Back at the beginning of March, I wrote this post entitled You’re Ovary Acting in aid of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and pledged to hold my own event to raise funds and awareness for gynae cancer charity, The Eve Appeal. Having set the date for my Make Time For Tea charity fundraiser, I figured I’d best tackle two of my all-time personal pet hates: coffee and cooking.

I know most humans are drawn to coffee like cats to catnip, but for me it’s a major turn-off: the aroma, the bitter taste, the tar-like appearance. Just…no. Similarly, the very notion of trying to conjure up a Jamie Oliver creation in 30 short minutes is completely alien to me – I mean why would you even put yourself under that kind of undue pressure? Just thinking about pans bubbling over and utensils clattering is enough to bring me out in hives. The thing with cooking is that there’s just so much effort involved. You do the maths: take a gazillion ingredients, add several different cooking durations and temperature requirements, sprinkle in a few distractions such as Facebook and the telly, then subtract the luxury of enough time…equals so many opportunities for things to go pear-shaped. Far too much admin, if you ask me.

Fortunately, my distaste for all things coffee and culinary is countered by a love of tea and eating, so with a little determination I was able to overcome my lazy-girl issues and get cracking with the preparations. Well, it’s all for charidee, mate, after all. As my partner Andy imports coffee for a living, he supplied the good stuff (I’ll take his word for it), then I rolled up my sleeves and got my bake on…

Now I doubt Mary Berry will be fearing for her job anytime soon, but I have to say my lemon drizzle cakes (yes, plural!) came out remarkably well – so much so that a couple of friendly neighbourhood mice (or perhaps it was my parents), scurried in and nibbled one of them and I had to bake another. Weirdly, I didn’t mind at all – having overcome my concerns about the edibility of anything I could create in the kitchen, got past the faff of having to buy all the various cake-making components and worked out how to grate lemon zest without reducing my acrylic-nailed fingertips to bloody stumps, I actually began to relax and enjoy the bake. There may have been a flour cloud above my head and sticky lemon juice on every available surface, but licking the bowl was heavenly and the finished result made up for all the mess.

Whilst I cooked up a storm in the kitchen, my family rallied round to help get my house tea party-ready: mum loaning me the best family china; dad repainting my battered garden furniture that has definitely seen better days. My sister took one sceptical look at my child-unfriendly house full of angular units and breakables and began carrying out a full risk assessment…quickly concluding that a trip to her place to collect enough primary-coloured bits of plastic to open our own branch of Toys R Us was required. (Later, when I clocked her easing grubby little mitts off my travel memorabilia and back towards the toys I was extremely grateful for her contribution).

Zipping round the supermarket for some prefessionally-baked back-ups, I was aware of the judgemental glances of other shoppers; eyes sliding away as I clocked them peering at the cake mountain in my trolley: lemon meringue pie, swirly strawberry cheesecake, scones, red velvet cake, Taste The Difference carrot, morello cherry bake (that one was delicious, by the way) – you name it, I bought it. I looked like some crazed sugar junkie on a bender. I slung in a few bottles of prosecco for good measure and I was good to go.

On the morning of my event I awoke early to prepare the treat-filled feast for my guests. Having performed yet another last-minute supermarket sweep, the spread was looking even more bountiful: baked goods balanced on every surface. Sprinkling heart confetti on the table and adding flowers, I stepped back to admire my handiwork…

My sister, mum and cousins were my first guests to arrive. A special mention must go to my cuzzy Lucy Blake, a cake-baking whizz, whose impressive cupcakes complete with Eve Appeal logos and edible glitter drew gasps of delight from my guests.

Hungry ladies began arriving in their droves and we finally allowed my little nephew Hayden to get stuck into the cake table – something he’d been slyly attempting for the last hour, his mum and I swatting him away until the other guests arrived.

All my nail-biting fears of no-shows, mumbled apologies and texts of regret dissipated as the doorbell chimed; the tea was poured, the cafetière plunged and cakes gratefully eaten. Neighbours popped in, friends dutifully appeared; there were even a few surprise appearances and tears.

