View Full Version : Caithness Cancer Support Group
Many people are greatly reieved to realise that there are others in the same boat with whom they can share their experiences on a regular basis.
With the support and encouragement of cancer support specialists and of each other, group members learn to develop strategies for coping with their practical and emotional concerns.
Research shows us that those who participate in support groups experience improvement in their mood and quality of life. they are more likely to be hopeful and determined. this in turn will have a positive effect on how they handle what is going on in their lives.
I am starting such a group and hope to hold the first meeting next month in February in wick.Im not sure whether to hold the meeting in the afternoon or evening. It will be advertised on here, on posters and in the paper.
The cancer support group will be for anyone with cancer, their family, carers also for any medical people, or those who have had cancer. also for people who have lost a loved one to cancer. I also hope to provide a phone line for people who have lost someone to have a contact to chat with, someone who has been through a bereavement themselves so that no one will be alone at a very sad time.
Although there are plenty of web sites etc on cancer, it is always nicer to meet others locally in a friendly social setting for a cup of tea and a chat. I will also be looking for committee members to get the group up and going and arrange social events and talks by cancer specialists, pharmacists, dieticians etc.
Keep watching this space!!
Best wishes with this new group.
Many folk will appreciate a listening ear or help where to get advice, often a cup of tea or simply to know someone is there when they need a shoulder to help them or families/friends through the most worrying, unknown path they must tread.
Simply to know someone else has gone through much the same makes it seem not so earth shattering and makes you feel not so alone.
Hope you get many folk to join the support group and show support for each other.
thanks for that Pat, I have had so many messages from gp's and I am really happy with the support I have been shown in starting this cancer support group.There are a few speakers lined up already, including 2 gp's and premises have been provided for which i am truly grateful. I just wish it could have been started when himself was still here but i know he would have been really proud of what I am doing. It is something he really wanted.
Sapphire2803
26-Jan-08, 18:26
Well done you! :)
It's a fantastic idea, lets face it even these days just hearing "the C word" can send people spiralling into depression. There's nothing like talking to people who really know what you're talking about. Hope it works out well and if you ever need a hand (I can make tea if nothing else) then just give a shout
Thank you for your offer for help, I will remember that!!!
Mr P Cannop
06-Feb-08, 07:59
i would like to join this committee please
What a brilliant idea fran,i lost my grandad 2 cancer in october which was only diagnosed 4 weeks earlier as they were putting it down to his diabetes which i thought was terrible so think your doing a great thing here,well done.
Am only 23 but if you need any help atall with this i would love to help:)
Thats a good idea Fran, especially for those families that are giving pallitive care at home. Dependant on the level of commitment you need, I can offer some time to help. (Due to new job involving lots of travel) wherever I can. I lost my mum to breast cancer back in 1990, both my husbands parents died of it, his mam on New Years day 2000. Good luck
I would love to lend a helping hand wherever possible. My mum suffered from cancer 2 years ago, she is still suffering the repercussions of the treatment now (infact the whole family is). Back in hospital again as we speak. Have learned a lot in this time and unfortunately not all good. Would love to help if i can!
Thank you all for your support. Mr Cannop..do come to the meeting in wick when it is organised as we will need a committee.
Johnic, Bluelady and Ashaw1 ...with your experience with cancer you would be a great help at social meetings when cancer patients and their families and carers can meet with others for a chat over a cup of tea/coffee.
This will be starting very soon. the first meeting is to be held in the francis street club. i am just waiting for a date which is suitable for the speaker from Maggies, inverness, to come and will then advertise it. Hope lots of people will come, also gp's and nurses.
First meeting will be held on Wednesday 16th april at 7.30pm in the tartan room of the Francis Street Club, Wick. Guest speaker, and refreshments will be served. Lots of booklets available.
Are you nervous because you will be on your own...contact me
Need a lift to get to the meeting......contact me.
If you need any help or more information...contact me.
Best Wishes for this meeting - noticed it on front of the org.
Hope you all pull together and get this much needed group up and running - will not be attending as I do not live in Caithness, but my thoughts will be with you.
Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement and offers of help. Very much appreciated. hope to see you all there. Pity you wont make it Pat, but i will put a report on here after the meeting,. Hopefully I will have a date for the next meeting then.
Do come along for a cup of tea/coffee and biscuits, on me, and a chat.
In supporting each other we can ease the burden a little.
Cancer touches so many lives, in so many ways but it doesnt have to be faced alone.
Here is a presentation of how coping with cancer affected one particular family in the United States. I imagine that the experience is universal but the details of the healing process must vary widely.
http://www.conmon.com/slideshow/rememberme/
Hope this goes well for you. Much needed and i just know himself as you call him would be delighted and so proud of you. God i miss him so much. Wish i could be there too but work and that bloody ferry wont let me fit it in. See you next time im over x
Hi Fran,
Hope meeting goes well for you and the many folk in the County who need this kind of support.
