Community News - Macmillan Online Community

Winter Picture Festival - Let's get creating and sharing!

Many of you might remember last year's Winter Picture Festival , where many of you shared pictures of your art, crafts, dogs and beautiful snowy scenes. Across the site, we know many of our members love sharing their creations, photography and paintings. The Winter Picture Festival is a celebration of your creativity, and an opportunity to bring joy to yourself and other members here on the Online Community. To join in with the Winter Picture Festival, all you need to do is upload a picture in the "Winter Picture Festival" discussion thread. We’ve set up a discussion thread in the “Express Yourself” group . We’d love to see everyone getting involved using the “Reaction” buttons to let other members know you liked their picture! It would be lovely see pictures on a winter or festive theme…

Eliza -Online Community Team
Join me in celebrating our amazing volunteers.

At Macmillan, we are really excited to kick off the month with Volunteers' Week, 1-7 June. We’re dedicating this time to celebrate and thank all our amazing volunteers for the time they’ve given to help people with cancer live life as fully as they can, over the last year and during this difficult time. Whatever you’re doing right now, whether you’ve had to pause your volunteering or not, your support is valued now more than ever. In the Online Community, we have additional reason to celebrate and thank our volunteers, as the fantastic Community Champions, have won an incredible award. You may have seen Community Champions around the different groups on our Community cancer forum , helping welcome and support members. We are so proud of the way they use their own cancer experiences…

Steph - Online Community Team
It's almost time!

Hi everyone, Last week, the Community team blogged about some important changes that are going to happen from Monday 27 th July. With only a few days to go before the upgrade, we wanted to reach out with a reminder about what to expect. We know how important the Online Community is to you and all our members. While this upgrade marks a new beginning for the Community, the site will still continue to be a source of comfort and support for everyone affected by cancer in the same ways it always has. Key changes and what to expect On Monday 27 th July , the Community will experience some ‘downtime’. This means that the site will not be available from approximately 9am-5pm. The site will then enter a ‘read only’ mode until Wednesday 29 th July. This means you will be able to view and…

Eliza -Online Community Team
Coping with loneliness over the holidays

Loneliness is something we see members of the Community talk about throughout the year in our Community forums. Feelings of loneliness are often experienced when you have cancer as you may not have told anyone about your diagnosis or told them how you are coping. This time of year can be difficult for many people for lots of reasons and not alone if you’re struggling. Hopefully, this blog will provide some comfort as we’re highlighting conversations from our forums and including support information. “Christmas can be an awful time of year - not just for those of us who have undergone/ getting on with cancer treatments - yet also anyone that feels lonely/ suffering mental problems, etc. It's a very difficult time of year!” Community member, Bowel (colon and rectal) cancer forum “It’s a…

Megan- Online Community Team
“It was a surreal experience” - Lesley’s story

After her breast cancer diagnosis six months ago, there was a lot Lesley wasn’t expecting about her own experiences of cancer treatment and recovery. She also wasn’t expecting how much strength she would find in herself, and unexpected places. Lesley talks about her experience with diagnosis, cancer care, breast cancer surgery, radiotherapy, follow-up and recovery in today’s guest blog. Six months ago, I was told the news I had breast cancer... the wind physically left my lungs. I was alone when I got the news. This was for two reasons. Firstly, I thought it was yet another benign pesky cyst and it was a minor irritation and two - it was in the middle of a pandemic. The lovely consultant took my hand, looked me in my eyes and said, “I’ll make sure you’re ok.” I could’ve hugged him, but I…

Eliza -Online Community Team
Dining with an Ostomate - "...a quick and easy way to get food inside me, even when I might not have much appetite."

