recent nurse blogs

I'm one of the cancer information nurses working on our freephone helpline taking calls from people affected by cancer. Sometimes people call us and think we're Macmillan nurses. While we're cancer nurses working for Macmillan, we provide a different service.

December is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.  Childhood cancer is devastating for all concerned.  The treatment can last for months, which may mean long stays in hospital and being away from home, school, friends and siblings.

As some of you know, two of the nurses held a webchat on the side effects of chemotherapy today.  Please feedback any comments you would like to make about this here.

Thanks.

Amy

Cancer information nurse

Christmas might be the season of goodwill and a time for socialising with friends and family but for those affected by cancer, it can be a very difficult time of year.  This may be because you have cancer yourself or someone close to you has cancer.  It can also be especially hard if a loved one has died.

Great news . . . possibly? The UK government is now considering allowing 'top-ups' within the NHS. But is it really that simple?

We held our second webchat with nurses today about lifestyle when living with cancer.  Please give us your feedback if you were there.  We would really like to read your comments.

These are the top tips that came out of the discussion:

1. Relaxation

2.  Exercise - or at least get out in the fresh air and be as active as you can.

Many of you, I'm sure, know about the new vaccine that is being given to young girls to help prevent the human papilloma virus (HPV). This virus is a major cause of cervical cancer, and is also linked to other cancers including some head and neck cancers, anal cancer and penile cancer.

When a close friend of mine became very unwell, I was surprised to find that I just didn't know what to say.  As a nurse caring for people with cancer, I didn't expect to feel lost for words when I was faced with a similar situation in my personal life.  I foun

As some of you will be aware, two of our nurses were available in a chat room today to faciliate a webchat about family reactions to cancer.  Please feedback any comments or suggestions you would like to make about this here - we want to hear the good and the bad. 

It would also be helpful to know if you have any ideas for topics on future webchats.

Have you wondered why every year in October shops start to sell all sorts of pink items and you see people wearing pink ribbons? It's all to do with Breast Awareness Month but what's it all about?

Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) was introduced as a worldwide campaign in 1993 by Evelyn Lauder. One aim of the campaign was to increase awareness of breast cancer.