Hi folks. Paul from the Saracen’s Head informed me today that he and Emma have left the pub, and will be moving on to new things in the New Year. The Saracen’s will also be closing soon for major repairs, leaving us with no venue for our December meeting.

I’ve discussed this with Fred and we’ve decided to cancel December’s meeting. It would be very difficult to identify a new venue at this time of year, when all pubs are busy with parties etc. We never have a January meeting, so the earliest get-together would be February 2026. This gives us a bit of time to find a suitable new venue. I’ve taken on board your comments about climbing up the stairs, so any new venue will have to be on the same level, and have decent parking very close by.

I’m sure you’ll join me in thanking Emma and Paul for their hospitality, and wishing them well for the future.

It remains for me to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year. Looking forward to our next gathering.

Follow @headcases2

Hi all, just a quick reminder that the meeting will go ahead tomorrow at the usual 7.30pm time at the Saracen’s Head, Meir.

Jan and myself won’t be attending this time, but I hope plenty of folk  turn up and a good meeting will ensue.

Follow @headcases2

Hi all, this last month has flown by! Hope to see everyone on Wednesday 3rd September. We meet at the usual venue: Saracen’s Head, Meir at 7.30pm.

See you then!

Follow @headcases2

We were very happy to welcome 5 new friends to the group, some attending solo, some with wives. The first time is always a bit of a challenge, especially if treatment has ended fairly recently. Around 21 of us met at the newly refurbished Saracen’s Head. One of the Head and Neck Oncology Dietitians from Royal Stoke, Kayley Cooper attended the meeting and wasted no time getting involved, and chatting to everyone. Thank you for coming Kayley, and I hope you had plenty of response to your request for feedback on the ‘peg’ document and the food diary sheet.

Follow @headcases2

Since we last met, I’ve organised 1000 business cards for the specialist Nurses to hand out to new patients. These show the four Nurses, and I’ve added Donna Rave as the Navigator. The opening hours have been revised.

Follow @headcases2

Hi all, just to confirm we’ll be meeting up at the newly refurbished Saracen’s Head next Wednesday. The venue is still upstairs. Looking forward to seeing you all again. I’ll chase up the Specialist Nurses to see if they can provide someone to come to our meeting.

Follow @headcases2

Hi all, we’ve considered options for hosting July’s meeting and so far, not found a spot that ticks all the boxes. We’ve decided to cancel July’s meeting and so we’ll see you all in August at the refurbished Saracen’s Head, Meir.

I’ve listened to comments about climbing up all the stairs at the Saracen’s, and also the limited parking spaces. We’ve had a couple of suggestions for pub meeting possibilities with better parking and ground floor accessibility. These will be looked into during the intervening weeks and I’ll keep you posted.

Please assume it will be business as usual at the Saracen’s in August. Enjoy the nice weather, look after yourselves, and see you on August 6th.

Follow @headcases2

Hi folks. Thank you all who came out to join our June meeting last night, and welcome to our two new friends. We were a little short on numbers ( 16 attended ) but it gave everyone present a chance to have a proper conversation. Sorry we didn’t have a specialist nurse or dietitian at the meeting, but they are under intense pressure at the moment due to illness and holidays etc.

We were told (after the meeting ended) that the Saracen’s Head will close for two weeks in July. This means our July meeting can’t be held there. Jan and I are hunting down a temporary alternative venue for July. Please watch this page, as I will post details of the new venue once we’ve finalised it. We’re hoping to find one in the same sort of area, as many of our friends live around there.

Follow @headcases2

Introduction

Most of our group will have had experience with Ensure liquid food. This usually comes in small bottles and has a limited range of flavours. During treatment (especially radiotherapy) it’s often necessary to have a ‘peg’ fitted so that liquids can be passed directly into the stomach via a rig, or manually using syringes. Once this phase has passed it’s usually possible to begin swallowing again – starting with liquids like Ensure.

Paul’s Ensure Tips

It soon becomes very boring to keep drinking your favourite flavour, and Paul passed on to me a few tips he’s come up with to help the stuff go down…

1. Get a range of milkshake syrups in, and add these to a bland Ensure flavour (like vanilla). Add some water to thin it down, then whizz it up to make a milkshake.

2. Add Nesquik milkshake powder as an option, once again thin down and whizz up to get the full effect.

3. Use Ensure to make coffee! I guess it could be warm or over ice…

It’s also worth bearing in mind that there are different options (eg high fibre) with Ensure and also Fortisip can be had in a high protein version. Speak to your Dietitian for advice on this.

Thanks Paul!

Follow @headcases2

As many of you know, Julie Parry is a committed running enthusiast, taking part in events all over the place, including everything from marathons, mud runs etc. to 5ks. Julie was telling me about an organisation encouraging folk who’ve been affected in any way by cancer to get out there, meet people and join in with events. The benefits from doing this are many, including mental, physical and social. Click the logo below to visit their webpage…

There’s a local 5k event at Stafford this month: Saturday 26th April, meeting at 8.45 to start at 9.00 am. Use the link above to get the details, and register to take part. Events are usually the last Saturday of the month, and are held in different locations. If nothing else, you can turn up and cheer Julie along!

WHO’S IT FOR?

Anyone impacted by cancer is welcome to join a 5k Your Way group. Everyone is welcome. It’s free!

WHEN IS IT?

Our groups meet on the last Saturday of every month at over 100 designated parkrun events across the UK and Ireland

HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?

Participate in a group

Simply register online with 5KYW using this ‘Register for 5KYW’ link , and turn up on the day. No special kit needed and it’s free!

Thank you Julie for bringing this up

Follow @headcases2