September Support Group Meeting

A member who has since returned to live in the UK wrote recently: “The group was an amazing part of my life, which I miss dreadfully. Your compassion and support was so appreciated and will never be forgotten.”

Now that the summer is almost over, we’re planning our next meeting after a long break. We will get together again on Friday 27th September in a central location in Basel. For details of where and when, please send us an email on: cancersupportbasel@gmail.com

If you (or a loved one) are experiencing cancer and would like to join us for some of that compassion and support – and a good cup of coffee or tea – just let us know. We look forward to welcoming old-established members and newcomers alike.

 

[A]nother Plea for a Ban on Battle Terminology re Cancer

Yet again, the Guardian has an excellent piece here on how unhelpful – or even harmful – the battle terminology is for many people when referring to cancer.  Ian Sample, Science Editor and the author of the piece, quotes a mother of two living with metastatic, incurable breast cancer:

“You feel like you’re letting people down if you can’t manage permanent positivity or you have an emotionally wobbly day. It’s not constructive or helpful when you’re focusing on getting through the day-to-day living of a cancer diagnosis and treatment schedule. I prefer clear, factual language, so I describe myself as “living” with incurable cancer. I’m not brave or inspirational, I’m just trying to live the life I have left well.”

Here at Cancer Support Basel we have members who are living with cancer. Our job is to celebrate and support them. Let’s ditch the battle-speak, with its inevitable implications of winners and losers. (Is this language just another example of the patriarchy at work? I wonder how many women feel comfortable with this violent, warring terminology?) It’s time to push back against the talk about ‘fighting’, ‘beating’ or ‘battling with’ cancer, whether in our own everyday usage or – as is often the case – in ad campaigns by fundraisers. (“Your support will help us beat cancer”, Cancer Research UK; Susan Komen, “the world’s largest nonprofit source of funding for the fight against breast cancer”, etc. etc.)

For information on when and where our next meeting will be held, please email us on cancersupportbasel@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to send details.

And please note: by clicking on any of the headings in the banner above you can get information on the many and varied services on offer in Basel for people affected by cancer.

 

A Plea for a Ban on Battle Terminology

If you’re uneasy with the kind of “battle terminology” used in relation to cancer, you’re not alone. I fell upon this excellent piece from the Guardian recently. It’s not new (published in 2014) but it reflects so closely my thoughts and those of our group, I thought it was worth flagging it up again.

The journalist writes: “The language used around cancer seems to revolve around wartime rhetoric: battle, fight, warrior, beat. While I recognise that these violent words may help others on their journey with cancer, as someone who is never going to “win her battle” with this disease, I find them uncomfortable and frustrating to hear.” She concludes: “Instead of reaching for the traditional battle language, [life] is about living as well as possible, coping, acceptance, gentle positivity, setting short-term, achievable goals, and drawing on support from those closest to you.”

Here at Cancer Support Basel we would love to ban this tiresome and all too prevalent wartime rhetoric, favoured mostly (but not exclusively) by the popular press. If the article strikes a chord with you too, please feel free to comment below.

 

 

July meeting

Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday 27th July. We’ll get together first for lunch in Basel, followed by the meeting proper, which will be at the beautiful Haus der Krebsliga. If you would like to join us, you’d be most welcome – just drop us a line on cancersupportbasel@gmail.com and we’ll let you have all the details.

Wishing you a wonderful, warm summer, wherever you may be!

The English Show, Basel

This week I was invited onto The English Show, our local radio station (Radio X, 94.5 FM), to introduce Cancer Support Basel. The show, which goes out weekly with topical stuff of interest to the English-speaking community, focused this time on cancer and the different elements of care and support on offer in and around Basel.

Here’s the link:

http://theenglishshow.com/shows/2018-04-24

If you need more extensive information on what we do, feel free to click on any of the links in the banner above, especially About Cancer Support Basel.

Thanks again to Anna Wirz and all the English Show team for the opportunity to introduce our group, to explain how it came about and what we do.

 

 

June Support Group Meeting

The planned support group meeting on Friday 8th June has been postponed – please watch this space for news of a meeting during the summer.

If you’d like to join us any time to meet like-minded people and share concerns and experiences, please send us a mail on cancersupportbasel@gmail.com and we’ll fill in all the details.

Please note that you’re most welcome to use our site as a resource – just click on any of the links in the banner above, where you’ll find information on various aspects and subjects of interest related to cancer.

