Women with ovarian cancer ‘dying because GPs fail to spot signs", reports the Times

Here is the article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6809887.ece and it's excellent to have this knowledge made available. It's important to help all GP's become aware that ovarian cancer may be the reason one of their patients presents a distended tummy. Every single one the ladies I've met with, or who have had, o/c were misdiagnosed at best, but fobbed off mostly, by their GP at the beginning of their condition. Often they were diagnosed with IBS or sent for digestive system investigation.

This other version of the article is fascinating too, sourced from NHS choices: http://www.iomtoday.co.im/nhshealth/Spotting-ovarian-cancer.5593357.jp because although there are 3 published symptoms now which are indicators of the disease, we know many ladies don't present all of them at once. This article in my opinion goes a long way towards identifying all the risk factors and helping raise awareness throughout the medical community and among women ourselves. Early detection will definitely save lives.
What do you think?


1/1/09 update: today have posted 38 letter to our Isle of Man GPs, attaching the new Dept of Health indicators for ovarian cancer. With such awareness, we can make the Isle of Man the region with the lowest occurance in Europe!

Hairy Bikers roaring in for Manx cake bake event!

In the Isle of Man Examiner out now there is a lovely article calling all Cake lovers and makers to hop on board the Eve Appeal Great Manx Bake-Off with the Hairy Bikers! Check it out online here! And here's what the article, by reporter Lottie Ray, says, below...

"FANCY flaunting your baking skills in front of the BBC's Hairy Bikers for charity at the Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival next month?

The Great Manx Bake-Off cake competition will celebrate Manx produce while raising money for the Eve Appeal Gynaecology Cancer Research Fund which aims to halve death rates in British ovarian cancer patients.

'We are hoping to get both home bakers and professionals across the Isle of Man creating a spectacular display of Manx cakes,' explained Samantha Honey-Pollock of the charity. 'I was inspired by the pictures of the delicious cakes on the Eve Appeal's fundraising ideas web pages and then even more so by the availability of local Manx produce to bake with. So I decided to take a leaf from Ilovemanx.org and suggest to the Department of Tourism and Leisure that an exciting cake baking competition using Manx ingredients to raise money for the charity be planned. And the idea just grew from there!'

Last month, Samantha, of Ballasalla, won the southern heat of the I Love Manx Chef competition at the Southern Agricultural Show with her honey pollock and rose petal salad dish. So, as well as organising the cake competition, she will also go head to head with northern winner Lizia Medina Quinn, of Andreas, at the festival where the Hairy Bikers will choose the overall winner.

The Great Manx Bake-Off will take place at 3pm on Saturday, September 26, as part of the festival in the Villa Marina Arcade where the finalists will be judged by the bearded television presenters. Islanders will also have the opportunity to take part in a fun auction with the celebrity duo, a cup cake workshop for kids and kids at heart, a cake quiz and a sale of the competition cakes.

'I love to cook, yet my own cakes are usually disasters,' explained Samantha. 'But cake does happen to be my favourite food on earth. I can't think of anything more comforting than sitting down with a beautiful china cup full of tea and a fresh slice of home-baked cake.' All cakes must be Manx-themed and made using Manx flour, eggs and milk - with extra points being awarded for using even more Island products. 'Maybe we will have entries that look like a Manx cat, TT motorbike or Tower of Refuge,' said Samantha.

There will be two categories in the competition: one for professionals and another for home bakers. All entries, which can be individual or as a family, workplace or group of friends, are free.

Semi-finalists will be selected on Friday, September 25. All cakes submitted will receive a £5 voucher for Shoprite, which, as supporter of the competition, has also donated more than £400 worth of prizes to be won. Proceeds will go to the Eve Appeal, which shares its donations with Ovacome - a charity that offers support and advice to ovarian cancer sufferers. 'I have personally been touched by an ovarian cancer scare,' said Samantha, 'and was quickly given excellent treatment at Noble's Hospital before being transferred to Liverpool Women's hospital at the end of last year.

''We have lost ladies in the Isle of Man to this disease which is often left undiagnosed until it is too late,' said Samantha, 'Support helps raise awareness and the funds necessary to provide an early detection technique for ovarian cancer and help save 4,400 women's lives a year.'

The closing date for entries is Friday, September 11..."

