Community News - Macmillan Online Community

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
Planned maintenance - Tuesday 10th November, 7am-1pm

Hi everyone, Due to some planned maintenance on the main Macmillan website, www.macmillan.org.uk , the Online Community will enter a read-only mode between 7:00am and 1:00pm on Tuesday 10 th November. This means that you will not be able to log in, post or reply on the Online Community during this time. You will still be able to read posts and blogs on the site. If you feel you need some support while the Online Community is unavailable, please remember our Support Line is here for you. Our teams are available 8am-8pm, 7 days a week on freephone 0808 808 00 00 , or by email or webchat . Thank you for your continued support and patience as Macmillan continues to update and improve our online services. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at community…

Eliza -Online Community Team
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

Did you know that November is Pancreatic cancer awareness month? Around 9,600 people are diagnosed with pancreas cancer in the UK each year. Here in the Online Community, the “Pancreatic cancer” forum has over 2400 members. This November, we wanted to shed light on the amazing support they offer 365 days a year. In 2020 alone, the “Pancreatic cancer” forum has had over 13 million views. Across 2019, members posted 1192 replies to posts in the group. That’s 1192 offers of support, sharing experiences, and care. Our members are here every day, to reassure anyone with who has been diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer, that they’re not alone. “…rest assured on this forum you will never be alone and i found the cancer nurses/doctors are always happy to discuss any concerns you may have” Kevatvinegarhill…

Eliza -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
Cancer and Covid- Ruth's Story

October is Breast cancer awareness month and to mark this, Ruth sharing her cancer experience of being diagnosed with Breast cancer during the Coronavirus pandemic. Ruth talking about becoming a mum and being diagnosed, all during a national lockdown. I never thought I would be diagnosed with breast cancer, at 32, with a 7-week-old baby. I also never thought that I would be on my own when I heard those fateful words. But thanks to Covid and a nationwide lockdown, I was. I had found a lump in my breast whilst pregnant but thought it was due to the changes my body was going through anyway. However, after my daughter was born, the lump was still there. I also had problems breastfeeding on that side, so I decided to go to the GP to get it checked out. By this point, I was more worried about…

Megan- Online Community Team
Fixes and issues - an update for members, October 2020

In this blog, you’ll find some more updates about issues and fixes on the Community. We’d like to say a huge thank you for your continued support and patience at this time. We’re still working really hard behind the scenes and resolving issues as fast as we can. If you’re continuing to experience problems on the site then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on community@macmillan.org.uk . We also have our help pages which have step by step guides on using the Community, if you feel you might need some extra support. Reply button not fully responsive This is an issue where users are selecting the ‘reply’ button in a thread and the reply box doesn’t always appear. It looks like this: Where normally, a reply should look like this: This issue is intermittent, and does not…

Ellen - Macmillan
'What grief has taught me' by Melanie - Vol 2 'The problem with looking too far ahead'

In today’s Community News Blog we have the second 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. In this series Melanie explains what she has learned in her journey through bereavement so far, in the hope that it will be of help to many. If you missed Vol 1 of Melanie's blog, 'The ever changing journey of my grief', you can click here to read it. Vol 2 - The problem with looking too far ahead I have learned that it is important not to look too far ahead and not to think too much about the future.…

Former Member
Mental Health Check in

It was World Mental Health Day on Sunday 10 th October. Since then, there have been many conversations about our mental health. The Community is a place for these conversations to continue alongside being a source of support. Our Mental health and wellbeing are just as important as our physical health, so we should take the time to understand how we are feeling, and how we can look after ourselves. “Sorry about my long post, it's made me feel a little better to actually type this all out though and see it in print.” moosiemoo , Supporting someone with Incurable cancer forum “ I just feel like I need to voice my feelings, and this seems a safe place to do so.” Sunflower1988 , Follicular lymphoma forum “My biggest distraction is my family, looking after my boys, and enjoying conversations…

Megan- Online Community Team
Cancer & Me 35 Years On Vol 5 - Jolly Hockey Sticks!

Today in our Community News blog Willo is back with the fifth 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 4 – Brachytherapy you can click here to catch up. 'For almost a week the caesium needles were sewn into position and I was becoming quite badly burnt and the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh was very noticeable. As the deadline for removal approached I became more and more sore and very scared, as I have good healing skin and anticipated it being difficult and painful…

Former Member
Where do you find support online?

Hi everyone, It's Eliza from the Community team. Finding the right support for you when you're going through an experience with cancer is really important. We're interested to know whether you use other support groups outside the Online Community. You'll see the poll below this post, where you can vote to let us know. Making the Online Community better for you is at the heart of everything we do. If you'd like to talk to us to offer feedback about the Online Community, please remember you can email the Community team at any time at community@macmillan.org.uk .

Eliza -Online Community Team
Talking about cancer - Vol 1 - Debbie

Speaking about a cancer experience can help you and others, here on the Community the power of shared experience is all around us: ‘It really is reassuring to know others have trodden the path I am fearing to tread… It makes me feel I am not alone in this.’ - mamachimp Thank you for sharing your personal story…I’m feeling much more supported and not alone. Thank you so much for taking the time to sharing your thoughts, I find them incredibly motivating.’ - Jatz But what about sharing your experiences more publicly? Today we are starting a new miniseries about how some of our Community members found speaking to the press about their cancer experience. Debbie is our first guest blogger of the series and is sharing her experience of speaking to ITV Channel Island News about her Bowel cancer…

Former Member
A period of change

This month we start to see the changes from Summer to Autumn. We know this happens every year but unexpected changes like a new symptom, side effect or waiting for test results, can bring a lot of uncertainty and make us feel uneasy. We often discuss change on the Community. How we see change depends on who we are and our current situation. It may be forced upon us or something we are expecting, but either way we have to adjust. What we see on the Community is how you respond to change matters. You may not be able to control what is happening to you, but you can control how you react. Being there to help each other can be comforting and empowering. “People have different coping strategies. I very much wanted to know as much as possible from reliable sources so I could make informed choices…

Megan- Online Community Team

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