A timely collaboration with those lovely folk at TeaTourist meant that as well as my trusty PG Tips, I also had an abundance of interesting herbal tea blends to offer my guests. Available as a one-off purchase, a thoughtful gift or a monthly subscription, the company selects an array of carefully-crafted artisan teas from various respected suppliers and then delivers them to your door in a slimline box that fits easily through the letterbox, so no hanging around for deliveries. The complementary taster box I received included some intriguing flavours such as Chocolate Orange and the cinnamon-tinged Mulled Apple Brandy – although my favourite of them all is Rose and Strawberry. Each taster sachet has enough for four cups and includes information about the tea as well as the company who produce it, along with a discount code if you’d like to repurchase directly. Seeing as there’s a subscription box for just about everything these days, it makes sense to have one for tea too. (Use code FIRST10 for 10% off your first box).

By mid-afternoon the first sitting of tea-guzzlers had thinned out, so there was just time for a quick washing-up session and a replenish of cakes before round two. By this point I was buzzing: partly due to the sugar rush from all the cake-sampling, but even more so upon seeing my strategically-placed collection boxes overflowing with crisp banknotes. Way to go, ladies!

To add to the warm fuzzy feeling that gave me inside, Mother Nature provided a warm fuzzy feeling on the outside: Thursday 30th March turned out to be the hottest March day for five years, enabling us to spend the entire afternoon in the garden eating yet more cake and quaffing prosecco. High five, Sister!

The final guests left at 6pm, so I kicked off my shoes, had a cup of Wilderness Honeybush from my TeaTourist box and totted up the funds raised. The cash on the day totalled £265, with another £298 via my Just Giving account, giving a grand total of £563! Add to that the 25% gift aid and the total raised climbed to £703.75! How cool is that?! A pretty productive day, if I do say so myself…

So on behalf of The Eve Appeal and myself I’d like to say a huge and heartfelt “Thank you!” to everyone who donated to my campaign – either in person or online. Your generous contributions will enable this fabulous charity to continue their great work: protecting women’s health by helping prevent gynae cancers.

The word I’d use to sum up the day? Much like the cakes themselves actually:

“Sweet!”

The post Make Time For Tea – in association with TeaTourist appeared first on Life: A Birds Eye View.

Wow! You’re Ovary-acting

…or are you? You don’t want to upset those ovaries do you?

Do you even know the symptoms of ovarian cancer?

C’mon ladies, we need to be clued up on this stuff. I know, I know, it’s not the most fun topic to chat about when you see your girlfriends – we’d far rather be quaffing champers over a long lunch…or perhaps you’d prefer to be at home helping the kids with their homework – well, anything’s better than talking about The Dreaded C, isn’t it? We’ve all been affected by cancer in some way in our lives – either personally or having to watch the suffering of a loved one – so it’s a painful topic, I get that. It’s bringing a lump to my throat typing this, as I recall the faces of those I’ve loved and lost to this terrible disease.

But, as a friend suffering from terminal cancer so succinctly put it recently: knowledge is power. If we know what we’re dealing with, which symptoms to look out for, we can stop it in it’s tracks by getting the required treatment early on. As with all cancers, early diagnosis is key – but ovarian cancer symptoms can be confused with other conditions, or dismissed as part of growing older, since it most commonly occurs after age 50. So familiarise yourself with the symptoms, and visit your GP if you have any of the following for more than a few weeks:

www.ovarian.org.uk

There are also certain risk factors that increase your chances of getting ovarian cancer too:

source

March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, so I’m fundraising in aid of The Eve Appeal by hosting a Make Time For Tea event at the end of the month. All you have to do is bake (or buy!) some cakes (and/or ask your friends to bring some along too), pour the tea and have fun with your friends whilst raising awareness and funds for the campaign – simples!

my fundraising pack arrived when I was leaving for work the other day

If you are not able to host your own tea party, or attend one locally, you can always donate to my Make Time For Tea Just Giving page here:

                               https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/wanderingblonde

So come on everyone, let’s raise funds for The Eve Appeal and keep those ovaries happy. You’re not overreacting; you’re Ovary Acting.  

Thank you!

The post You’re Ovary Acting: Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month appeared first on Life: A Birds Eye View.

Samantha Walsh, #AtYourCervix!

