September Song!

Well, September has come around again. Doesn't seem like 12 months since we held our first Womb Cancer Awareness Campaign and yet here we are again!
This year's campaign has had a slow build up as last years was a little bit of a rush job, but nevertheless it was a success and raised our profile - which is good because more women found out about us and are now getting mutual help and support from the women in the group.

We now have 465 people, both male and female, in the main Facebook page. According to FB statistics, we have followers in places like India, Canada, Gibralter, France aswell as US and Ireland.
Its nice to know that we are reaching out to women beyond these shores.

We have 2 events running on FB during September - a month long event to raise awareness https://www.facebook.com/events/488044444558974/  and a one day event to mark International Womb Cancer Awareness Day on 20th https://www.facebook.com/events/185190028280889/  where we are asking people to change their profile pic to something peach to raise global awareness of this cancer.

We have also produced a series of short video's that are available on our youtube channel - the latest of which features some of the women from WCSUK. Check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z0GZNV5Mys

During the month there will be a series of guest blogs from various women who have been affected by womb cancer. I want to thank them for being so brave and open about their experiences.

If you, or anyone you know needs help and support then you can find us on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/WombCancerSupportUK  or via our website here http://wombcancersupportuk.wix.com/home

Stay peachy this September!

It's all about September!

Well, its nearly that time of year again - September! Womb Cancer Awareness month!
After our first campaign in 2011 we are aiming again this year to turn Facebook peach by asking people to post a peach themed profile pic, either for the whole month or just for one day, namely 20th September which has been designated International Womb Cancer Awareness Day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/185190028280889/permalink/185660818233810/?notif_t=like#!/events/185190028280889/
Over in the US, our peach sisters at
https://www.facebook.com/uterinecancerawareness have their own event https://www.facebook.com/events/485720588122842/ so you can be sure that we will make the day of 20th September last a lot longer than 24 hours!!!

Throughout the whole month there will be various events taking place both online and in the real world so keep an eye out for any "peachiness" happening near you!!

We are looking for some guest bloggers to write about how womb cancer has affected them so if you fancy having a go then please contact us, either by leaving a comment under this blog or via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/WombCancerSupportUK

Don't forget to check out the video's that we have uploaded onto our youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/WombCancerSupportUK/videos

See you in September!!

It's over to you..............................

In the run up to September's womb cancer awareness month, I have asked some of the ladies in WCSUK to have a go at writing a piece for the blog. The first one is by joint admin at WCSUK, Debra Parry.

"On Thursday afternoon I sat with my daughter while she made quill pens. She has always insisted on ‘mother-daughter bonding time’, so what better way to achieve that than by being involved with her work and researching and learning new things - or, in this case, old things - together.

I am just over two years post-op for endometrial adenocarcinoma, otherwise known as womb cancer. I had never heard of womb cancer/endometrial cancer/uterine cancer when given my diagnosis in June 2010. Now I know more about womb cancer than I would normally ever have wanted to know and, sadly, am no longer shocked at how commonplace the story of never having heard of womb cancer before diagnosis is among women.

Cervical cancer. I’d had one or two ‘abnormal’ smear test results many years ago – anomalies that cleared up on their own – and nothing from then on. But smear tests were never intended to detect changes to the cells inside the womb cavity itself. There was no evidence of cancer found in my cervix after it was removed in July 2010.

Skin cancer. I’d developed a growth on my leg but the biopsy had shown it wasn’t cancer.

Breast cancer. I’d found a lump but the mammogram and ultrasound etc had shown it wasn’t cancer.

Oral cancer. I’d developed a lump inside my lower lip but, after removal of the lump , it was found to not be cancer.

So far so good...

In late 2006 I passed out on the stairs at home, fell and broke my foot. I’d never passed out before. In 2008 I developed a persistent cough and breathing problems that were diagnosed as asthma. I’d never had asthma before. In 2009, only days after my 50^th birthday, I came down with ‘flu’. Several bouts complete with temperature spikes and rashes followed over several months – swine ‘flu’ was doing the rounds, I was ‘unlucky’. And then the bleeding set in. Only minor at first. I noticed I’d begun spotting some months leading into my period. Then I noticed more spotting some months at the end of my period until it happened at the beginning and the end of my periods and they became slightly longer but remained quite regular. Then came some spotting mid-period and the age-old excuses were going through my head: I’m 50, here we go! It must be hormone changes. It must be my age. It must be the start of the menopause.

In April 2010 - following four months or so of abnormal bleeding that, by then, was almost constant and at times worryingly heavy - a lightbulb finally went on in my head. “This isn’t normal, this isn’t the menopause!”and I booked myself in to see my GP. From the moment that month when I told Dr B, “I think we’re looking at something potentially very serious here,” through to the day he telephoned me after my womb cancer diagnosis to say, “We knew there was something there, didn’t we, because of the ultrasound, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be this,” he had never doubted me. Not once. And I shall forever be grateful to him.

So, how did the quill pens go? My daughter made twelve in total and I got to try them all. It was fun , but I can safely say I understand why ballpoint pens were invented!"

(c) Debra Parry

Ninja Womb Warriors!

As well as the main WCSUK Facebook page we have a private chat group, and this is somewhere where the women can chat in complete privacy about things.
Its a close knit group, as you would expect from women who share their most intimate problems with each other.
It is a group that pulls close together when one of its members is having a bad time, but it's also a group that can laugh and joke and smile together.
Some time ago, one of the ladies christened the group "The ninja womb warriors" and that name has stuck!
We are warriors, and we're fighting an evil foe!
I had some tiny polymer clay figures made that I turned into keyrings for the women and after my recent attempt at making an awareness video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ZO9FxHyO0  I used these figures in a second video!
Check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5em9wf8rVDc&feature=bf_next&list=ULr-ZO9FxHyO0
Ok, so I'm never likely to win an Oscar but these little video's are doing what they are intended to do - to spread the word about Womb Cancer Support UK and to reach out to all the other women out there going through womb cancer.
If we can reach them and let then know that they are not alone - then these short video's will have worked.

Ninja Womb Warriors Rule!

Hollywood here we come!!!

We have made the move into the world of youtube and have uploaded our first video!
Its nothing fancy, infact its very basic but it is intended to be the first of many awareness raising videos made by us here at WCSUK.
We are also hoping that other women will make some short films for us and we look forward to collaborating in future months.
So here it is - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ZO9FxHyO0

Please watch and rate - and then share! We need to reach out to as many women as possible so we are relying on you to help us!

Thank you!

Womb Cancer isn't ageist!!

What a difference a year makes!!

What an amazing year its been for WCSUK!

From a chance meeting between myself and Debra, both of us womb cancer survivors; has sprung a mutual support group full of wonderful women, each with their own story to tell.

The past year has seen WCSUK grow from its small beginings on Facebook to over 330 supporters.

As well as the FB page and chat group, there is this blog, the twitter account and the petition page - all brought together by the website set up for us by Debra's daughter Annette.

We ran a successful awareness campaign during September as well as a fundraising auction to help add funds to the research project being run by Dr Ellis at Hammersmith Hospital.

Debra sold Christmas cards designed by Annette and I continue to make and sell jewellery for the fundraising.

So, its been a busy year - full of highs and lows as we follow some of the women in the group through their treatment schedules.

So here's to the next year - and beyond! What does the future hold? Well, we've still got a long way to go to dispell the stereotypes about the women who get womb cancer and we've got a lot more awareness raising to do but our priority has been and always will be to offer support and advice to those women who have womb cancer.

Because, no one fights alone!

http://www.wix.com/wombcancersupportuk/home