped her cope with the loss. Off the back of this, she agreed to put a blog together in the hope that it might be a source of support to users of the site who've perhaps lost a loved one to cancer. Losing someone you love inevitably means reframing your life in some respects. When you’re grieving and in the process of learning new ways of thinking and acting, your world can feel crushingly complex, especially if you need to make sizable lifestyle adjustments. Consider this practical advice for finding your way through major transitions without becoming overwhelmed. Workplace woes Returning to work after losing someone you love can be extremely challenging, especially…

Former Member
Womb Awareness Day 2018: "You're too young to have cancer."

September is Womb Cancer Awareness month and Womb Cancer Awareness Day is the 20 th September. To mark it, Sarah has written about womb cancer and what to be aware of. Sarah was diagnosed with womb cancer in June 2017. She loves jigsaw puzzles, scuba diving and enjoys visiting Egypt where she has lots of friends who live there. Sarah also runs her own blogs, Fatigue vs frustration , Concentrate on the what is and not the what ifs , It’s the season! and How life changes after cancer . It still surprises me today whenever I tell people about my cancer diagnosis. It’s: “oh you’re too young to have cancer”. I was diagnosed with womb cancer in June 2017 and, to my surprise, only 1% diagnosed are in my age group. I was 37 at the time of my diagnosis and what surprised me the most is I hadn’t…

Former Member
World Lymphoma Day: "My illness did not define us, our strength and courage did"

The 15 th September is World Lymphoma Day, a time to raise awareness around symptoms and diagnosis. To mark it, Mike has written about his experience of being diagnosed and the treatment he received. Mike, from Inverness in the beautiful Highlands of Scotland, is married with two daughters and four granddaughters. He was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 1999. He also has his own blog called Thehighlander’s journey . I often refer to my 19-year journey with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma as my Magical Mystery Tour. Lymphoma is the fifth most common type of cancer in the UK. It can occur across the age ranges including children but it is on the whole very treatable with people living for many years after being diagnosed. But the diagnosis of Lymphoma can be long and drawn out as Lymphoma…

Megan- Online Community Team
'What grief has taught me' by Melanie - Vol 3 'The time for good self-care is now'

In today’s Community News Blog we have the final volume of our guest blog series, ‘What Grief has taught me’ by Community member MelanieL. Melanie has been a member of the Community and a contributor to the Prostate cancer , Carers only and Bereaved spouses and partners discussion groups for a long time. Melanie lost her husband Paul to an advanced form of prostate cancer in May of 2018. Throughout this series Melanie explains what she has learnt in her journey through bereavement so far, in the hope that it will be of help to many. If you missed Vol 2 of Melanie's blog, ‘The problem with looking too far ahead’, you can click here to read it. Vol 3 - The time for good self-care is now I have learned how important good self-care is. It can be so difficult to look after our own needs when…

Former Member

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