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Cancer – 2 Million Reasons

28/11/2014

There are currently around 2 million people in UK who have survived a cancer diagnosis and with better diagnosis and treatment options available, a greater number of people are surviving cancer in the UK, but there’s always room for improvement.

This is the main focus behind the "Two Million Reasons" campaign which Womb Cancer Support UK is getting behind between now and the 2015 UK General Election.

In joining the campaign over the next six months, we, along with many other cancer organisations will be urging all UK political parties to take a stand on cancer and to understand that there are two million reasons for the next government to make cancer a priority.

Through the Cancer - 2 Million Reasons campaign we, along with other cancer charities and organisations, are calling on all political parties to commit to improving research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for people affected by cancer today and in the future.

xx Kaz xx

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Womb cancer and the fertility issue.

26/11/2014

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A few days ago there was an article on the BBC news website about young breast cancer patients not being offered fertility advice when they were diagnosed.

The article stated that a charity, Breast Cancer Care wants all women with breast cancer referred to a fertility expert at diagnosis. Without any disrespect to breast cancer ladies, I would like to add that many womb, and other gynaecological cancer patients don’t seem to be getting any fertility advice either.

We at WCSUK are aware that many of the younger ladies who come to us have been given little if any information about fertility and this can have a devastating effect on them.

Having to deal with a womb cancer diagnosis is bad enough but to them find out that the treatment, which usually involves a hysterectomy (and possibly chemo and/or radiotherapy) plunges you into sudden menopause is something that many younger women especially find hard to deal with.

The emotional and psychological side effects are often overlooked and the long term damage this causes is often very hard for the women to deal with.

Even women who were post-menopausal when diagnosed often find it hard to deal with these issues so it must be so much harder for the younger ladies.

There is very little advice and support available for these women and that is something that needs to change. We know that some women have been lucky and had some very good support but sadly it is not like that for everyone. We would like to see fertility advice and emotional support available across the board for all women, regardless of age.

It is not good enough to just deal with the cancer and not the side effects of everything a cancer diagnosis brings with it

xx Kaz xx

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Is there a positive side to cancer?

10/11/2014

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I’ve always been a “glass half empty” kind of person. I tend to think about that could go wrong in any given situation, not because I think things are necessarily going to turn out bad but just because if they do go wrong then it’s not that bad a disappointment because it was expected. The way I see it, if you always think things are going to be great then sometimes you are going to be very disappointed. Whereas if I think that things are going to go wrong then most of the time I am going to be surprised that they didn’t! Do you see my logic in this? I hope so!!!

I guess many people would find it hard to see any positive side to cancer, especially those that have not been diagnosed. But for me, despite all the long term side effects of the treatment that I have to deal with on a day to day basis, I can say that there have been some wonderfully positive side effects to me being diagnosed with womb cancer at the end of 2009.

For a start, it has made me a stronger person. I believe that emotionally and mentally I am stronger and although I still get upset over things I am now able to deal with things in a more rational way.

I also don’t tolerate as much crap as I used to. That is one thing that has seemingly upset a lot of people because I will now stand up for myself and not allow myself to be used anymore. I was bought up to help people – if you had it in your power to be of use to someone or help someone out then you did. Trouble is, some people are all too good at taking advantage so I would find myself being expected to do things all the time. When I started saying no, people started getting a bit shirty and wondering what was up. Well, guess what – the doormat got up and walked away!!!

I’ve started putting myself first and doing more things for me rather than for the benefit of other people. That doesn’t make me selfish (although some people seem to think it does!!)

By far the most positive benefit of having cancer is the fact that I have had the honour of getting to know some very exceptional people. These people I would never have got to meet had we not all had the misfortune to having been diagnosed with cancer.

People who use their experience of cancer for good and want to make a difference and also people who just want to move on and forget cancer. Both sets of people are equally as inspirational and I am proud to know them.

So yes, cancer does have a positive side. It may only be a very small positive side for some people; you may not think there is one but if you look close enough you will find it there somewhere. Believe me, it’s there.

xx Kaz xx

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How many more women have to die because of womb cancer?

5/11/2014

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Running WCSUK is a bit like being on a rollercoaster - so many ups and downs that its hard to keep track of things at times. One thing that I never loose track of however, is the number of women that have died as a result of womb cancer since the organisation began back in April 2011.

Six women; Mothers, Daughters, Wives, Sisters, Grandmothers - have died so far and sadly they won't be the last.

Each time I hear of another passing it rips a piece of my heart away because these deaths should not be happening. These women, and many others, are dying because of a lack of awareness of a cancer that is easily treatable (if caught early) yet many of them, especially younger women, are often misdiagnosed or told they are too young to get womb cancer.

Only a couple of weeks ago, we lost a young lady at the age of 32. There are women in the chat group who are in their 20's - womb cancer is supposed to be a cancer that post menopausal women get! Why are younger women getting it? What is causing the increase in the total numbers of women being diagnosed? Most important of all is when is there going to be a national awareness campaign about womb cancer and when are we going to see womb cancer get as much publicity and media attention as other female cancers?

WCSUK has been doing what we can to raise awareness of this cancer for the past 3 1/2 years but sometimes it feels like we are banging our head against a brick wall. When I hear that some women think that womb cancer is a type of cervical cancer then I get angry because it shows that there is a desperate need for an awareness campaign.

Please, if you want to help raise awareness then join us in emailing your MP and ask them to ask the Dept. of Health to launch a national womb cancer awareness campaign. If you are in Scotland, Wales or N. Ireland then please emails your elected representative. We have produced an email template that you can use - just email wcsuk@hotmail.co.uk and I'll send it to you.

6 lives lost is 6 lives too many and I don't want there to be any more. Please help us raise awareness.

xx Kaz xx

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Cancer – 2 Million Reasons

Womb cancer and the fertility issue.

Is there a positive side to cancer?

How many more women have to die because of womb cancer?

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