Hello everyone and welcome to Fridays update. Due to Easter and Good Friday, there was no Friday update posted last week. I do hope that you all had a great Easter and that you had time to enjoy some of the great autumn weather!
In the news
Breast density
BCNA is calling on your help to assist us develop a new web page around breast density. This will help ensure we are keeping our members as up to date as possible and also help individual women found to have dense breasts formulate questions to ask their doctors around what this means to their individual risk. If you are available to assist in this review please contact policy@bcna.org.au Thanks so much to everyone who has already responded to our online discussion, in case you have missed the discussion or would like to respond, please see the link below.
Breast density – we want your input
Introducing our online moderators
Hello, my name is Carissa and I joined BCNA just over two years ago. I have very much enjoyed my time here including getting to attend forums and last year’s Pink Lady Match. I work as a Helpline Officer, speaking daily with those who call into our helpline and correspond with people via email. I also assist with our resource management and volunteer coordination. We are very lucky to have wonderful and dedicated volunteers in our office.
My background is in public health and health promotion. Before beginning here at BCNA, I worked in the cultural diversity space and member engagement. Personally, I love going for drives to explore new places, walking, attending the football (I barrack for Essendon), and spending time with my nephews and my 17-year-old Parson Jack Russell, Brocky.
Community highlights
Every week we have so much variety in the posts being shared in the online network. These can include questions about treatments, updates on how things are going, and celebrating milestones. Here are some popular conversations you might have missed:
This post provided a fabulous reminder of the supportive community we have. It was great to see so many of our online community members responding to the thread and providing information and support. It can be tricky at times to know how much information to provide to new members; especially if a diagnosis of breast cancer has not been made, so that they get the answers and support they are looking for without feeling overwhelmed.
There was a lots
of discussion in the network regarding the cold cap experience and the varying
results from using the cap. I have been
asked whether scalp cooling is safe in patients with breast cancer so I have found
a couple abstracts that you may be interested in reading:
No effect of scalp cooling on survival among women with breast cancer
Online Q&A on impact of breast cancer and treatment on sexual health:
We are pleased to announce that our online Q&A on sexual health is finally happening this Tuesday 10th April at 6.30 pm. Janine Porter-Steele, a breast care nurse and manager of the Wesley Hospital Choices Program and women’s wellness programs in Brisbane has a particular interest in sexual health and will be facilitating the Q&A. To join the discussion you will need to join the ‘Let’s talk about vaginas’ group.
Latest forums
The Bunbury information forum is happening tomorrow in Western Australia, at the Hotel Lord Forrest at 20 Symmons Street Bunbury. Registration is at 9 am with refreshments on arrival. The forum will commence at 9.45 am till 3.15 pm.
Our next information forum will be held in Sydney on Thursday 3rd May at the Wesley Conference Centre, 220 Pitt Street, Sydney. To register for this form please click here
These forums are a great opportunity for you connect with other women, explore the medical, physical and emotional aspects of living well with breast cancer and hear about other topics such as the latest treatment, communicating effectively with your treating team and managing side effects such fatigue and menopause.
Hoping you and your loved ones have
a restful weekend,
Giovanna
