We were joined by Emma Jones this evening who is a Pelvic Health Physiotherapist based at Winchester Hospital. Together with 16 members of the group, we listened, asked questions and discussed a variety of topics including Stress Incontinence and Overactive Bladders, and we learnt how to do our Pelvic Floor exercises correctly.
Emma explained the reasons that these conditions develop and when we need to see a GP for a referral to the Pelvic Health Physiotherapist team. The Team currently has considerable waiting times so Emma discussed some options we could try to ease our symptoms, whilst awaiting an appointment.
There are a number of options we can explore before reverting to surgery and Emma advised us to look at the British Society of Urogynaecology website – bsug.org.uk – where you will find leaflets and information available on the “For Patients” tab, to be better informed about the options available to us all.
We discussed briefly, the impacts that our cancer treatment medications, the menopause, and childbirth have had on this area of our bodies and what we might be able to do to improve symptoms and better manage side effects.
We all found this such an informative, enlightening and positive evening and we feel sure we will invite Emma back to talk us again in the future.
We would like to thank Emma so very much for giving us her time and sharing her knowledge and expertise with us.
Following on from this talk, if you’d like to know more about female intimate health, we will be joined by Lavinia Winch from the YES YES company again on 4th June, and we also have Sophie Cartledge coming to talk to us again on 17th September about the Menopause. Both of these evenings have proved to be really helpful to our members in previous years, as we all get used to our post cancer bodies, and menopause symptoms, from both chemo induced menopause and natural menopause.
This support group is open to anyone affected by cancer (doesn’t matter what type of cancer). Run by survivors for survivors, this group aims to offer a safe environment for those affected by cancer to get together over a cup of tea/ coffee and chat! Our About Us page gives more information on the group.
You are free to come and go to meetings as you wish and we look forward to seeing you! Please feel free to call us or fill in our contact form if you’d like to have a chat first. Don’t forget that we have a Whatsapp group which you can also join if you’d like to chat more or ask questions of the other members; just email us your mobile number and we’ll add you to the Whatsapp group. If you’re in the Whatsapp group already, you can let us know if you’re coming along on there.
Date: Tuesday 2nd April 2024
Time: 19:30-21:00
Venue: Simeon Room, Christ Church, Christchurch Road, Winchester, SO23 9SR
Cost: £1 donation
We normally meet here on the First Tuesday of the month.
We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting and if you are new, and would like to come along but would prefer to chat to us beforehand, please contact us, send us an email, or leave a message on our voicemail at 01962 658170