 

 

April Support Group Meeting

Chocolate Easter egg from Bettys, Yorkshire, made with best Swiss chocolate

We’ll meet again on Friday 13th April at a central location in Basel for lunch, followed by our meeting at the beautiful, newly restored Haus der Krebsliga on Petersplatz – read all about this inspiring place here on our site. Please feel free to get in touch if you’d like to join us for lunch and/or the meeting by sending a mail on cancersupportbasel@gmail.com.

Wishing everyone a wonderful, warm Easter and plenty of treats, whether of the edible or huggable variety.

 

Haus der Krebsliga beider Basel – A New Door Opens for Cancer Patients in Basel

When a novel cancer support centre modelled on the UK’s Maggie’s Centres was announced in Basel, to be situated in an elegant patrician house on the Petersplatz in the heart of town, someone commented to me: “Do they really need such a great big beautiful place [just] for cancer patients?” I was stunned by the question. But after a bit, it dawned on me that to many people (maybe especially in Switzerland, where the concept is brand-new and unknown), the idea of converting a beautiful, historic monument at considerable expense into an informal walk-in centre offering free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their families and friends sounds – well, what does it sound? Unnecessary? Over the top? Superfluous? Weird, even?

Luckily for anyone in Basel affected by cancer, Krebsliga Beider Basel has gone ahead (thanks to a magnificent, anonymous donation) and done it anyway. Their new centre had its official opening on 17 November and it’s breathtaking.

If you’re aware of  Maggie’s Centres in the UK, you will know where this Basel venture is coming from. Maggie’s Centres are all situated in beautiful buildings – the house on the Petersplatz, built in 1860 by Emanuel Burckhardt, faithfully restored and beautifully modernised, ticks that particular box in spades. The architects have been respectful of the building’s original fabric, leaving all the ceiling mouldings, original windows (and fastenings) and doors in place. They’ve even restored to full working order the beautiful decorated ceramic stoves (Kacheloefen).

 

The result (just as for Maggie’s Centres, and borrowing some of their text) is a “warm, friendly, inspiring place, full of light, whose objective is to contribute to the continued wellbeing of an individual as they progress through cancer treatment.” Nothing superfluous, or OTT, or weird, just kind, and caring, and useful.

Office admin and all the services formerly offered in the Krebsliga offices in Mittlere Strasse (personal and family advice and support, links to home help and rehab organisations, advice on work and housing issues etc.) have transferred to the new premises on the Petersplatz. In addition, mammography screening and some psycho-social support programmes are administered from here. There are handicraft and art courses and support group meetings, as well as a reading room/library and a welcoming front room with coffee and tea on tap.

We plan to contribute our growing library of books and resources in English to their reference room, where they will set aside a section for information in English. We also hope to schedule some of our own meetings there. It’s a wonderful and most welcome initiative for Basel. For more information, all contact details are below:

Haus der Krebsliga beider Basel
Petersplatz 12
Basel
Tel. +41 (0)61 319 99 88
Open weekdays, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

info@klbb.ch 

Support group meeting, 6 October 2017

After a rather long summer break, we’ll get together again on Friday 6th October for our autumn/fall meeting, to catch up on the news and to welcome new members. We’ll meet at 12h30 over a light lunch in a central location in Basel, and the meeting will follow directly on.

Whether you’re an ‘old hand’ at cancer and all that goes with it, or newly diagnosed and looking for support and advice in English, we’re here to help. Take a look at the articles in the header for a selection of topics that might be of interest. And to find out more about the group and what we offer, or to join us for lunch in October, just mail us on cancersupportbasel@gmail.com and we’ll do the rest.

Looking forward to seeing you!

 

A New Cancer Support Centre for Basel

This striking house on the beautiful Petersplatz in central Basel, currently a building site, will become the Krebsliga Beider Basel’s drop-in centre/meeting place for cancer patients, thanks to a mind-blowingly generous bequest from an anonymous donor. It will open at the end of September and is modelled on Maggie’s Centres in the UK, where cancer sufferers can go for help, advice, support or just to hang out in a beautiful place and gather strength. Many of the staff on hand speak English, and we plan to contribute our growing library of books and resources in English to their reference room, where they will set aside a section for information in English. We also hope to schedule some of our own meetings there.

It’s a fabulous development, a fantastic resource for the city and a first for Basel. Watch this space for more news as it unfolds. And if you’re not familiar with Maggie’s Centres, take a look at their website, here, to get an idea of the kind of services and facilities they offer, some of which will be replicated in the Basel Krebsliga house.