Earlier this month , Debbie, our resident ‘Ostomate chef’, shared with us a little about her struggles and how she’s coped with eating following an ileostomy earlier this year, and an extremely nutritious ‘Super Green Soup’ recipe. This week she’s back to talk about how she reintroduced fruit into her diet , and shares with us two rather tasty smoothie recipes. Enjoy… Reintroducing fruit: Eating fresh fruit has always been part of my diet, so it was something that I was very keen to reintroduce once I had the ileostomy. I was able to eat bananas from pretty much the third day, and have found them very helpful when needing to thicken my stoma output, and as a mid-morning snack in the early days when I was unable to eat much at meal times. As I knew that I could eat them with no ill effects…

Former Member
Spring Picture Festival - Community in Bloom

As we’re approaching summer, we wanted to take some time to look back on the Spring Picture Festival this year. We recently asked members to share pictures of what their spring looked like, whether pictures of flowers, art and crafts, pets or more. We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who shared a picture as part of the Spring Picture Festival. We’d like to add a special shout out to one of our Community Champion volunteers, jane2511 who kick-started the discussion and picture sharing. There are far too many beautiful pictures of flowers, gardens and animals to share everyone’s photographs here in this blog. You can view all the pictures as part of the Spring Picture Festival in the discussion thread in the Express Yourself forum . If you’re new to the Community or if you might…

Eliza -Online Community Team
Take a moment

Today’s blog is exploring how you can take a moment for you, in a way that is accessible and safe for your situation. We know that alongside the physical impacts of cancer, there’s also the emotional effects to cope with and you may be wondering what support is available to help you. There’s a lot of discussions from members of the Community sharing the different strategies and techniques. Complementary therapies and relaxation techniques can have a positive impact to your emotional and physical wellbeing. Included in this blog are personal experiences shared by members of the Online Community. Why is it important to take a moment Living with cancer, or being there to support someone, can add a lot of anxiety and stress. This could be from dealing with uncertainty, attending lots of appointments…

Megan- Online Community Team
Supporting anyone new to the UK with cancer information and support

When you’re living with cancer, or supporting someone with cancer, it can be all consuming. Cancer can be an awful lot to deal with. The current tragic events unfolding in Ukraine had us thinking about people living with cancer who might also be dealing with other life changing events, or who may be new to living in the UK. Whether you’re coming to the UK as a refugee or for other reasons, Macmillan are here to support you. We’re also here for anyone supporting a refugee living with cancer, or anyone else new to the UK who might benefit from cancer support and information. In this Community New Blog we will highlight all the ways you can find support from across Macmillan and beyond. Online Community We welcome anyone living with cancer or supporting a family member/ friend with cancer…

Steph - Online Community Team
International Cancer Support: Connecting across borders in our Online Community

In today’s world, geographic boundaries no longer limit compassion and support. In our Online Community, we welcome members from across the globe, including the USA, Australia, India, South Africa and beyond. Regardless of your background, culture, race, or religion, our Community is a safe space for anyone affected by cancer to give and receive support. “Hello there from across the pond. Very humid here in Florida but cooler weather coming.” Community member - Breast cancer forum From North America, all the way to Asia, members are keen to connect with others that are in a similar situation. No matter the country of residence, a cancer diagnosis can bring along the same challenges and questions. Recently, we had someone join the Community from India, hoping to connect with other members…

Dylan - Online Community Team
Cancer & me 35 years on - Metastases and radiotherapy

Sketch, and all other artwork, by Willo Today we are back with the next instalment of Willo’s blog, ‘Cancer & me 35 years on’ . Willo was diagnosed with Anal cancer in 1986 while living in Zambia. In this blog series Willo has been sharing her experience of living through and beyond cancer. Alongside sharing everything she has been through, Willo has also been sharing the amazing artwork she created during this time in her life. From talking about how she moved back to England after her diagnosis to start treatment , to sharing her experience of going back to art school after her colostomy surgery, Willo has shared with us her whole journey in the hope that it will help others to read about what she has been through. As one Community member commented after reading Willo’s blog, ‘ 35 years…

Former Member
Sunita’s experience with post-surgical menopause, chemotherapy and hair loss.

Sunita was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer and is sharing her experience with post-surgical menopause, chemotherapy and coping with her changing body image. There can be a whole range of things to consider when you go through treatment and everybody’s experience is so unique to them. Different aspects of body image are often talked about on the Community and Sunita is sharing her personal journey in the hope it can help you. As a trained makeup artist, Sunita also shares some of the things she did which you may find helpful. My whole world – and plans for a family – were shattered in April 2016, when I was suddenly diagnosed with ovarian cancer, having shown no previous symptoms of the disease. Cancer is still stigmatised in the Asian community, from my experience, with many people unwilling…

Megan- Online Community Team