Cancer Coach: join a group this Winter like Julie did

I was 50, reasonably healthy, fit, and enjoying life, when I was diagnosed in August 2015 with breast cancer.

They were the last words I expected to hear that day. I hadn’t even received a letter for a mammogram and yet, here I was hearing words that defied my understanding of being healthy.

From that moment on, my feet didn’t touch the floor. There was so much information to absorb – I think I managed to retain about 5%. I just did as I was asked.

To a degree I was very naive, but looking back, I think it was the best way.
A double mastectomy was followed by the removal of two lymph nodes. Then chemotherapy and radiotherapy. My body was in a battle.

For a long time I visited the Macmillan centre at the hospital, seeing nurses and consultants.

When I rang the bell at the end of treatment, I felt I was cast adrift in a boat with no paddle. I should have been thrilled. Yet it felt like there was nothing left. That was it, the oncology family gone.

I struggled with Aromatase inhibitors for over five years with rather unpleasant side effects. Then I found out about Cancer Support UK. I attended a six week Zoom course and met other likeminded people, which gave me comfort, knowing that their experiences were no different to mine.

I felt family and friends could not possibly understand when I didn’t understand either. I felt that once you finished treatment that was it, nothing, zero, on your own to figure it out. Thankfully Cancer Support UK was available.

If Julie's experience sounded familiar, that's because it's so common. Women who have experienced cancer tell us that once they've had the 'all clear', it's like they're on their own. After months of regular contact with medical staff, suddenly, there's nothing. Cancer is a physical and emotional roller coaster, so even after treatment has ended, many women like Julie find that they need emotional support to cope with the long-term effects of the disease.

Cancer Coach is our six-week peer support group programme and it’s free to join. It’s held in small groups either online or over the phone and is run by experienced facilitators. It is open to women aged 18 and over who have previously had a primary cancer diagnosis and who have completed their physical cancer treatment.

Cancer Coach does not provide:

not one-to-one counselling
psychotherapy

Instead, it’s more forward looking, focusing on helping women living beyond cancer to develop everyday practical tools and coping strategies.

As well as learning from our Cancer Coaches, you'll meet and hear from other women with similar experiences to you, who may have lessons of their own to impart. Opening-up and talking in a safe, peer-group space can really help.

Join Cancer Coach this winter

It helped Julie, it can help you too

What is Cancer Coach?

Sign-up for Cancer Coach this winter