Why we need to raise awareness.

Today is 20th September. International Womb Cancer Awareness Day.

I had never heard of womb cancer before my diagnosis - and I'm not alone. There are many women in Womb Cancer Support UK who were unaware of it also.

This is why this awareness campaign is important - if women are not aware of womb cancer then how can they know if they are at risk of getting it?
We are all aware of the various campaigns around for breast cancer; cervical cancer; ovarian cancer but there is nothing for womb cancer.
That is why we at WCSUK are determined to change things!
This is our  2nd awareness campaign! Although we do raise awareness throughout the year, we felt there needed to be a full on campaign to get womb cancer out in the open and get women talking about it.
We are very grateful to the women who have "told" their story - either by writing the various guest blogs that have appeared here during September or allowing their story to be turned into a mini video that have been put on youtube!
You can check them out here! http://www.youtube.com/user/WombCancerSupportUK/videos?flow=grid&view=0

When I got my diagnosis I felt alone and scared! Living on a small island made me even more isolated - there was no one I could talk through who knew how I was feeling.

That was the main reason behind setting up WCSUK - I didn't want other women to feel so alone as I did. The main group now has 500 followers on FB and we have a closed chat group of over 70 women who support each other through the ups and downs of having womb cancer. Some are 5 years+ in remission - others have only just been diagnosed.
The one thing that stands out is the age range. Womb cancer is often regarded as a cancer of post menopausal women but we have women in the group who are in their 30's and 40's, Our latest lady to join us was 19 years ole when she was diagnosed!

This above anything highlights why we need awareness campaigns like the one we are running throught September. There needs to be much more done to highlight the risk factors and the signs and symptoms to look out for.

Sadly, we can only do so much. We are a small group, with no financial backing. But we have the support of some lovely women who are helping to spread the word bit by bit and if we can get more women to be "womb aware" and get any abnormal bleeding checked out by their GP, then we are doing something positive.

Thank you again to everyone who has read the blogs; watched the videos; shared the links; changed their profile picture to something peach. It all helps to raise awareness.

Always remember - no one fights alone!

Kaz xx

©WCSUK