Survivors and newly diagnosed welcome
The Selkirk and District Breast Cancer Support Group has been a caring collective of people who have breast cancer and who have survived breast cancer. They have been a support system for members who have been there the entire 24 years since the group came together as well as those who have come and gone over the years and with October being breast cancer awareness month they remind residents that they are open to helping regardless of where you are in your breast cancer journey.
“We’re a peer support group. We meet monthly and what we do is we share our diagnosis with new members and we get together and try to support one another wherever we’re at in our journey with cancer. Hopefully by doing that people will get some benefit from it,” said Wendy Mcleary, co-chair of the Selkirk and District Breast Cancer Support Group.
Mcleary and co-founder Tannis Barker started the group in 1999 which was a year after Mcleary herself was diagnosed.
“I was diagnosed on September 9 of 1998 and I had gone to an all-cancer group at the Selkirk hospital. I’d gone for a few sessions and then I’d received a call from the facilitator, and she asked me if I could speak to another lady who has just been newly diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time, I was a little reluctant, because that was only two months into my diagnosis. But I spoke with her, her name was Tannis Barker, and we actually spoke to each other on the phone for a few months. Then we met, and it was in the fall of the next year in 1999 and it was Tannis’s idea, she said, ‘There’s two of us. There’s got to be more of us,’” said Mcleary.
The idea for the support group came about that day and shortly thereafter they put an ad in the paper looking for others and hosted their first meeting in November of 1999.
The way that their meetings work is that they first go around and talk about their lives. These updates can be about their breast cancer journey, but since they also have long-time members who have been in remission, they can also include personal life updates too.
“A lot of our members are 20 to 30 years cancer-free so it’s different [for everyone]. Some are new members, who are just newly diagnosed, of course, they would want to share, what’s been going on with them. The older members are there more to support them. So, we go around and then we have a snack. Then we have our business meeting because we do outreach in the community, we do events, and we have celebrations throughout the year. This month is one of them for Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” said Mcleary.
This format allows newly diagnosed members to share their stories but also the members who are farther in their journey can talk to them about what life is like even years after diagnosis. For members who have been in remission or farther away from their initial diagnoses, this is a way to give back to our community but also to continue the long-lasting friendships that have developed from this group.
For people who might not feel comfortable going to a meeting or might not have the ability to, the group can also connect you to a member with a similar diagnosis who can give you a call and chat or you can be looped into their newsletter which can keep you up to date with the group.
“Some people just want to receive the newsletter, or they may just come to one or two meetings, and then that’s maybe all that they need. Sometimes if they’re on a long-term treatment plan, it may not be feasible for them to come. I send out regular emails and we can put them on a group list, and they would receive all our emails so the group keeps them informed on what is going on with the group. Then if they haven’t been to our meetings for a long time, they can feel comfortable coming back, because they are connected,” she said.
Residents who would like to support a Breast Cancer Awareness Month fundraiser in our community can go to Packers Fashions who have a couple of options to support. Learn more on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/packersfashions
In addition to Packers, Mcleary thanks all those who have supported the group throughout the years including Gerdau who recently gave them a wonderful donation which will help them to continue to offer this support in our community
Mcleary invited residents in need of support to reach out.
“We are a welcoming, caring, sharing and supportive group,” she said.
If you are interested in becoming part of this group Mcleary asks that you give her a call at 204-785-2456 or email her at mcleary@mymts.net so that she can chat about what kind of support you’d prefer.