Fancy flaunting YOUR baking prowess? Download an application form in the box top right! We hope to raise more than £2500 this day- oh how wonderful- so delicious cakes of all shapes and sizes made from fresh Manx produce are invited.

did you know... your cake will be on display at the prestigious launch party of the Isle of Man Food & Drink festival on Friday night? And, if you'd want to keep your masterpiece and not have it sold or auctioned by the Hairies, you can donate £30 to the Eve Appeal and keep it all- as well as the glory (!)- for yourself. The Entry form has full details!

Exploring Ovacome

Ovacome, the charity dedicated to providing support and information to sufferers of o/c, has a great forum on it's website. You can sign up for free and read all sorts of stories and comments from ladies around the UK in a similar boat... we've all been through that "gathering information" stage and some of the information you can turn up on the www is just ghastly- isn't it? Much better to join in a discussion with people living through it, wouldn't you agree?

Here's a blog link too, from one of the forum members: http://sandhysown.blogspot.com/... i love blogs, have you started your own with it's unique flavour? Comment here and I'll showcase you!

there's Cake Angels on the Isle of Man!

Out the window I can see the rain clouds blowing over to the mainland and this makes me feel so grateful that we'll have another sunny afternoon.







on the same theme... I'm also so grateful for the amazing sponsors we have for the Great Manx Bake-Off!

Alongside Shoprite, who right now are busy printing up our lovely flyers and posters for the event,

and Viking Office Systems, who have donated some lovely judge's thanks,

we've just received some lovely gifts donated by Boots for the "So you think you can Bake?" cake quiz open to all on Saturday 26th September. Come to the Villa Marina Arcade and test your knowledge- each question will be about cakes, manx baking, and baking manx cakes!







Do you have great knowledge of baking or Manx ingredients? Would you like to submit a question for "So you think you can Bake?" Email me to share, and your name will be under your question as credit!


Here's some teasers to start your juices flowing!..



Which ingredients can be used to replace self-raising flour if you've only got plain flour to use in your baking?


What's the name of the local flour company based on the Isle of Man?

And... what on earth is Bonnag?






Calling all Cake Angels! Could you sponsor the Eve Appeal Great Manx Bake-Off? We would really appreciate some publicity- radio and newspaper- to promote this exciting celebrity auction and event!- as well as Cake Display cabinets/chillers for use for 24 hours at the Villa Marina Arcade...

Entries Invited!

Entries are open now for the Eve Appeal Great Manx Bake-Off!

You can click on the image below and download an application form. Here's some quick details:

• Entry is free and yes, you can be a team of more than one "Manx Baker"



• You can enter in one of two categories: Home-Bakers, or Professionals



• £500 worth of prizes are up for grabs with a £5 Shoprite voucher for every submission!



• Your cake must be made of Manx flour, eggs and milk (if these form part of the recipe)



• The cake should have a Manx theme and will be judged on taste, appearance and “Manxness”. “Manxness” in this instance means the proportion of Manx ingredients used as well as the theme of the cake



• The cake Final will be judged by the Hairy Bikers of BBC fame at the Villa Marina on Saturday September 26th as part of the Isle of Man Food & Drink festival!
  
  

Our lovely sponsors include Shoprite, Boots, Viking Office Systems, Cupcakes Isle of Man and some help from the WI to date... many thanks for your kindness & generosity! Entries close September 11

On the day, there will be Cupcake workshops for Kids... and Kids-at-heart

"So you think you can Bake?"- a cake-quiz for the smarty-pants out there- with great prizes! ...

PLUS- you'll be able to buy a slice- or a whole!- of the entries OR bid in the fun public Auction with the Hairies to get your hands (and tastebuds) on the Winning Cakes!

all in the beautiful mezzanine level of the Villa Marina Arcade as part of the Isle of Man food & drink festival.

Look! isn't it a gorgeous location?

And all proceeds going to the Eve Appeal with it's aim to halve death rates from ovarian cancer in women across the island and the UK.

yum yum!

your test results

31st December, 2008. New Years Eve...


mobile phone: ring, ring!

Me: Hello?

Mr Herod: Hello, is that Samantha?

Me: Yes?

Mr Herod: Samantha, it's Jonathon Herod, consultant gynaecological surgeon, oncologist and clinical director at Liverpool Women's hospital here. I understand you've been stuck in a plane on the Isle of Man going nowhere for a few hours due to freezing fog...

Me: Yes, yes sir, we have.

Mr Herod: Samantha, I'd like to tell you we're not going to re-schedule an appointment here for you. There's no point. You see, the results of the tests from your surgery are excellent. There was no evidence of anything that we would consider to be cancerous in any of the specimens removed and hence the procedure should be curative. No further treatment or follow up will be neccessary. Samantha- my advice to you would be to go home and get on with your life. And have a happy new year.

