Community News - Macmillan Online 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
The Community team are now available on webchat!

When looking round the Community recently you may have noticed a new ‘ Chat with us’ button appearing when looking at our ‘ Ask an Expert ’ pages or our ‘ Help section’ . This is Macmillan’s webchat feature and we are pleased to announce that the Community team are now available for you to live chat with for technical support Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm. What is webchat? Webchat is a service that has been available on Macmillan’s main website for a number of years. It is now available directly on the Community as well. Webchat allows anyone to connect with a member of our Macmillan specialist teams online and live chat with them for help and support. This means that you can message one of our specialists directly and receive live support from them as they answer your questions, or help…

Former Member
Cancer & me 35 years on - Vol 6 - The Abdominoperineal Resection with Colostomy

Today in our Community News blog Willo is back with the sixth instalment of her guest 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 5 – ‘Jolly hockey sticks’ you can click here to catch up. I returned to Zambia, still working furiously (as I said previously, being faced with your own mortality really spurs you on) and everything was going smoothly until 18 months later when during a regular check-up my doctor (George again) felt something higher in the rectum. I could feel him flicking his finger…

Former Member
The bright side - Kevin's story

Kevin, known on the site as kevatvinegarhill , was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer in March 2019. As part of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, he’s decided to share the story of his diagnosis and treatment with the Online Community. Unexplained weight loss, fatigue and a continual feeling of indigestion after hot meals. There couldn’t possibly be anything serious, could there? My GP thought otherwise and referred me for a series of tests which began in November 2018 and went on to March 2019. My GP rang me in March and told me it was suspected cancer, and that she wanted me to hear the news from her rather than get an appointment letter from the Churchill cancer unit in Oxford. That was very kind of her. By this time however, I had gotten quite jaundiced and the news did not come as any…

Eliza -Online Community Team
Taking Care of Yourself – COVID-19 and Lung Cancer Awareness

Autumn is fully upon us and as the dark nights close in, it’s as important as ever that we have access to the support and health services that we need. In today’s Community News Blog, we’re talking about the impact of COVID-19 on health services and cancer. November is lung cancer awareness month too, so we will highlight some of the specific issues related to lung cancer. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on cancer patients. The first lockdown over the UK summer (April – August 2020) saw 350,000 less people put onto urgent suspected cancer referral lists. Not all those referred have cancer of course, but it does raise concerns about the implications for people that do. In a thread posted in our Lung cancer forum, 'mum diagnosed during pandemic' , we can read and feel what it’s like for a…

Tom C - Online Community team
Transgender awareness week

Friday 13 th November to Friday 20 th November is Transgender awareness week. To support this, we wanted to make our members aware of our LGBT+ forum . Should you need support for living with a cancer diagnosis and identifying as Transgender, this is a safe place for you to access support. It is a place for you to speak to others who may have had a similar experience and who can understand how you may be feeling. What does Transgender mean? Transgender is a term to refer to all people who do not identify as their assigned gender at birth/and or the binary male/female gender system. Assigned Gender is the gender a person is given at birth and what gets written on their birth certificate when they are a baby. Gender identity is a personal concept of oneself as either male, female, both…

Megan- Online Community Team
Bereavement Support in the Online Community

On this day of remembrance across the UK, we’re talking about bereavement support in this Community News blog. We understand that the death of someone close to you isn’t something you ‘get over’. It’s something you attempt to come to terms with. The Community can be a comforting place to share your feelings and get bereavement support from people who understand. “I just don't know how to shake this feeling, it’s been a year and it feels raw now, it didn't feel that way last year I think I was just in shock, but I can't help but feel so lost without her.” - Mario189, bereaved family and friends group. Learning to live with your grief can mean so many different things to different people. There’s no set period of time in which you should expect to ‘feel better’. “No one knows how…

Steph - Online Community Team

Awake and up all night?

We know that cancer can sometimes cause sleepless nights. Join our Cancer Chat forum for some company here in the 'Awake and up all night' thread.

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