Sunovary – a new group for Ovarian Cancer patients
Former NHS worker Karen Varley said her whole life has been ‘tinted’ by cancer – with her mum, a grandparent and other relatives all receiving a cancer diagnosis.
Karen who lives near Wakefield, was diagnosed in 2019 with squamous cell carcinoma, an extremely rare Ovarian cancer.
But Karen isn’t looking for sympathy: “ I didn’t want this, but things happen for a reason and I’m not going to dwell on it.”
Following diagnosis of the stage 3, grade 3 cancer, alongside traditional Western medicines, Karen believes her recovery was largely helped by a holistic approach. She is a reiki practitioner and she is very much of the belief that a positive mindset can help to bring about a better quality of life.
Karen also discovered that exercise in general, aided her recovery. She was referred by her GP to the Aspire Rehabilitation course and took part in the pilot Active Recovery run by Emma Kirke. While painkillers can lead to constipation, going for a walk helped her to feel healthy and there’s lot of research now to back up both pre operative gentle exercise and post operative rehabilitation to aid recovery.
This desire to help others who are going through something similar, has led Karen to set up a support group with a difference. Instead of a fixed venue and timing, Karen will take it to various geographical locations and hope for others to replicate a group in their own area.
Her first group ran in the Wakefield area and attracted four ladies. She is offering a second meeting in Leeds and plans to take the group to a venue in London for the following meeting. She is hoping in each case, there will be local patients who can help set something up in their locality.
There is also the possibility that groups could be hybrid meetings offering both face to face and online to reach people who are not ready for venturing outside.
Karen is calling the group Sunovary after her love of sunflowers, and meetings will be chit chats, helping to keep the group informal and friendly. It’s early days and Karen plans to set up a website, what’s app group and Instagram account.
If you would like to go along, or know of anyone who could benefit, please contact Karen by emailing sunova777@aol.com