LIVING WITH BREAST CANCER PROG…FANTASTIC!!!
LIVING WITH BREAST CANCER PROG…FANTASTIC!!! Can I just say a HUGE thank you to all the people at Breast Cancer Care who were involved in the 2 day course held in Bolton. It was the most positive experience that I have had in the last 12 months. I feel that it has given me the tools with which I can now start to move on with my life.
If any of you out there are thinking about going on one of these courses,
GO, you will not regret it, it will change your life.
Thank you once again to the girls who organised and ran the programme with the utmost professionalism and sensitivity, thank you to the people who funded it and made it all possible, and thank you to the girls who attended, I feel that I have made many friends for life!
Much love
Debbie x
I AGREE!!! Hi there - I agree whole heartedly.
What a fantastic 2 days - learnt a lot and met losts of lovely people and it has certainly started to help me move on with things. I still have not absorbed all that went on and keep going back to all the notes and information we were given and suddenly somethings are begining to make sense.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GO ON A COURSE if you can … you learn lots, come to terms with lots and meet some wonderful people as well.
Hope all goes well on Monday Debbie - will be thinking of you!
Hi to everyone who was involved at Bolton thanks for a wonderful few days and all the support.
Hope to see most of you on 22nd Aug.
Debx
I AGREE Hi Girls
First a big THANK YOU to all the Breast Care Team !! you were great !!
Also a thank you to all who attended I felt for the first time that I am not on my own and feel as though I have made lots of new friends.
For anyone at this stage of the recovery if you get chance please attend the course (LIVING WITH BREAST CANCER) you will find it very rewarding
A BIG HELLO to my cyber friends who I can now put a face to ! and see you soon with all the photos.
Love Janet xx
Hear Hear! All I can say is that all the posts on this topic are spot on
I had only just finished radio and all of those on the course were the most amazing role models for my future - so much was done and so many friends made its a wonder I had time to think through so much but I did and feel like I’m whole again
Many thanks to organising team, all those who attended, the speakers, sponsors and of course anyone who has ever donated to BCC - you made it all possible
Love to you all & looking fwd to 22 Aug too!
Val
HI Debbie Glad to hear how much you enjoyed and benefited from your two day course. Wish I could have been with you. You sound so positive and upbeat.
I wish there was something similar here in Perth. I would love to have more contact with women going through the same stuff as me. I joined a breast cancer support group but there were only five of us and the lady running it was too full on and didn’t give us time to talk to each other. I need something more informal. Wouldn’t it be great if we had our own Bosum Buddies group?
Love to all
AW x
Bosum Buddy Group Hi there AW
I agree with you. here in NZ I have not come across a course as such. Sounds like this would be incredibly beneficial for all of us.
There are breast cancer support groups here, but I was not sure I wanted to be surrounded by bc and being the main focus in my life!!!
Does this make sense?
LULU (NZ)
Makes perfect sense Hi Lulu
I know what you mean. The support group I went to was very ‘controlled’ by the facilitator and we didn’t get chance to get to know each other. We just told our stories (or as much as we could before she cut us off for taking too long!).
I wanted to find out more about the other ladies, apart from how sick they were. Let’s face it, some people you will get on with, others you won’t. I want to meet other ladies going through this and have a coffee and talk and laugh about life and the universe!
I thought about putting something out there maybe at the Cancer Council to see if anyone else wants to do this. But I’m concerned the support group might be offended. I’ve tried posting on the local forums but don’t get a single response to my posts, even though they are read by lots of people. I sometimes feel like the ONLY person in Perth who has breast cancer and wants to talk about it.
I even sent details of the UK courses and the Odyssey holidays to the Breast Cancer Foundation so they could consider doing something similar here. But haven’t had any response from them.
You can only do so much and then run out of energy.
love AW x
Hi AW,
These 2 day courses sound wonderful, but are they just another of the DIY parts of this whole BC jigsaw? Each of the treatment elements were pretty good in themselves (surgery chemo radio) but despite all happening in the same location(Oxford, and even down the same corridor) they could just as well have been on separate planets. Poor follow-through from one to the other and very difficult dialogue witht the consultants was all too common and worrying.
And now it is all about to end with the final radio treatment and then … what? This is the most apprehensive part of the whole journey! You ask …"So is that it? Did they zap it? “Can I get back on with my life now?” All perfectly normal questions, but nobody has any answers to them, and the truth is they don’t know, but there has to be a better way to re-adjust to what will be a forever different life?
I’m just the hubby in all of this, but supporting my wife is a role not to be underestimated. As mother to a young daughter, she is traumatised by the whole thing. I’m sure that just some aftercare or a similar 2 day course for her in this area would be wonderful. BUT, she doesn’t want to live and re-live her illness. Sadly some do though, comparing severity, grading, staging, tumour size etc which can scare off others wanting support. Hence her caution with support groups where some people just can’t /won’t move on. But there is a medium ground and the normal NHS after care approach seems to be to stuff a wad of leaflets in your hand, say " see you in x months for a scan and leave you to get on with it!!!
