Wellness and wellbeing

At last nights meeting, Judith and Kay came along from the Breast Care unit to answer some of our members questions. As you can imagine, it was , at times, a pretty emotive session but lots of information was shared.

People also had the opportunity to talk privately and a number of our members took advantage of that.

We asked people to list the things that have helped them with their wellness and wellbeing. The list of suggestions of things that worked for them is below:

Things that worked for us
These things are personal to them and not everything works for everyone.

Going out for coffee with friends
Hot stone massage (Laroma)
Talking Therapy ( not NHS )
Buddhism – e.g reading about it
Meditation
Swimming has helped me so much so it’s great that we can swim on a Monday and Tuesday with out membership
Reflexology helped me as well for my Peripheral Neuropathy
Keeping a diary of how I felt through chemo and recording how I felt on a scale of 1 to 10 so I would know good days and bad
Support from Butterflies, being able to chat with other women who had gone through breast cancer and come out of it the other side
Dedicated doctors and nursing staff at Worthing Hospital, also at the Breast Clinic staff were very attentive, helpful, reassuring and patient
Made new friends
Get support from friend and family
Try and keep positive
A tape on mindfulness was very helpful
Wear button fronted tops/nightwear immediately after surgery – it’s easier to get dressed/undressed and less painful.
Pilates
Reflexology
Gardening
Cross stitch
Patchwork
Putting on make up
Talking to friends and family
C U Fitter ( Cancer charity in Angmering with gym and pool)
Exercise using Breast Cancer Care leaflet
Booklets/Pamphlets in folder from hospital
Butterflies Support Group
Walking in the country

A time for change.

As you may know, several of our long serving committee members stepped down this year.

Jim and Jessie have decided to retire from their positions after 23 years. And Helen, who has been the secretary for the last 10 years, also decided to call it a day.

Helen:

I just want to say it has been a pleasure to be the secretary of the Butterflies for over ten years, I might add by default, but that is another story! Although I have resigned from the committee, I will remain a member and see you all at our group meetings and various social events.

As I’m sure those who are familiar with the group will agree, their contribution has been tireless and invaluable. They will be much missed as committee members but they will of course remain as members . We look forward to seeing them at events during this next year.

However, as they say, the show must go on. And to that end, we have now elected new people into those positions left vacant.

• As Chairperson : Zena Terry
• Secretary : Jules MacPherson
• Social Secretary : Julie MacPherson

Fred Young and Gillian Littlechild will continue on the committee

Judith Finlay continues as our President

For information about pilates or swimming please Marolyn Butcher. And helping out as and when she can, Christine Edwards.

Obviously, this is a pretty major transition and over the last few weeks we have been managing the handover while trying to continue the work of the charity , arranging events for this year, planning meetings etc.

Please bare with us. We have some very large shoes to fill!

That said, if anyone would like to volunteer to help or even run events, please do contact us .

And keep an eye on the site for updates.