Friday Update (Somewhat late!)
Hello and welcome everyone to our Friday
Update.
My name is Giovanna and I’m a cancer
nurse. I’m new to BCNA and the online
network. I’m one of the Senior Helpline
Officers and I respond to incoming calls via the BCNA helpline and moderate the
online network.
Thank you for your warm welcome into
this fantastic online community. I am
humbled to read your stories and experiences of breast cancer. I am inspired by your openness, honesty and
capacity to support each other in light of such adversity, providing hope and encouragement
to new members who join the community. It’s
great to see that no topic is off limits, that you can ask whatever is on your
mind and receive a response in a safe, supported and confidential space.
I was asked the other day ‘What does
moderating the online network involve?’ It involves reading all the content
posted on the site to check posts meet our community guidelines, responding to
any queries or questions if/as required, assisting with any technical issues
and identifying anyone who may need additional support.
You may have noticed that there are some new BCNA
staff, such as Marianne, Riki, Rosie and Tracey on the online network. We all work as a team to provide guidance and
support. We will introduce the staff over the coming weeks.
We have had lots of new members join
our online network over the last two months.
In October there were 93 new members and so far this month there have
been 64 new members. A warm welcome to
everyone!
Community highlights
Every week we have so much variety in
the posts being shared on 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:
Stages
of cancer, just found out, what does this really mean?
Always
look on the bright side of life… (Sorry Monty python)
Seven
years on and feeling anxious again
Discussions
with most comments, for the month of October include the following:
·
Centrelink
disability interview
·
Highs and lows
and waves of whacky emotions
·
Exercise can
apparently lessen the rate of cancer cell growth and even help to prevent its
recurrence
In the news….
Lost Libidos group is now called Let’s talk about vaginas
This is a private group for discussing
sexual health and emotions during and after breast cancer. We cover a lot of
issues, including the effects of menopause and cancer treatment, such as
vaginal atrophy, pain during sex, UTIs and lost libido. We also try a variety
of products which may assist with various conditions, and discuss these. You
can feel free to ask any questions which you might not feel comfortable asking
elsewhere, download if you and your partner are struggling with intimate
relationships after cancer, or just find some fellow travellers who are
exploring answers to a lot of the problems we share. Just request membership
and we'll admit you!
Work & breast cancer group
We have a new group that has commenced
called Work and breast cancer. We are
looking for people who have had interesting personal experiences around
work. We would like to recruit people
who are from metro, regional and rural regions within Australia to be involved
in some discussions regarding work. We
are looking for people who have had good experiences and not so good
experiences relating to getting back to work.
Following discussions, we aim to have a number of champions who can
assist others with regards to getting back to work and what options and
supports are available. If you are interested,
please apply to join this group and we will be in touch shortly.
The 2017 Carman's Women's Fun Run will be held at Catani Gardens,
St Kilda on Sunday 3 December 2017!
All ages and abilities can come
together to fundraise for a purpose and get behind BCNA by taking part in the
5km, 10km, Half Marathon or Girls MINI Fun Run events.
I hope you all had a relaxing weekend.
Giovanna
Comments
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Nice to see, a Friday update! Keep up the good work!2
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What an excellent idea BCNA !2
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Hi Giovanna,
Thanks for update.I was wondering whatever happened to the Creative Corner group.? It disappeared after the network was overhauled awhile ago.I see there are more new groups so perhaps it’s not so hard to start Creative Corner again? I know Inkpetal would be pleased.
Tonya0 -
Hi @TonyaM,
Thank you for your message. I will look into the Creative Corner group and see what we can do!
Sounds like a great idea.
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hi @Giovanna_BCNA great to see Friday Update happening
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Hi @TonyaM, The Creative Corner lives as a sub category under the "Day to day". It has been there for a little while now. We bought it back so that everyone could participate in the conversation without having to join a group. We are able to add sub-categories to the existing categories which enables us in the future to add more of what our members are doing day to day.
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thanks for update. I hadn't logged in for a while and I forgot there was a weekly summary. great idea.1
