Wednesday 26 August 2009

My Weekend in Devon with Fellow Ovarian Cancer Ladies




Sixteen months ago I happened to be reading something on the Ovacome website. A lady had written about her feelings and worries on having Ovarian Cancer.
I sent this lady a private message offering my support as I too had OC.
This lady was Sandhy

We’ve chatted online about absolutely everything and got along like a house on fire. Gradually through our friendship we found other ladies with Ovarian Cancer and through facebook we have a little group where we all help each other along by chatting about the awful illness and trying to help each other cope. Its not all doom and gloom though as we are in fits of giggles quite a lot of the time too.

Imagine how thrilled I was to be invited to meet some of these ladies who I’d only ever spoke to via the internet.

Last Friday I climbed on a train from Newcastle upon Tyne to Exeter, a journey that would take me 6 hours but this was a journey I was really looking forward to.

As soon as Sandhy met me at the station I knew it’d be a fun weekend.
Rachel had travelled down from Croydon on the coach and had been met by Sandhy & Julie, they then travelled across town to meet me.
Rick Stein/Ffloyd/Gordon Ramsey/Delia AKA Andrew

On arriving at Sandhy’s home I met Andrew, her wonderful husband who was all ready at the barbeque, utensils in his hands and raring to cook.
Georgie arrived next clutching wine followed by her gorgeous daughter Claire and her family.
Georgie is a wonderful lady but unfortunately not a lady I had ever chatted to online as she has no home computer but I had got to know her daughter Claire who keeps Georgie upto date with all whats happening in our little discussions.

We had a fantastic bbq thanks to Andrew the Jamie Oliver of Devon.

All the weekend we did something from going for a magnificent Devonshire Cream Tea to visiting Darts Farm where you could buy all kinds of gorgeous goodies from fresh vegetables to spicy pickles.


This was the best weekend I’ve ever had and meeting these lovely ladies an absolute dream. I think we’re going to be staying in contact for a long time to come.

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: My OC Friends
Please click the play button and another window will open for the video to play and turn your speakers on Sorry girls they didn't have Shine!

Thank you all for putting up with me and my Northern Accent and madness. I love you all your “Top Birds”

11 comments:

  1. Thank you for popping over to my blog. Glad that you had a super time in Devon. Hope the treatment is all going well and you are having fun - with lots of giggles! That cream tea looks fab! :)

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  2. Thanks for sharing the fun with us...I live on the far side (of the ocean? the world? LOL) so couldn't have made it, but it would have been a super fun day!

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  3. Lovely to hear about this and it must be great to have this level of support. Hope you all had a great and time in the future with more girly weekends.

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  4. It looks like you all had a great time!!!

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  5. whaaa!! brilliant video! It was FAB to have you down, and is going to be the first of many get togethers!

    The Gordon Ramsey of Devon loved it too ;o)
    x

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  6. I met some folks last weekend after getting to know them on the internet. It was fun and uplifting too!

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  7. Thanks for the link to the chemo hats lady. I'll go check it out.

    Hey, I wonder if somewhere along the line we're related. I have great grand----s who came from North Yorkshire!

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  8. Wow! Sounds like my kind of weekend. Would love to meet all of you one day! Love the short video and photos were excellent. It's great to connect with so many wonderful women who all share similiar experiences. Wishing you all the best and may you all be in remission for the rest of your lives!

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  9. It looks like you had a lovely time.
    I love your blog, the photos are great.
    Take care.

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  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  11. Hi Tracey. Thanks for posting on my blog. I know what you mean about having no intentions of getting ovarian cancer back. Once I beat this damn disease, I hope it never, ever returns. It's certainly not welcome.

    Thanks for your support. Sounds like you've got an awesome cheering section yourself. It's so important because at times it's difficult and you need someone to lean on.

    Take care,
    Tina

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