Will be unable to attend, but will be thinking about you. Be very proud of your achievements..........there is much truth in the saying "If you want something done, ask a busy person."
Take care, and keep us posted.
good photo in the P&J today - very good article - maybe see you there, if not will see you on Monday 21st
when you contacted me about this earlier this year i said i would come, but i wont be able to make it anymore! happily i'm in remission and i'm very close if not there to being fighting fit, but it means i've moved back down the road and wont be able to help out!! sorry but i hope it all goes well!! if i'm home for any of the meetings i'll put my head round the door!
when you contacted me about this earlier this year i said i would come, but i wont be able to make it anymore! happily i'm in remission and i'm very close if not there to being fighting fit, but it means i've moved back down the road and wont be able to help out!! sorry but i hope it all goes well!! if i'm home for any of the meetings i'll put my head round the door!
Fantastic news peedie..delighted to hear it!:)
Will be watching with interest Fran and wish you every success with this venture..you are a star with a heart of gold.:)
Much affection, as always
kariaxxxxxx
Thank you all so much.
Peedie, i am so pleased your health has greatly improved, wonderful news.
Karia, i am always thinking of you, knowing what you are going through.
I'm starting to worry and not sleeping well, worried no one will turn up, at the meeting and I wont know what to say, and will i have enough milk and biscuits etc.!!!!
Louise shakespeare is bringing an exhibition. It is a lot of photoes with captions made by cancer patients. on a large screen. It was in the hospital reception area.I had a quick look one day, and what a schock I had as there was himself loking at me. I was so pleased it was there though. He was wearing a long blonde wig and his caption said "look what chemotherapy can do for your hair" Typical of him, he was laughing and joking all the time right to the end!!!!
There will be more about this new support group on Moray Firth Radio today, Tuesday, and hopefully again tomorrow.
Itwas on MFR and Caithness FM Radios today and will be in the courier tomorrow. Im feeling nervous incase people dont turn up and the PandJ said the meeting is at 8pm when in fact it is at 7.30pm!!
GreaT NEWS...Margaret, Viscountess Thurso will be patron of the Caithness Cancer Support Group which will be started tomorrow at 8pm in the francis Street Club, wick, and has sent her best wishes.
Kevin Milkins
16-Apr-08, 00:34
Hi Fran
Good luck with your efforts.
I had no idea of your trials untill I read the press and journal. Not easy to deal with. best wishes.
All the best for your meeting Fran. Dont worry it will go well. You're doing a wonderful job. Himself would have been very proud of you.
attidude9464
16-Apr-08, 22:22
Hi everyone, Just wondering if anyone knows how the cancer support meeting went tonight. I was intending to go but didnt make it. Hope it was well attended. Keep up the good work Fran. xx
stromalassy
18-Apr-08, 17:49
i really admire you for what you are doing fran, it's a fantastic idea and much needed, i myself have lost three of my family to cancer and have an uncle who is suffering from it, i feel it's becoming as common as the cold. Good luck to you your a saint :)
Here I am at last. The meeting I held in Wick was very poorly attended. I think there was some confusion with a thurso group starting in the same week, and some people thought it was me and that I had changed the meeting to Thurso.
I had expected a lot of people as so many had told me they would be there.
If I had managed to get a speaker for when I wanted to get the group going a year ago I think it would have been a better time. Im not sure that two cancer support groups in Caithness will work, after all, other support groups only have one group, though they may alternate their meetings between thurso and Wick, which I had planned to do.I had a great deal of publicity and support for which i was most grateful.
I am fighting a bad chest infection just now so havent decided what to do next. I have wanted so much to get this social group going for everyone and anyone affected by cancer, also those bereaved through cancer as there is no bereavement support in caithness either.I aslo wanted a phoneline in caithness for people to call when they were feeling very down, so i am using my own number at present.
Keep watching this space!!
I will be arranging the second meeting of the Caithness Support Group shortly, which will be held in the Salvation army premises in wick.
Hope more people will turn up for this meeting.This will be just a social meeting for everyone and anyone whose life has been affected by cancer, to have a chat over a cup of tea and share our experiences to help each other etc.:Razz There will be no guest speakers this time.
I will be arranging the second meeting of the Caithness Support Group shortly, which will be held in the Salvation army premises in wick.
Hope more people will turn up for this meeting.This will be just a social meeting for everyone and anyone whose life has been affected by cancer, to have a chat over a cup of tea and share our experiences to help each other etc.:Razz There will be no guest speakers this time.
Meeting tonight tuesday 4th november 7pm in Baptist Church Hall, Dempster Street, Wick.
If you need transport, contact me.
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