Community News - Macmillan Online Community

Cancer & me 35 years on - Vol 7 - The recovery

Today in our Community News blog we are very pleased to welcome our guest blogger, Willo, back with the seventh instalment of her blog series called ‘Cancer & me 35 years on’ . In this series, Willo, known on the Community as patsyann85 , tells us about her experience of being diagnosed with Anal cancer in 1986 while living in Zambia. We will be sharing more of Willo’s writing and incredible artwork throughout the next few months in the Community News . If you missed Vol 6 – ‘ The Abdominoperineal Resection with Colostomy ’ you can click here to catch up. Vol 7 - The recovery As you may have seen in the last chapter, my abdominoperineal resection was in November 1987 and coming round from the procedure (as everyone who has had major surgery will know) found tubes feeding in or out of every…

Former Member
The power of peer support

As cliched as it might sound, this year has certainly been unprecedented. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the cancer Community, affecting diagnosis, treatment, and causing many to have to shield or self-isolate away from loved ones. Yet despite all that 2020 has thrown at us, here on the Community we have seen our members pulling together to support each other through what has been an incredibly difficult year for many. At a time where face-to-face support hasn’t been possible, our Community cancer forum has been there night and day as a safe space for anyone who needed comfort, or just a place to be with others walking a similar road. Here on the team we wanted to thank each and every one of our members for all the amazing support they have provided to one another through one of the toughest…

Former Member
2020 on the Online Community

Picture from , as part of 2020’s Winter Picture Festival Looking back on this year, life might feel very different now than it did a year ago. One thing hasn’t changed: the Online Community is still here for you as a source of support. Here in the Community team, we are so proud of all of our members for sharing their experiences, and offering support to others. We wanted to reflect on everything that the Online Community has achieved in 2020. Our Community Champions won the Vicky Clement-Jones Award Here in the Community team, our volunteers winning the Vicky Clement-Jones Award was an absolute highlight of 2020. The Vicky Clement-Jones Award is for individuals or groups who use their own cancer experiences to improve the lives of other people affected by cancer. We’re sure you’ll agree…

Eliza -Online Community Team
Meet Amy, Part 2: Introducing Stoic Philosophy

In a recent Community News Blog we met our new guest blogger Amy, who struggled with her emotions after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Amy has since used this experience to write a blog to help others manage their mental health through cancer and is keen to share some of the resources which helped her. If you missed the first part of the blog, ‘Meet Amy – Finding a way to move towards acceptance and peace’, you can find it by clicking here. Amy told us about a time when she felt that cancer brought a lot of uncomfortable emotions to the surface. She says, “I was tempting to stuff them back down and pretend I was OK. Maybe I did this a little bit on the surface. Sometimes you don’t feel comfortable sharing your darkest thoughts. Maybe you feel a need to protect your loved ones. But I…

Steph - Online Community Team
Spending Christmas without a loved one

At a time of year where we want to rejoice with our loved ones, sadly there are many different reasons why this may not be possible. This may be your first Christmas without a friend or family member, and there may be additional restrictions in place which means this festive period will be very different for you. However you are spending Christmas this year, we hope you can still find some peaceful moments. “This Christmas is going to be a very different one, so don't even try and compare it to others, you need to take care of yourself” AT7 , Reality hits and it hurts blog "I had planned a busy Christmas with a number of changes, but the government have put paid to that! I wonder how many others will struggle more because of this? I have a feeling it could be a long few days with too…

Megan- Online Community Team
A day in the life of...a Cancer Information & Support Advisor

We are pleased to be continuing our ‘A day in the life of…’ series today with Ruth, who works as an Information and support adviser on the Macmillan Support Line. Now that webchat is available directly on the Community site, we wanted to bring you a few of the faces behind the support and help you get to know more about how our teams can support you. For more information on how to use Webchat, please click here to read our recent Community News blog. So here’s what Ruth had to say when we asked her a few questions about her day, over to you Ruth! So firstly, what is a Cancer Information and Support Adviser? A Cancer Information and Support Adviser works directly with people affected by cancer on the Macmillan Support Line – our job is to offer a listening ear and emotional support, as…