Hello guys, I’m clocking in and reporting for duty. The mission? To Save Your Cervix! Think of me as your friendly Customer Cervix Advisor.

Do you have a cervix, or know someone who does?

Then in that case this petition is for you! I’m campaigning to get the wording of the smear test invitation letter amended to actively encourage women to attend screening, including re-adding the phone number to call to book your appointment, which has actually been removed from the letter as of last year! I know, crazy right?

At a time when around 30% of women don’t attend screening these cost-cutting changes to the letter feel irresponsible at best. If you agree, please sign my petition by clicking the link below:

 PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SIGN!

Thank you, Birds Eye Viewers! Xxx

EXCITING UPDATE 31/1/17:

Just a few days after starting this petition, I got a tweet from Jo’s Trust which reassured me that all my months of campaigning had not been in vain! The letter changes (which I initially drew the attention of the charities Jo’s Trust and The Eve Appeal to) had been debated in parliament, leading to an agreement that the cervical screening invitation letter did indeed need to be reviewed and updated. They will be working on amending the wording to encourage attendance. Wahoo! I’m totally made up about this! (there may even have been tears).
I feel like the renegade master: power to the people! High five ladies!

https://www.facebook.com/wanderingblonde/posts/375255879514808

Read the parliamentary transcript here

The post Cervical Cancer Prevention: Please Sign My Petition! I’m #AtYourCervix appeared first on Life: A Birds Eye View.

Liam and I had met late in the summer of ’98, when I was living in Ibiza and he was on a lads’ holiday. We went on our first “date” to Amnesia, danced all night and the rest is history; when he went home at the end of his holiday we kept in touch by phone and post (yes, actual letters!) and were reunited the moment I arrived back in the UK that October. He was from Essex, I’m from Kent, and after a year or so of dating we began renting a little place together in Brentwood and were blissfully happy. The only reason I’d had the smear test that had set off this rollercoaster chain of events was because we’d registered with a new GP after moving home; the accompanying nurse appointment was standard procedure.

In those days, cervical cancer screening was offered to women from the age of 20 every five years. I’d previously had one smear test at 21, which had come back fine, and wasn’t due another until I was 26. So it was by pure chance a few years later that I’d had the extra test that had detected these aggressively mutating cells.

The result letter had dropped on the mat: “abnormal.”

I’d had a further investigation at hospital via a colposcope (basically a telescope for ladybits) whereby they put iodine on the cells of the cervix, explaining that the bigger the area that changed colour (from black to yellow) with the iodine, the worse it was. The gynaecologist and I peered at the screen as the entire area instantly lit up like a Christmas tree. Oh.

Hence that dreaded follow-up appointment with the GP and then the operation to remove the cells using a hot wire. Had I not moved surgeries and just waited to be called for my next smear, two more years would have passed and they said I’d almost certainly have had full-blown cervical cancer due to the rapid rate of mutation – yet I’d had no symptoms.

Time passed, I was closely monitored with extra smears: every six months at first, then yearly. All clear. Liam and I bought a house, got married, and turned our attention towards starting a family, safe in the knowledge that there would be no repercussions from my earlier treatment. Wrong!

When months turned into years and no double blue lines appeared on the pregnancy stick, more tests revealed that, having had a sizable chunk of my cervix removed, the area was more prone to infection and my fallopian tubes had subsequently been completely damaged by an undiagnosed infection. I wasn’t prescribed antibiotics after the treatment as a precaution; I had no symptoms of infection, just as I’d had no symptoms of pre-cancer. I was left infertile.

I had to have a partial hysterectomy during which both fallopian tubes were removed (salpingectomy) and parts of my ovaries (oopherectomy). Attempting pregnancy with damaged tubes can result in potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy. We both took a sabbatical from our jobs and backpacked around the world for 6 months, before throwing ourselves headlong into the IVF process.

The subsequent years of treatment proved fruitless whilst everyone around me effortlessly popped out sprogs at an impressive rate. It was like a baby-making conveyor belt; it made my head spin. My marriage broke down under the strain after fifteen years together and at 37 I was eventually diagnosed with premature menopause as a result of all the treatment and surgeries (approximately fifteen years earlier than is normal) and prescribed HRT, which was a godsend after suffering years of menopause symptoms, and essential when weighing up my age against the considerable health problems associated with not taking it. Even with the hormone replacement therapy, my life expectancy is reduced.

