Monday 18 May 2020

Mental Health Awareness Week - Naz (Founder of BRiC)

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Mental Health Awareness Week 2020.
"Slowly, quietly, never giving up"

BRiC celebrates mental health awareness week 2020. It showcases its members' resilience and coping tips on what has helped in COVD-19 lockdown stressful times.


Every day, we will be posting a few of our members' messages, in the hope to show how we've embraced our anxieties as well as taken small steps to alleviate the distress and uncertainty we've faced. How we've exercised courage to face our fears, and how we've risen to nourish the wounds we've endured as a result of COVID-19 collateral damage to our treatments. The meltdowns, the emotional rollercoasters. We share how self-compassion has helped us when we've been low.

Mental health is important. Just as we nourish our wounds to heal we need to nourish our mental health to heal from the distress it faces in scary and uncertain times.

It is not an easy task, but in the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity, and that is what resilience is about. Finding that opportunity, and to keep going, slowly, quietly, never giving up.

Sending love and virtual hugs to all of our followers and the bigger world.

Naz xx (founder of BRiC)

#mentalhealthawarenessweek
#resilience
#COVID19
#lockdown
#breastcancer
#secondarybreastcancer
#BusyLivingWithMets


Saturday 9 May 2020

The healing power of our pets: BRiC's Collective Voice


Our Sunday discussion talked about Pets: our dogs, cats, fish, horses, and many more ….

Without exception, those of us who had or have pets emphasised how important their role has been in our well-being. ‘Unconditional love’ came top! Yes, our pets give us unconditional love, they are there for us, and listen to us without judgement.


Some of us talked about how our pets ‘knew’ something was wrong, how they sensed our vulnerabilities through treatment, they ‘knew’. They were by our side, they made us smile. They made us feel comforted. This companionship was especially noted during breast cancer treatment, where we were highly sensitive and appreciated unconditional love.

The benefits of having pets is documented by research that shows pets trigger empathy and acts of kindness. Their ‘unconditional love’ can be an excellent source of therapeutic comfort. Talking to them, listening to them, and caring for them bring positive effects to our well-being.

“My dog is the best therapy ever. I can't tell you how much we all love him. He makes me smile from the second I open my eyes. My fatigue is also lifting with all my walking 🐕 he literally is the best therapy ever 😍

Walking our pets, cuddling them on the sofa, and feeding them help us gain the motivation, to get up and keep going. They give us a reason to carry on.

Our pets give us much fun, they bring us entertainment and make us feel relaxed. Here's a preview: 

Some of us talked about the saddening experience of our own pets getting cancer, those who had to be put to sleep, and how we missed their company.

If you are a woman in the UK with a diagnosis of breast cancer and would like to join our private group please message us here or leave your name in the comments.

Saturday 2 May 2020

The collateral damage of COVID19 on breast cancer treatment: BRiC's Collective Voice

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“Who wants to have cancer in the midst of an epidemic?”

Our Sunday discussion last week talked about the collateral damage of COVID19 on breast cancer treatment and well-being.

For thousands of women awaiting treatment for breast cancer, COVID19 has caused considerable delays and uncertainty, with many breast cancer appointments being cancelled, postponed “indefinitely”, or “until further notice”. These have applied to key operations, chemotherapy treatments, follow-up scans, appointments, well-being courses and consultations. The waiting game this has produced means that we don’t know when our medical teams may come back to us to reschedule our treatments, scans and appointments. For some however, appointments have been moved to other hospitals or done over the phone.

The uncertainty has led to many of us feeling unsafe, insecure, and afraid of how these delays will be affecting our cancer status and cancer growth. Imagining women with secondary breast cancer, of course this uncertainty has a much bigger psychological and physical damage. What do you prioritise, cancer treatment or COVID19? There were concerns over whether women with secondary breast cancer have equal rights to access ventilations when there is a shortage of them?

It appeared that many of us had been sent letters and texts at different time points, some of us having only received messages recently to lockdown for 12 weeks. Inconsistency in the manner by which these messages were communicated has caused a great deal of distress for many of us. The mixed reasoning behind these messaging patterns has been a point of ill communication. We have turned to each other for reassurance and help. We have been calling helplines for clarifications and explanations. We are anxious for ourselves and for others in our position. We are in the dark and want more clarification.

Some of us explained that it could be a case of postcode lottery with some treatment centres open as usual and others not. But this has added to our confusion.

Our members believed that much more should be done about seeing to cancer patient treatments in these uncertain times, with much worrying consequences for those who are recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

It is an emotional roller coaster. How have we coped? We’ve been raising our concerns in the group, distracting ourselves doing DIY, waiting and waiting for some imminent solution to the chaos that a majority of us have found ourselves in. Many of us have found ourselves in incredibly vulnerable situations and are scared. The uncertainty by which services may return to normal is adding to this distress. We can only hug and hold hands virtually.

While we want our voice to be heard clearly, we also want to thank all of those who are doing their best in the frontline to help us. We are grateful and we live in hope.

If you are a woman in the UK with a breast cancer diagnosis and want to join our private closed group please message us here or leave your name in the comments.