TEA, friendship and support are being offered to those in the region living with secondary breast cancer.
Sarah McDiarmid, from Dumfries, has teamed up with the Make Seconds Count charity to host a new face-to-face monthly support group for sufferers.
She held the launch event last Friday afternoon at The Usual Place cafe in Dumfries and going forward it will be on the second Friday of every month from 12-2 pm.
Mum-of-two Sarah, 41, who received her diagnosis of the disease last year, is keen to reach out to others locally and said: “Being diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is devastating news at any age, and finding support in a rural location can be especially difficult.
“Making connections with others who have the same diagnosis at a conference in Manchester last year was a turning point for me in accepting my diagnosis. Connecting with others who can truly understand and empathise was so affirming. This has been the catalyst to host the group locally, to emulate that face to face support.”
Meanwhile, teacher Sarah is busy preparing to run the Edinburgh 10K next weekend with friends for Make Seconds Count and is on track to raise nearly £1000 for them.
Despite being a running novice, she is looking forward to the challenge and said: “Enjoying life and making memories is my priority just now and this next challenge will definitely be a memorable one!”
It’s the latest fundraiser by Sarah and her family, who completed a ten mile charity walk from Lockerbie to Johnstonebridge last year, raising over £23,000 for Breast Cancer Now.
At that time Sarah revealed that she had been diagnosed with primary breast cancer in 2020 and had undergone 16 months of treatment in Dumfries and Carlisle including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy and hormone therapy.
After 19 months cancer free, she received the devastating news in February 2023 that it had returned and was now stage four, also called secondary.
She has set up a blog page on Facebook detailing her journey, find it at ‘Things Cancer Made Me Do’. Her Just Giving link is there too.
And to sign up for the Tea and Chat group, go to https://make2ndscount.co.uk/support/community/tea-and-a-chat/tea-and-a-chat-dumfries
n According to Make Seconds Count: secondary breast cancer is breast cancer which has spread from the breast to other parts of the body. Although it can be treated, there is no cure and it can affect men and women.
