Night Howls
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Well, some things Dr Wylie suggested I try and get going were:
- Letters to Federal Health Minister Hon. Greg Hunt - as many as possible, from many locations.
- BCNA to link it in with State of the Nation (it is not an explicit action in the plan, but can be tied into Theme 1 - RISK and Theme 2 - Early Detection). So far, BCNA have not been interested in my emails and I have gotten either no response, or a fairly generic response. On my third call to try and speak to Kirsten Pilatti, after she initially invited me to call her. She has been busy with the State of the Nation launch no doubt.
- Start an Online Petition - feed it through social media
- Investigate New Zealand's change of invitation age - how it came about, what can be used from it.
- Gather interest from local radio, support groups, breast cancer organisations like Pink Hope etc.
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@JJ70 I would go for 40. No family history with me and I found my lump 3 years ago when I was 40 but wasn’t actually diagnosed till I was 43.0
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Hi @JJ70, I’m in Perth and also up for getting a campaign going here. I’m 46 and was absolutely stunned to learn I could have been having scans before aged 50, but Breast Screen WA just don’t tell anyone about this availability.
I’ve spent the past year running campaigns at my children’s schools to force them to offer Sun protective uniforms and successfully got the summer sports uniform changed at my son’s school and hat policies tightened and extended at my daughter’s school.
So very passionate about cancer prevention, I have a media background and happpy to be VERY NOISY to get dinosaur policies changed!
(I’m just going to be a bit busy from this Friday for a few weeks though having my boobs off, but then I’m all yours!)4 -
I swear you could set a watch by my wake up time. Then I lie there trying to go back to sleep with my brain racing with all manor of things - crazy emotions and thoughts0
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I am refusing to turn on any devices, with the possible exception of the kettle, between midnight and 5am. Unless I get to 4.01 and decide I'm doomed anyway and decide to get out of bed completely.
I've got a job interview today and then another on Monday. Todays' is for a library gig so, in theory, I should know what I am on about. I fear it will be yet another case of vague babbling in front of a bemused panel who are looking at my CV wondering 'Is this the same person?'1 -
@zoffiel I am so excited for you about the library interview. Fingers crossed and double-crossed. It's so hard, even pre-BC, to know when you're coming across as babbling or as passionate. I guess it depends on the interviewers - some go for easy and some are much more open to lateral thinking. I know that when I got my current job (and it's a much lower level than what I did pre-kids but chosen purely for logistics) that I walked out thinking that I'd blown it. And others of a similar level that I didn't even get a look-in. I'm channelling positive thoughts to you this morning - I know it won't help but take it as a ferocious level of support. Your posts show what an able, thoughtful and literate person you are and I'm sure that you not working in a library is a loss to the library world. I wish I could offer real reference support but I think if the interviewers are so locked in "what's in obvious" mode, they would not appreciate something from left of field.2
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Oh I'll be trying to stay on message @sister. I shall be meek and mild as it's my best option if I don't want to sound so left of field I'm out there with the roos and the feral deer. God this is stressful. This job is so far below what I used to do that in practical terms I worry I'll be bored out of my brain.
I went and had a look at the library, it's got less material in it than my old bookmobile. Beggers can't be choosers and TBH at the moment, given my brain is only a portion of what it was, the job is probably at about the right level for me.1 -
Best wishes for the interview!0
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@Eli86. You're like a beam of sunlight to start my day!! Thank you so much for responding with your passion and interest in this campaign. Liz Wylie said it will require noise from as many people as you can muster.
First and foremost, best wishes to you over the next few days, preparing for Friday and the weeks of recovery ahead.
Where are you based and are you in contact with BCCWA - they are AMAZING! There is a monthly support group for young women that I attend, plus counsellors, a borrowing library, breast care nurses etc. They are in Cottesloe.
This will be a national campaign, as BreastScreen is a national company run by the federal government. Them there in Canberra are the fundholders and the and rule makers for BreastScreen! We can of course, also focus on local identities and local parts to the campaign in terms of spreading the word. Have a look on Mix 94.5 website, Janelle Koenig has put up a video of her first mammogram at age 43, to try and dispel some myths about the procedure and spread awareness of its availability. I have contacted her to see if she would be on board, but she has declined.
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@Zoffiel - Didn't sleep until late, so woken late. Hope not too late to add my good wishes for the job interview. You are an extraordinary person. If this job suits your current situation to get you back in the saddle again, then it deserves you. Sending lots of positive vibes. Fran xx1
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@Eli86 Congratulations on your achievements about sun protection at your children's schools. My daughter fights a battle every year about school swimming carnivals being held in open air at the hottest part of the day, and non-swimming kids being forced to sit in the sun as spectators. I'm encouraging her to wage a media campaign if NSW education authorities continue to be unresponsive to rational arguments. Her grandmother (my mother) died of melanoma and I've had five.
My chemo has made lots of latent sun damage pop out as itchy rashes (my oncologist's explanation). Fortunately, she says they'll fade by a month or so after the end of chemo and my skin will look better.
Thoughts are with you for your surgery. I hope you have a skilled and considerate care team, and the loving support of those around you. And chocolate.
Fran xx2
