Reading Bladder Cancer Support Group Trust
Who are we?
Run entirely by volunteers and funded by public donation, we are a support group for men and women who have been diagnosed with bladder cancer and, importantly, also for their carers and partners. Support provided includes the opportunity to talk to other group members about their treatment choices and life after bladder cancer as well as to put questions to our medical guest speakers. We offer social events too. All of our patient members have had bladder cancer and one or a combination of the treatments available including TURBT, BCG, mitomycin, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and cystectomy with conduit/stoma or neobladder. We have a wealth of experience and information so can advise you on how to prepare for treatment and life afterwards.
You are not alone. Wherever you may live, we will be very happy to offer advice and support.
When and where we meet
Next meeting on the 9th April at St Andrews URC Church@12.00pm.
Our Members
Membership is FREE to patients, carers and partners. Many of our members first attend a meeting after diagnosis and before treatment. They find that listening to the experiences of other members is very helpful at this critical and very worrying time.
Our objectives
We aim to relieve the needs of bladder cancer patients, their carers and their partners. We do this by offering free information, support and help to new and existing bladder cancer patients in an informal social setting. We offer a 'befriending' or one-to-one service to newly diagnosed patients and those undergoing treatment. We support the work of the Royal Berkshire Hospital urology department.
Nurse specialists
We work closely with our Royal Berkshire Hospital clinical nurse specialist who attends some of our meetings.
Medical information
The information that we can give is based on the experiences and treatments of members but we always recommend that patients see a urology and/or an oncology consultant for advice on treatment specific to them. Note that you may have your treatment at any hospital, not just the one nearest to you.
History
Our group was founded by the Royal Berkshire Hospital in October 2012 and currently we have around 25 members. We gained charitable status in January 2018.
