Macmillan Press Release

With Living With Living Well project officially starting on 11th October, It has been exciting to work with Macmillan on this press release in time for breast cancer awareness month. 

Macmillan funds project to support women living with 
                           incurable breast cancer

Local charity Breast Friends Northampton (BFN) has received a support grant from Macmillan Cancer Support totaling £12,740 to deliver the ‘Living With Living Well’ (LWLW) pilot, a pioneering well-being programme for women living with incurable secondary breast cancer (SBC) in Northamptonshire. 

LWLW will use the funding to deliver eight well-being programmes over a 12-month period, with the intention of shaping services for women with SBC in the future. The support grant, which is the largest given by Macmillan in the area, aims to directly benefit over 70 women living with SBC and their relatives, by improving their quality of life and building a community where they can get support and share their experiences. 

Jo Meftah and Leanne Byrne are both living with secondary breast cancer and have joined the LWLW programme this year. Secondary breast cancer happens when cancer cells spread from the cancer in the breast to other parts of the body, most commonly the bones, brain, lung, or liver. It is usually treatable, but not curable, some women might experience a range of side-effects from living with secondary breast cancer and its treatment. ¹

Jo, 53, from Northampton was diagnosed with SBC in 2012, she said: “When I was diagnosed, each day in my mind was a step closer to death, six years later, with nine grandchildren, four born after diagnosis, I’m still very much here. I’m so very thankful for every minute but it is not easy living under this cloud, there have been some very dark days. LWLW is such a vital support which has long been missing. Hopefully from today, ladies like myself will be given the opportunity not just to live with cancer but to live well with it and thrive by getting a much fuller support network, not only medically but physically and mindfully.”

Leanne 31, from Wellingborough was diagnosed with SBC in 2017, she said: It was a huge shock knowing that the cancer would never go away. My first thought was that I was going to die, and soon. I was told by others with little understanding that I may not be able to do things due to my diagnosis. But you can live with cancer, and continue to do the things that you want to do. Twelve months on and alongside the treatment that is currently keeping the cancer at bay, I am studying for a professional qualification in social work.”

Leanne added: “This is what attracted me to the Living With Living Well programme. A group of ladies living with a secondary diagnosis, wanting to reclaim who they are and to be the best version of themselves, with help and support from each other. LWLW will enable us all to believe in ourselves again, and to reclaim, improve and maintain our wellbeing. To be able to share this experience with others in a similar situation, who know what it is like to live with secondary cancer, is invaluable.”

LWLW identified that there was a lack of support for women with SBC, and that their needs are very different to those with curable breast cancer. The LWLW project will comprise of eight six-week programmes that will be delivered by trained professionals from a lifestyle coaching company to empower women with SBC to ‘reclaim, improve and maintain’ their emotional and physical well-being. The sessions will focus on things like nutrition, movement relating to specific treatment, symptoms and side-effects, improving mind-set to manage life with incurable cancer. The grant will also fund ‘Theraplay,’ which is designed to help families manage difficult conversations and strengthen parent-child relationships through cancer treatment. 

Suzanne Wright, Living With Living Well Project Creator and Lead, who is living with a diagnosis of SBC herself, said: ““I was inspired to create the LWLW project following my own experiences of using a lifestyle coach from January 2018 to recover from chemotherapy treatment and work through emotional and physical struggles. This was a significant financial burden due to the hidden costs of cancer, however I was desperate. I had fallen into a black hole and felt physical and emotionally broken.

My aim has always been to live a fulfilled life; however, my life has been made somewhat ‘complicated’ by the physical and emotional symptoms of a lifetime of cancer treatments and the demands and anxieties associated with hospital appointments. 

When I began to feel the benefits of the coaching on my mind and body throught-out day to day life, I was determined to empower other women like me be the best versions of themselves and this is how LWLW began. You can get in touch with us by emailing hello@livingwithlivingwell.co.uk or visiting our Facebook page @LivingwithSBC.”