Support is there for cancer sufferers
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THE start of 2021 is proving to be an acutely challenging time for people with cancer, the NHS and for cancer care. Indeed, it’s clear that this is the most worrying time in recent history to get a cancer diagnosis.
At Macmillan, people are calling our support line every day to tell us about the heightened anxiety, loneliness and distress that they are feeling. On our support line – open seven days a week, 8am-8pm, on 08088 080000 – specially trained nurses, counsellors and financial support advisors are available to help anyone affected by, or worried about, cancer. They can provide comprehensive information and advice, as well as emotional support, to help people with cancer cope with the additional strain of the coronavirus pandemic.
The NHS is still here for you. Comprehensive cancer information and support, including our latest guidance on the impact of coronavirus on cancer care, is also available on www.macmillan.org. uk.
Emma Tingley Macmillan Cancer Support
THE NHS is launching a new campaign to urge families in London to talk about organ donation following research that less than half of adults in England have had the conversation.
The Leave Them Certain campaign aims to highlight the impact not knowing has on the families who are left behind and encourage people talk about their decision. It follows the law change last year in England, which means that all adults are seen as willing to donate their organs, unless they opt out or are in one of the excluded groups.
In London, 2,707,500 people are currently on the NHS Organ Donor Register, with 184 people becoming donors in the last year, but the NHS needs more people to talk with their families about their decision. As part of the campaign, a new TV advert launched this week featuring the Kakkad family from Pinner. Shivum’s father Bharat died from a cardiac arrest when he was 63 in May 2019, but the family had never spoken about organ donation.
The advert features family footage and memories of Bharat but ends with another memory - when they asked Shivum if his father wanted to be an organ donor and he just didn’t know.
Significantly, Shivum and his family did agree to organ donation, but it was a decision that could have been made easier if they’d had the conversation. He said: “My father was a very giving person. He did charity work and was a strong believer in the Hindu act of Sewa, of service to God. When the specialist nurse approached us about organ donation, we made our decision. We knew that helping others in need was what my father would have wanted. But I wish we had spoken about it to know for certain and I would urge others to take the opportunity while they still can.”
Shivum hopes that by sharing their family’s story, they will encourage more families, particularly from Asian and other ethnic backgrounds, to support and talk about organ donation. Donor numbers are increasing, but more need to come forward as often the best transplant match will come from a donor of the same ethnicity.
Bharat went on to help the lives of two other people. He donated a kidney to a woman in her 50s and a kidney to a man in his 60s.
One person who knows the importance of having the conversation is Lisa Turner, whose mum Pauline became an organ donor not long before her 70th birthday. She said: “Mum would never talk about death. She would shut down if the subject ever came up and would say she didn’t want anyone taking her bits. My dad, brother and sister were much more open.
“However when mum had to renew her driving licence she ticked the box to be added to the NHS Organ Donor Register but didn’t tell us. It was only when her donor card came though the post that she told everyone. We were all so shocked! She was so proud of herself.
“If we’d found out mum was on the register after she died and she hadn’t told us, we would have thought it was a mistake and would have stopped the donation from going ahead. Having the conversation was so important. It is a hard conversation, but death is life. I can’t express how important it is to talk about it.”
Pauline donated her lungs, kidneys and liver and was able to help four people.
Anthony Clarkson, director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “People often tell us that they struggle to find the right time or words to talk about organ donation, unfortunately we see firsthand the impact not knowing has on families when the first time they consider their loved ones wishes around organ donation is when they are seriously ill or have already died. Talk to your friends, talk to your family. Even though the law has changed, you can still sign up to the NHS Organ Donor Register to provide your family with added reassurance. Please don’t wait. Have the conversation today.”
The NHS has some produced some tips and guidance to help start the conversation:
Start by checking in first; ‘how are you doing?’ so you can gauge whether now is a good time. Choose a time when you’re not too distracted or when you’re sharing a space, or time with each other, maybe over a cup of tea or out walking.
Perhaps there is something that prompts the conversation - passing a driving test, seeing our campaign TV advert, or an article in the paper.
Open with ‘did you hear’ and not your own point of view; or ‘how would you feel if…’
If faith is important to you, open with talking about what you know about your faith’s beliefs on giving. Acknowledge it’s a difficult subject and that you don’t have to agree.
For more information on organ donation, visit: organdonation.nhs. uk or call 0300 123 23 23.
TEN years ago, actors and comedians Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig delighted audiences with their uproarious, filthy-minded script for Bridesmaids.
They were subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
The good friends collaborate once more on the page for a colourful road movie, timed for release just before Valentine’s Day in which they also play the title characters.
Barb (Mumolo) and Star (Wiig) are unerringly cheerful best friends, who live in the sleepy Midwestern town of Taylorsville. They proudly host gettogethers with neighbours, serving their famous hot dog soup to guests.
For the first time in their lives, Barb and Star leave their close-knit community to visit the sun-kissed resort of Vista Del Mar in Florida.
Far from home, the two women cross paths with handsome stranger Edgar (Jamie Dornan) as they stoke smouldering embers of romance and become entangled in a dastardly plot.
■ Released: February 12 (available via Premium Video On Demand rental for 48 hours on all major platforms)