After a conversation with our Chairman, and in line with Government advice, we are cancelling our monthly meetings until further notice. It’s not easy to grasp the extent of the situation we’re all in but keeping away from each other will play a big part.
Stay safe everyone.
All you Headcases out there – please carry on collecting Raffle Prizes. Let’s raise a few quid and buy our Hospitals some much needed gear. We’ve had a good run recently, lets keep the momentum going!
Our next meeting may be some months away so let’s try and make the raffle a good one.
These are open to anyone affected by cancer and their friends and families. We’ve had very good feedback from attendees. The events are held in Stafford and Fenton, Stoke on Trent.
A big focus this week on PREVENTION. HPV is a fast growing worldwide cause of H & N cancer, as well as cervical and other cancers but the good news is vaccination can prevent a large number of these.
Let’s get rid of any stigma associated with HPV – around 80% of us will have at least one variety at some point in our lives. That’s the whole point of cervical screening and thankfully there seems to be little stigma attached to that. Anyone had a wart or verruca? That’s HPV at work.
For straight talking info, you can’t beat the good old NHS. Take a look at this NHS page…
A quick note to welcome our new friends visiting for the first time. Some from Lost Chords group and some recently out of treatment for Head and Neck cancer. The March meeting was untypical, as we had a definite topic for the group. Our meetings are normally a bit rowdier, as people get into conversations, move about and visit the bar more often!
Don’t forget we also have a Twitter feed, which roughly mirrors this site but also has countless links to resources and organisations involved with H & N cancer treatment.
@headcases2 is the twitter handle
Firstly, Can I thank Gill on behalf of everyone who enjoyed her Mindfulness practice last night. A packed meeting saw us transfer over to the function room where we could spread out and form a large circle. Gill then introduced us to how Mindfulness can improve our lives and reduce stress by creating an approach to life where the present moment becomes the focus, rather than the past or future.
We had several guided meditations, followed by group discussions, where several people reported surprise at how powerful the effects were.
Gill was keen to remind everyone that the key is REGULAR practice, even if it’s just 10 minutes a day. The benefits are many, and will vary from person to person according to their needs. We finished on an exercise in breathing that can be done anywhere, and will help take stress out of a situation by re-centering the awareness. Here is the aide-memoire card for that exercise…
I’d also like to thank Anne, for liaising with her friend to bring this evening about. Keep practicing!
This is an invitation for anyone affected by cancer and their families.
“We want to connect you with others affected by cancer. We also want to support you in adjusting to life with and beyond cancer by providing information on the wide range of services which are available locally as well as healthy living activities including self-help ideas and tips, benefits and other types of support”
The regular events are FREE to attend in Stoke and Stafford. For more information and to book a place, please contact Macmillan Cancer Support at Royal Stoke Hospital:
Email – macmillancentre@uhnm.nhs.uk
Phone – 01782 676333
The location for this event is North Staffs Carers, 1 Duke St, Fenton, Stoke on Trent ST4 3NR
The session runs from 10.00 am to 13.00 pm
Anne has arranged for her friend Gill to attend our March meeting to talk about Mindfulness. Living in the present is important for all of us, but it’s so easy to be lured by the worries about the future, and regrets about the past.
“In Asian languages, the word for ‘mind’ and the word for ‘heart’ are same. So if you’re not hearing mindfulness in some deep way as heartfulness, you’re not really understanding it. Compassion and kindness towards oneself are intrinsically woven into it. You could think of mindfulness as wise and affectionate attention.”
If you’re affected by cancer, either as a patient or carer I’m sure Gill’s input will be useful, perhaps even life-changing. So many of us are slaves to the past and future, missing out on the only reality, which is NOW.
A big thank-you to Christine and Margaret, who attended our meeting and gave a very interesting talk about the history, operation and future plans for the Samaritans organisation. The questions afterward went on for some time – I think Christine and Margaret were wondering if they were ever going to get away!
Samaritans was started up on 2nd November 1953 by a minister who had been horrified by the suicide of a young girl, who might have been saved had there been someone to hear her concerns. Since that time, Samaritans has grown to include 201 locations and 20,000 trained volunteers. Nowadays, Samaritans are available 24/7 via phone and email to those aged 18+ and offer a totally confidential listening line to those under any kind of stress where sharing their story might help. This can range from the suicidal, the bereaved and addicts to people having relationship problems,work problems and so on. Samaritans don’t offer advice, but instead can suggest different ways of looking at a problem. Sometimes the simple act of sharing a story can release the caller from enough stress to enable he or she to solve a problem themselves.
It’s important to realise that as a national system, Samaritans can never guarantee you’ll reach the same person if you call more than once. Repeating a story can have its own benefits however.
All calls are FREE, even from pay as you go mobiles with zero credit balance. The phone number for all calls is 116123. Emails are also free: send emails to jo@samaritans.org. Visits to a branch are also free – you can expect some security screening before being accepted for a face to face visit.
For more information, visit their website by clicking the logo below
First meeting of the decade is this Wednesday. We have a guest speaker from the Samaritans organisation and an update from Stafford Golf Club on the amazing fundraising they’ve done for us.
Samaritans contact details are on their web page:
Whatever you’re going through, a Samaritan will face it with you. We’re here 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