Moderator - Macmillan Community
Supporting yourself while supporting someone with incurable cancer (Part 1)

A loved one’s cancer diagnosis can have just as large an impact as a personal diagnosis. Our Cancer Information and Support Advisor, Jenna, is here to talk through some of the complicated emotions you might feel, and ways you can help yourself cope. December is a time where usually we might feel we ‘should’ be feeling positive and festive. I’m conscious that for so many this will be an incredibly difficult time. The shorter days and dark nights, not to mention current restrictions, are likely to have a real impact on our mood and our routines. This can leave many people supporting someone with incurable cancer feeling isolated. I want to reach out with a gentle reminder: although it can feel like it, you don’t have to go through this alone. It is important to look after yourself and remember…

Eliza -Online Community Team
A day in the life of...an Online Community officer

When looking round the Community recently you may have noticed a new ‘chat with us’ button appearing when looking at our ‘Ask an Expert’ section or our ‘ Help pages ’. This is our new Webchat feature and we are really pleased to let you know that the Community team will now be available to live chat with Community users Monday – Friday 9am-5pm to help answer your technical questions. For more information about webchat and how it works, please click here to read our recent blog. We thought, therefore, that it would be great to start a new Community News blog series showing you the faces behind webchat. We have started our ‘A day in the life of...' blog today with Community team member Rachel, who is here to tell you a bit more about what she does day to day to help support those affected by…

Former Member
In Conversation With Macmillan

If you’ve visited the Macmillan Instagram , Facebook or YouTube channels recently, you may have seen this amazing video, 'In Conversation with Macmillan', which you can watch again by clicking on the video below. https://youtu.be/0TP0Hpyiq5Y The video includes personal experiences of living with cancer through lockdown, covers some of the most frequently asked questions about the emotional and physical effects of cancer, and explains how Macmillan can help you through these difficult times. In the opening section, Macmillan host Terri, chats to Mandy, diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, about her experience of living with cancer and how she’s coped with the pandemic. “At times when I just can’t sleep and I want to reach out and I want to talk to someone, I’d use the Online Community…

Steph - Online Community Team
Not everyone can see your pictures

Thursday 3 rd December marks the International Day of People with Disabilities, or International Day of Disabled Persons. Not everyone might know that as part of the Equality Act in 2010, anyone with a cancer diagnosis can choose to identify as having a disability. However, it’s important to remember that people can be affected by cancer, and other disabilities, in very different ways. The theme for 2020’s International Day of People with Disabilities, is “not all disabilities are visible.” Of course, this is especially true on the Online Community. Here on the site, you can anonymously talk to people from all over the UK and internationally. While you might come to know quite a lot about someone else’s cancer experience, you might not always know how they might be affected by a disability…

Eliza -Online Community Team
What's next for the Online Community?

On the 29 th July this year, we upgraded our Community platform. Since then, we have been working hard on fixing technical issues and bugs, and continuing to improve the site. Today, we’re sharing some information on what’s next on our ‘to do’ list, and talking about some of the improvements we’re focusing on next. On the Community, we’ve been through a lot of change over the last few months. In July, we upgraded our Community platform. This upgrade has meant the Community cancer forum is now much more stable, and gives us the opportunity to improve the site based on what our members need. The upgrade brought with it some technical issues and glitches that we have worked hard on getting resolved. With the majority of these fixes out of the way, we’re now looking to make some improvements…

Ellen - Macmillan
Meet Amy - Finding a way to move towards acceptance and peace.

Amy, diagnosed with ovarian cancer. When you or a loved one are diagnosed with cancer, it can be a massive shock. It can mean having to deal with issues and situations which cause worry and anxiety. You may feel fearful about the future and not kno w where to turn. In the latest guest blog series, we’ll be meeting Amy, known on the site as , who struggled with her emotions after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Amy has used her experience to create her own blog to help others manage their mental health through can cer. Amy told me that she remembers feeling terrified, despair and hopelessness and describes the turmoil she felt inside; “Being positive didn’t feel right for me. It felt like denial.” “When I was diagnosed with cancer it was a pretty terrifying time. I experienced…

Steph - Online Community Team

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