It’s been a long lockdown and we hope you’ve seen some of the sunshine over the last couple weeks. Lockdowns across the world have been easing and we hope you’ve managed to at least get in the garden if you have one. As garden centres are opening up in the UK and Europe, if you can’t go, ask a friend or family member if they can stock up for you. We’d love to see some of your plant pictures!
We’ve compiled some of the news and feelings from the last couple weeks to share with our PMP community.
Keep screening and supporting
Even as lockdowns are gradually eased, more and more news is coming out about the disruption of treatments and the huge risk this is posing for people with undiagnosed cancers. PMP is especially difficult to diagnose and the situation has only compounded this but we know doctors and nurses are desperate to screen more people to help cancer patients, so please urge people to get screened asap if they are experiencing symptoms. Please lend a (virtual) hand to our PMP Survivor community to raise awareness of PMP and other cancers ?.
NHS trusts have been working round the clock to keep providing the treatment and care we need. The Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust, one of the two UK centres offering specialist PMP treatment, has launched a new telemedicine service which provides instant advice to people experiencing sudden and unexpected health needs.
The new service is focused on people in care homes and will allow lots more people to access advice and support as it remains difficult to get to hospitals.
Hampshire Hospitals is also leading the trial of a rapid coronavirus test. The test, announced by the UK Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, does not need to be sent to a laboratory to be processed and can return results within 20 minutes.
Support one another through Mental Health Awareness Week
Supporting one another is more important than ever through the lockdown, especially as those of us designated ‘extremely vulnerable’ face many more weeks in isolation. This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and there are so many initiatives being run to help us through this time.
The Mental Health Foundation has launched a range of resources to help celebrate the week, such as social media graphics and posters, and has chosen the all-important virtue of kindness as its theme. Kindness is definitely an ethos that underpins our Pseudomyxoma Survivor community.
Fostering good mental health is also key to both our community and buddy system and we thank you for all the kindness shown through the pandemic – keep up the good work!
What can we do beyond #clapforcarers?
Supporting one another to boost our mental health is really important through the pandemic and all-important here is the support for our healthcare heroes working tirelessly through the crisis. In the UK, #clapforcarers shows our appreciation and beating a saucepan out of the window at 8pm every Thursday at least gives some cathartic release but it’s always good to try and do something more to give back to those doctors and nurses for their tireless efforts to help us.
May is Oncology Nursing Month, and we want to take the opportunity to thank oncology nurses across the world for their work. These nurses are there to help us through treatment but of course, we’ve seen a lot less of them through the pandemic as their efforts have been focussed elsewhere. One of the best ways to support nurses is to support patients – so join our PMP Survivor community and buddy system soon!
We are all facing a difficult time. As a charity, we raise almost all our funds through challenges Team PMP undertake. Sadly, everything we had planned is now cancelled or indefinitely postponed and our donations have dwindled. We’re not alone. This applies to many many charities throughout the U.K. Hence the creation of the #twopointsixchallenge.
This is a chance for you, your family and friends, and your business to create your own challenge and raise a few pounds along the way. Join in and set yourself a 2.6 Challenge to help raise awareness of PMP and appendix cancers as well as raise some funds for Pseudomyxoma Survivor. All you need to do to help is to create your own 2.6 Challenge page or complete a challenge and donate.
If you have anything you’d like to share with us for the next update or something you’d like us to include, please do get in touch. We hope to see lots of you on our online community; in the meantime, have a lovely weekend whatever you’re doing and stay safe!
Angela
Trustee
Please do keep an eye on the News section on our website.
We are open to support you during this crisis. If you need support, please do contact us via our contact page on the website. If you are feeling unwell or believe you may have undiagnosed pseudomyxoma peritonei, SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE. If you are unsure, please contact us and we will do our best to offer you advice.
Please note that our online shop is open with a restricted number of items available as we are shielding at home and getting to the post office to post ordered items is therefore difficult.