Me: (crying) Oh, oh, this is wonderful... thank you, thank you so much.

Mr Herod: Our pleasure. Goodbye!


~*~
Before and after the surgery I had some time to think about what it meant to me. I decided that I wanted to help a charity that raised awareness of ovarian disorders, as I'd been misdiagnosed by one of my local doctors and in those two months when I was trying to find other answers, the cyst grew considerably. I also wanted to live and really take advantage- and never take for granted- my healthy body again.

With my love of exercise, all things food, and helping people, I retrained as a Personal Trainer on the Gold Coast of Australia early this year.

(here's me training... ahem, resting, at Capital Hill, Canberra)




P.S. Would you like to share your story? Email me and I will publish it, anonymously, if you desire, on a post here.

57 days to go!

I am so excited putting together The Great Manx Bake off that I can barely sleep at night! Visions of delicious cakes swirling round my brain...

We have devised such a wonderful event on Saturday 26th September 2009, as part of the Isle of Man Food & Drink festival, to raise funds and awareness for the Eve Appeal!

Of course more details of prizes offered by our super sponsors and details of how to enter will be here soon!

And for now...

click on the image to discover more about the event!

R.O.C.C Isle of Man press on Manx.net

Over the weekend, Manx.net highlighted the presence of The Eve Appeal on the Isle of Man for women. Here's part of the information on their news page:

New local charity
coordinator for Isle of Man women.

Isle of Man women affected by cancer have found a champion as Samantha Honey-Pollock has been appointed as the local representative of charities The Eve Appeal and Ovacome,
who are working together in a pioneering partnership to raise awareness of
ovarian cancer across the UK.

The Eve Appeal in partnership with Ovacome regional network of volunteers is supported by a major donation from Boots as part of its ongoing partnership with The Eve Appeal,

“I will be looking for supporters to help me spread the word about ovarian cancer
and the signs and symptoms women should look out for,” said Samantha. “New guidance has recently been published by the Department of Health on signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and it’s important that we make these as widely known as possible.”

The Eve Appeal in partnership with Ovacome runs a telephone buddy service for women affected by the cancer and raises money for vital research. Samantha is one of the first 234 of an eventual network of 50 regional ovarian cancer coordinators that will cover the
whole country.

Samantha, who had a scare with ovarian cancer last year and subsequent surgery at Liverpool Women’s hospital said; ”Every year 6,600 more UK women find out they have this cancer and 4,400 will die. Some of them may be from the Isle of Man.

“The Eve Appeal in partnership with Ovacome is determined that they should have better
support and information delivered through regional representatives like me.”

If you can help Samantha or would like more details please
call her on 07624 455666 or email theeveappeal@manx.net

Many thanks to Manx.net!

The Hairy Bikers and good news for The Eve Appeal on the Isle of Man!

How exciting! We are hatching a very special fundraiser for The Eve Appeal on the Isle of Man at the Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival on 26th and 27th September. All manx cooks, dust down your aprons! We will be inviting all scrumptious, creative cakemakers on the island to shine for The Great Manx Bake-off!

The final on Sept 26 will be judged by BBC stars, cooks and Isle of Man enthusiasts, the Hairy Bikers, and our semi-final judges include highly-esteemed Isle of Man individuals with public health and food & drink responsibilities.

There is lots going on at the Isle of Man Food & Drink festival in September! As well as the Great Manx Bake-off will be the I Love Manxchef live cooking showdown.

And if you are in town - ie Castletown showgrounds, 12.30pm- tomorrow, please come cheer me on in the South island semi-final! I will be cooking a delicious energy and health filled lunch special; a manx-produce based recipe of course, which is the criteria!

More details of The Great Manx Bake-off for The Eve Appeal to come! please email if you'd like to be part. Women's gynae cancers are part of many of our lives and the Isle of Man is such a big place to spread this message to.

a lovely summer

"Find joy in the creation of what you want in life, as well as it's completion"

It still rains most days for a few hours, big, heavy, wet drops- almost tropical!- but we are enjoying the most deliciously warm and generally sunshiney summer here on the Isle of Man.

With Husby, have been enjoying push-bike rides late into the evening. It still isn't dark til 11pm- such a wonderful treat. Riding my bike makes me feel like a little girl again. It's fantastic.

pic 1. from blog A Cup of Jo, pic 2. from Martha Stewart