This is all a bit daunting. Any advice please?
Clive
Clive… Hi Clive
I finished my treatment in April and like yourself and your wife I had a lot of questions about what now! I have always said that this journey affects the mind as well as the body, and no matter how good your loved ones are the only other people who truly understand are people who have gone through it themself.
When this course was mentioned I stood back a little and wondered if I was going to be frightened even more by going, but when I spoke to the girls at BCC she asked me what my concerns now where about starting to live again. All the things that I asked (and Im pretty sure we are all the same) were going to be addressed on this course.
It was a structured well run 2 day course, all the questions about surgery, diet, mind well being, the latest treatments, exercise & relaxation were discussed. We had access to the top professional people in each particular field.
As the course developed, and possibly due to the sensitive way in which it was structured we were, for the first time since the start of our treatment ,treated not as patients but as people. It made a HUGE difference.
I have forgot how to laugh, really laugh, I had forgot how to have time to myself and not be constantely thinking about BC!! In fact the opposite is true on this course, yes you do initially compare notes, that is only natural as we have been through on hell of a time, but we were able to do it without fear.
We all soon moved on to hair, clothes, what we did at work. We enjoyed having a lovely bedroom, having a swim in a beautiful pool, going into the sauna, (I would have been to frightened if one of the other girls hadnt persuaded me to do it) and lastly we enjoyed a fantastic evening, beautiful foodand the odd glass of wine!
To put into into a nutshell, we learned how to move on, we found out that we could live a normal healthy life again, it started the process of learning to trust our bodies again, and we had LOADS OF FUN!!
I hope that this has given you a little insight into what these courses are all about and what they hope to achieve, I cannot stress how upbeat I have been since I have come back. If youre wife has the chance to go, take it, she will not regret it.
Much love
Debbie x
Life goes on Hi Clive
I just wanted to let you and your wife know that life does go on after breast cancer.
I’ve had a mastectomy, lympth node clearance, chemo and rads and now taking Arimidex for five years.
I’ve been back at work now for over two months and at first it was a struggle to get through the week but now I’m starting to get some stamina back.
Emotionally, I coped really well through most of the treatments and it was only when everything stopped that I fell into a hole. I didn’t know what to expect of myself and everyone else.
What I’ve found is that for my family and friends it’s all over. Finished. Cured. In remission. Whatever words they want to use. And, I suppose, for them it is. But not for me. I didn’t join the discussion forums or support group until I had finished treatment. But sometimes I need to talk to others who have gone through, or are still going through similar things. I need my support now.
I don’t want to talk about or relive breast cancer all the time. I want to laugh, be silly, have fun. Watch a movie, read a book. Have a gossip. Whatever I want to do. But sometimes I want to do these things with other breast cancer survivors.
I don’t want to feel like the only one whose been through this. Like it or not, we’re now all part of a very big club.
Debbie’s experience at the workshop sounded very positive and useful and I would jump at the chance to attend one. What is there to lose? Two days of your time? These things work for some, but not for others. Your wife might one of those who benefits.
Whatever she decides to do, love and friendship to you both. Keep loving and supporting her, it’s worth more than any treatment.
AW x
‘Life after Breast Cancer’ course Hi AW and Lancs lass,
Thanks both very much for your kind replies to my enquiry of last week about the 2 day ‘Life after Breast Cancer’ course.
It is a comfort to hear that other people have experienced the same fears and concerns One good thing from all this is that, having told my wife about this site and chat forum, she has found the courage to read through letters and info on the website and is now seriously considering going on the next 2 day course. But she is so terribly weak both physically and emotionally and needs to get thro’ this post treatment low period first. As you say it isn’t over just because you stop going for treatment… far from it
It’s after midnight and having just lost my next message by using the ‘Preview’ feature before posting it (don’t risk it) - that’s ½hour’s typing down the tube! I’ll leave my next query until tomorrow
All the very best and kind regards
Clive
Keep up the good work. Hi Clive
Good to hear from you again. I’m really pleased your wife is looking forward now and making plans (even if she doesn’t act on them yet). It’s a good start.
The forums are here for you and her, when and if you need them. We’d love to chat with her when she’s ready.
Love to you both
Keep fighting the good fight
AW x
How do we find out about these programmes Hi debbie the two day course sounds good and sounds like you all enjoyed it how do we find out about them joanmary
Hi Joanmary
Just click on the SUPPORT DAYS AND ACTIVITIES (top of page) and click on LIVING WITH CANCER it gives you a full list of dates.
Good Luck
Janet x
just to let you all know there is also a 1 day healthy lviing day which is also excellent, time for alternative therapies and a bit a pampering also on the same link above in support days and activities