I am not really sure how to start communicating with others on here but thought this might be a way - I am 9 months in to living with cancer and finding it a tough challenge at times.....hoping we can establish a lively forum of information exchange and of course support, which is what PB is so brilliant at......,
Anyone else here?
Hi Lily57 I am new here too. I can't really help too much, I am here as I work with cancer patients and survivors-I wanted to say 'hey' so that you had at least one reply to your hello
Hello Lily57 and welcome to the community!
Thank you for your message; this is the way to start communicating and getting support. We are very much aiming to establish a strong community here and I know that may take some time so bear with us as we grow. Be great to hear more about you if you wanted to share.
Penny Brohn cancer care team
Hello Lily57, Yes I am new to this forum as well but am keen, like you are, to interact and perhaps share some of the good times and the bad times. It is an incredibly lonely journey, this tissue issue lark but the one guiding light I found and followed was the Penny Brohn Centre. Those 'nice' NHS men in their white coats and blue 'key hole slotting gowns' were fair dinkum at dealing with the old body but not the person. That was where the Penny Brohn Centre stepped in and excelled. It would be really good to talk, albeit a bit publicly.
Hi Lily57 and Mountainman, this is my first message on here too! I personally find it so helpful to share, chat and just listen to people who are touched by cancer as no matter how different we may be, we share a common bond, like a secret that no one will ever know about or truly understand. I'm being treated for TN breast cancer and have recently had cycle 4 chemo of 6. My journey has had some very dark moments, but as I allow myself to adjust, adapt and go with the flow, I am having more and more sunny moments. I attended Penny Brohns Living well last year and have recently done the Approach. I came back emotionally and physically drained both times, but boy oh boy it's like a big detox for the mind, body and soul and now that I've had time to rest and reflect, I feel so much stronger and calmer about everything. It's given me the kick up the bum I needed to eat better and sort out my muffin tops! The new Penny Brohn cookbook is a godsend. I find the practice of mindfulness so helpful in centering myself when I get scared or stressed. I am also addressing some authenticity issues I didn't realise I had, where I was fearful of saying what I really feel incase I hurt someone. I learnt that this was actually hurting me and that there are ways to word things carefully so as to say what I feel in a kind way. If I do end up upsetting someone, then they will have to deal with it their way and if I lose that person, then maybe they shouldn't be in my life anyway. Gosh, sounds a bit harsh, when I am such a gentle soul, but its all part of the new wonderful me that is emerging like a beautiful butterfly! I was going to write something along these lines to answer your blog question Mountainman, so I hope this helps. 
Hello Butterfly, thank you for your post. You sound like a very sensitive butterfly but the I am very interested in some of the deep inner issues your current journey is bringing out. No, not being nosy but the fact that you are able to sense and deal with these issues is what is interesting. Normal life with it's noise and business does not really allow tie to be quiet, time to just 'be' and time to reflect.
I have wondered about the relationship between the cancer tumour (it is a natural cellular bit of us) and our subconscious. It is difficult to say things like 'it is" or it is caused by" because we do not know, but, it is possible to say, "I am comfortable with the concept that...".
So, I feel now that there s a very real difference between me the body and me the person. Yes, of course, both are linked but they are very different parts of our make up. In that difference, lie some of the reasons why our Immune Systems lose their effectiveness and allow those special cells out of their box to grow into cancer tumours.
Once we are on that journey, the business of life er changes and we are able, just perhaps, to slow off and listen to our inner bodies.
Your thoughts on your need to address authenticity issues perhaps represent this change. I acknowledge your need here and can only encourage you to keep looking and keep delving.
hello lily 57 i am a endometrial cancer survivor since dec last year i am so glad to have found this site
Hi Tara - good to see you here.......hope you can get support - do you know what you need? Have you been to Penny Brohn yet? If not I really recommend it, good for your body mind and soul!!
Sorry so many questions....
yes i've been on the taste of bristol approach and i'm now having help from cancer point i'm going on my first self help session on the 19th i'm also meeting a nutritionalist and having reflexology at the centre soon also hope to go on more courses i would love to try nordic walking also
Hi all, my first post here. I am a 4 year thyroid cancer survivor which has recurred and spread to my hip and just recently discovered some activity in lungs. At the same time some activity showed in brain and for a week i thought it had gone there but it turned out to be a benign abnormality. This is genetic and is one of those syndromes that can predispose you to certain cancers..., inc thyroid. It's been quite a heavy five weeks! Just prior to that my husband and i had a brilliant few days at PB doing the Living Well course which i would recommend to anyone.