Why am I telling you all this? Who gives a rat’s ass about your medical history, I
hear you cry. Because I don’t want you, or your friend/sister/daughter to go through what I have.

There are 3 things I feel I have to share with you, and apologies if I’m stating the obvious here:

1. Use condoms to prevent cancer.

At school, we were told to use condoms to avoid pregnancy and STIs. We were NEVER told that unprotected sex causes cancer. Almost everyone will get the HPV virus, certain strains of which cause cervical and other cancers, at some point in their lives – that’s how common it is. Even condoms don’t guarantee protection, since HPV is also passed on simply through skin-to-skin contact, but they help. Teenage girls are routinely vaccinated against HPV these days, but the injection doesn’t provide complete protection, and obviously it’s still fairly recent. And what about those young women aged 19-24 who missed out on/declined the vaccine and are still too young for routine testing?

2. Go for your smears, my dears! 


These days, women aren’t called for their first smear test until they are 25 years old. For many that’s too late: a woman may have been sexually active for upto a decade by then, and even then abnormalities can be missed. It’s just a human looking at a slide, after all. If you have any concerns or symptoms and are under 25 OR if you’re not yet due your routine smear test the doctor will flat-out refuse to do it (I know, I pleaded to have one last year and was declined, despite my history), so pay to have it done privately if you have to, at around £80. At the very least get an HPV test from Superdrug online for less than £50, since almost 100% of cervical cancers are caused by the virus. The test arrives quickly in the post, is easy to perform, and the results are emailed to you just a few days later.
It still amazes me that about 40% of women don’t go for their smears. Attendance rates are in continuous decline, with women in the 25-49 age group least likely to attend, despite the fact that cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women under 35. Worryingly, it seems the “Jade Goody effect” is wearing off, as this recent article in The Telegraph highlights. Are you crazy, girls?!

3. Don’t ignore symptoms.

I didn’t have any, but cervical cancer symptoms include bleeding after sex and/or between periods and severe abdominal pain are the main ones and shouldn’t be dismissed.

I hope this post doesn’t make me sound all little-miss-preachy-pants, that’s not my intention at all. I find most things in life are improved with a generous dose of humour served up with a side order of silliness; I don’t really do serious if I can help it.

However, since my blog has taken off and gained readers I’ve felt a niggling obligation to use it as a platform to do some good now and then, rather than purely for my wistful memoirs and inane ramblings.

Since this has been one of the biggest game-changers of my life, I guess it’s an issue close to my heart. If it means that even one woman swerves the evil HPV, or goes for a smear test who may not otherwise have bothered, then it’s worth the embarrassment of sharing such personal details with you all.

I may have missed out on being a mother, but thanks to the screening I’m lucky enough to be alive to tell the tale.

And that, after all, is what counts  

me being…well…alive

Useful links:

https://www.bmihealthcare.co.uk/health-matters/womens-health/cervical-cancer-screening 
(for booking private smear tests)


https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/hpv-test.html  (to buy an online HPV test)


https://www.jostrust.org.uk  (cervical cancer info and support)


https://www.facebook.com/The-Dawn-Effect-Cervical-Cancer-Prevention-for-19-25-Year-Olds-1451038508491244/  

https://www.daisynetwork.org.uk/  (premature menopause support)

http://gateway-women.com/   (support for childless women)

www.eveappeal.org.uk (all 5 gynae cancers info and support)

This article has also appeared in The Huffington Post UK.

Sam x


Fancy reading my back-story before you go any further? You can find my other blogs at:

www.costaricachica1.blogspot.com
www.samgoessolo.blogspot.com
www.mummymission.blogspot.com
www.worldwidewalsh.blogspot.com

Follow me:

Twitter: @SamanthaWalsh76 (Life:ABird’sEyeView)
Facebook: @lifeabirdseyeview
Instagram: @lifeabirdseyeview

The post Go For Your Smears, My Dears! appeared first on Life: A Birds Eye View.