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Is Anyone Listening?

27/4/2015

Womb Cancer Support UK may not be a charity but, in the absence of a dedicated womb cancer charity we are doing all we can to raise awareness of this cancer.

We are so much more that just an online support group and although I work very hard to try and raise the profile of womb cancer and spread the word it sometimes seems like I am banging my head against a brick wall.

I wish that there was as much time and exposure given to womb cancer as there is to ovarian and cervical cancer.
I also wish I knew why womb cancer isn't seen as being as worthy a cause as other cancers.

Cancer is cancer and we deserve the same respect. We are Mothers, Sisters, Wives, Daughters, Aunts, Nieces and Grandmothers.

According to CRUK there are 26 women diagnosed with womb cancer every day in UK.
We deserve to be listened to and one way or another we will be. The more of us there are, the louder our voice will be.

We may not have money for flashy advertising or be able to organise "celeb" tea parties but we care deeply about what we are doing and will continue to work alongside the wonderful women who come to us and despite having been diagnosed with womb cancer, they are as determined as I am to get womb cancer the recognition it needs.

xx Kaz xx

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Into Year 5!

26/4/2015

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Well, we are now into our 5th year of supporting women who have been diagnosed with womb cancer. We celebrated our 4th Birthday on 11th April and a couple of days after that I did another live radio interview with Inverclyde Radio (which you can listen to here)

As many of you will know, WCSUK started out as a support organisation but it quickly became apparent that there was a total lack of awareness about womb cancer so our mission statement now is to support those diagnosed and to raise awareness.

It's been a long 4 years and there have been many times that I have felt like I am banging me head against a brick wall. We are only a small voice amongst the many groups, organisations and charities out there that are also trying to be heard.

As a small voluntary organisation with no funding it is extremely difficult to be heard or listened too. Far bigger organisations than us have louder voices!! But we will continue to do what we can to raise awareness of womb cancer.

I shall continue to send out our awareness leaflets to who ever is willing to help distribute them - I send out 2 or 3 packs a week around the UK so the word is getting out, albeit not as quickly as I would like.

As I have said before, the awareness raising that we do is very much grass roots level; the women who have been through a womb cancer diagnosis are the ones who are helping to raise awareness.

I am in the process of making plans for this years awareness campaign in September so hopefully that will give us another boost in getting the word out.

If you can help in any way then please contact me at wcsuk@hotmail.co.uk

xx Kaz xx

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Happy Birthday to us!

11/4/2015

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It’s been 4 years since WCSUK began and we’ve come a long way. From a simple Facebook page with a few women who had a similar cancer diagnosis to myself to what it is today. It’s been a long road but I am so proud of what has been achieved over the past 4 years.
I set up WCSUK back in April 2011 because I remember how lonely and scared I felt when I was going through my womb cancer treatment and I figured that there must be other women out there who felt the same; and I was right.
Slowly the numbers of women joining the FB page grew and it now stands at over 1,500. We have a private chat group available where the women are able to chat in complete privacy. The ladies there are so supportive of each other and are there for each other through the good times and the bad times and believe me, there are plenty of both.

WCSUK has a great social network presence – we are on Facebook and Twitter; we have a website and a Youtube channel; an awareness board on Pinterest and I have written countless articles and blog posts for various websites, not to mention our own blog that is on the website.

Although WCSUK started out as a support organisation we soon started to raise awareness as it became apparent that there was very little known about womb cancer. Many of the women, myself included, had never heard of it before being diagnosed.
So every September since 2011, we have used that month as our awareness month. It is used in US as Uterine cancer awareness month so we followed suit.
In 2013 we had our first meet up in Birmingham and around 2 dozen women from around the UK descended on the city for a weekend of fun and awareness raising. It was such a success that we went back in 2014 and did it all again, and plans are underway for a return visit in 2015.

Being a small voluntary organisation with no funding has made it hard to get the word out but little by little we have managed to raise awareness. We work very much on a grass roots level basis. Many of the women who have come to us and found support have helped to spread the word by distributing our cards to help other women find us and also taking our awareness leaflets and leaving them at GP surgeries, clinics, libraries etc.
Some of the women shared their stories on the blog and some even shared their story with national media to get the word out about womb cancer and raise awareness.

It has been a long and often difficult 4 years. I have done nothing but eat, sleep and breath WCSUK and at times it has taken a heavy toll on my own health; I often spend 6 to 8 hours a day doing WCSUK related stuff and I think the time has come for me to take a step back, safe in the knowledge that we have achieved so much but also knowing that there are now others who are doing wonderful work in raising awareness of womb cancer.

In July it will be 5 years since my treatment ended, and despite the fact that I am living with ongoing health problems as a result, I want to regain some me time and start living for me again. It’s not been an easy decision to make and I have no intention of walking away from WCSUK but I’m just taking a step back and hoping to enjoy and appreciate life a little bit more rather than being tied to the laptop all day.

The support will still be there and the awareness will continue to be raised but I also need to take a step back in order to get my life back.
Thank you for all your support and encouragement over the past 4 years and I hope you will continue to help WCSUK raise awareness of this cancer that affects almost 9,000 women each year in UK.

xx Kaz xx

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Is Anyone Listening?

Into Year 5!

Happy Birthday to us!

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