Hello everyone and welcome to our Friday update or should I say ‘Tuesday Update’! My apologies for the delay, it’s been a busy few weeks at BCNA. As you all know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month which means there is lots going on at BCNA.
There will be lots of activities taking place this month which will include the following:
Saturday 13 October Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day
Saturday 13 October 2018, Melbourne Vic - Metastatic Breast Cancer Forum
Sunday 14 October 2018, Richmond Vic - Young Women’s Conference
Wednesday 17 October 2018, Canberra ACT - Canberra Information Forum
Saturday 20 October Male Breast Cancer Awareness Day.
We are in the process of finalizing details for the new My Journey online tool
Some tips re navigating the online network:
When logged into the online network, you will notice the dark blue and pink navigation bars at the top of the page. They will help you make your way around the online network. In the blue navigation bar you’ll find links to the community info, and BCNA website. This is followed by your profile picture and user name, you can click on your picture or name to visit your profile. The light pink navigation box contains links to Categories, Discussions, Activity, Best Of.., Mark All Viewed and Groups.
On the right hand side of the page you will notice the heading Categories: A category is a collection of discussions.
Discussions: All the latest discussions in order from most recent to oldest. When a discussion receives a new comment, it pops back up to the top.
Activity: Shows the forum activity such as when new members join, badges awarded, profile picture changes and well messages.
Best of: The best of the online network according to members.
Mark all views: Allows you to make all the discussions as viewed.
Groups: click her to go to the group’s area.
This is the Discussions view. Here you’ll find tall the lasted discussions regardless of category. Another way to navigate the online community is to use the list of Categories or list of Popular Tags on the right hand side of your screen. Tags are a way to group similar topics. They are optional to use, but selecting relevant tags to add to your Discussion makes it easier for others to find your post when they are searching for information.
Community info tab under Categories
In the last newsletter I mentioned that you would be able to access the Community info tab under Categories, in the right hand side bar. A few of you contacted me to say that you were unable to access this page and that ‘Permission denied’ would come up on screen. My apologies, we were not aware that it was only live to the moderation team at that point. This has now been rectified and it is now live to all online members. Under this section, you will find the updated Community Guidelines and Navigating the online community. Members have been posting Community News here so please make sure you post any community news under the Community News category and not the Online Community Information category.
A reminder re posting:
We have had feedback from some members that posts are going off track and it can be hard to find information you want to find as the discussion doesn’t always match the original heading. Please remember to start a new post for a new topic. This will make it easier for those who start a post looking for advice or support can more easily access the information relevant to them and members looking for specific topics/ information can more easily find the information.
Turning off notifications:
We have also had queries from members about turning off notifications so that they don’t receive constant notifications regarding long posts they may have initially commented on. We have spoken to our developers and at the moment you cannot turn off notifications for a particular post. You can however choose whether to receive notifications via email, in the top right corner of the online network or turn them all off completely. If you choose to turn off notifications completely you can then bookmark discussions you want to follow and receive notifications about those discussions only. The developers are looking at including this function as a future improvement so we will keep you posted.
A reminder re privacy:
As mentioned last week, the main discussion forum within the online network is not a private forum. This means that anyone doing a ‘google’ search will be able to see content that is posted in the general discussion forum and these discussions can trend in google searches. If you include any identifying information in a post, you will receive a direct message from me to check that you are OK with disclosing the information you have provided. I’m happy to remove any pictures/content if you decide you don’t want them included.
Community Highlights
1. Letrozole side effects – Thread commenced by @Josephine66 who commenced hormone therapy (Letrozole) and is now experiencing the unwanted side effects of generalised aches and pains. Thread explores the loss of ones ‘normal self’ and the ongoing challenges this brings.
2. Finding the unfunny funny – Great thread commenced by @Summer Prevails who describes wanting to vent re some very funny exchanges that she has had lately. This thread encouraged other members to describe some very funny situations that have happened to them and makes for a fun read.
3. How to tell your ‘very complicated’ family of diagnosis – Thread commenced by @Amazonian and describes the dilemma of how to tell individual family members of her breast cancer diagnosis while being sensitive to the needs of each individual family member.
Community news
Melbourne International Joint Breast Congress
October 11 – 13, 2018
A comprehensive joint congress of the Australasian Society for Breast Disease (ASBD), 4th World Congress on Controversies in Breast Cancer (CoBrCa) and Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand (BreastSurgANZ), dealing with controversial issues in breast diseases including presentations, debates and discussions.
UPCOMING FREE INFORMATION FORUMS
Geelong Information Forum
Thursday 25 October
We will be holding a free information forum in Geelong on Thursday 25 October. We hope you will join us to hear from experts about:
- updates in breast surgery and how to navigate your follow-up care
- emotional impact of breast cancer
- lympheodema management
- exercise and breast cancer – what, why and how.
You will also be able to hear Raelene Boyle's personal story and connect with others diagnosed with breast cancer.
For more information and to register, click here.
Whyalla Information Forum
Wednesday 14 November
We will be holding a free information forum in Whyalla on Wednesday 14 November. We hope you will join us to hear from experts about:
- the latest in breast surgery and how to navigate your follow-up care
- the emotional impact of breast cancer
- lympheodema management
- exercise and breast cancer – what, why and how.
You will also be able to hear Raelene Boyle's personal story and connect with others diagnosed with breast cancer.
For more information and to register, click here.
Dont forget our other Upcoming forums
Canberra Information Forum – Wednesday 17 October
Metastatic
Breast Cancer Information Forum Saturday 13 October 2018
Registration & refreshments 10.00 am Session from 10.30 am to 1.00 pm
Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre
Young
Women’s Conference – Sunday 14 October 2018
Registration & refreshments from 9.15 am Conference 10.00 am to 3.00 pm
Fenix events, 680 Victoria Street, Richmond Melbourne
DINE PINK
If any online members would like to recommend a cafe or restaurant to participate in Dine Pink, you can go to dinepink.com.au and click on the Refer A Restaurant tab to enter the venue details on the homepage :)
Breast Cancer Awareness Month Calendar see attached document
Have a great week everyone, once again, sorry for the delay in posting my update.
Take care, regards Giovanna
