Helping you to help yourself – our new web project will provide patients with an aid to managing their life with cancer - Dr Michael Leahy

Dr Michael Leahy - Consultant Medical Oncologist

Dr Mike Leahy

I'm delighted to announce the launch of a new project at The Christie which will provide patients who are living with advanced cancer access to a self-guided care plan to run alongside any medical treatment for their cancer.

The inspiration for this project came from the number of patients who kept asking consultants like me if there was anything else they could do to help themselves live with cancer.   

Alongside the modern up-to-date medical therapies being provided at The Christie, many people are interested in what else they can do to help themselves through diet, exercise, complementary therapies, talking therapies, mind and spirit and other activities.

A little research among patients attending one of our clinics demonstrated that many patients are already seeking out information on self-care for themselves, with many trying out something that they feel will be of benefit - from dietary changes to counselling or aromatherapy. However, our patients have told us that they feel there is more we could do in terms of giving advice and helping them make wise choices amidst the many therapies or products on offer that make claims of benefit.

It may surprise readers to know that there is increasing research showing that a well-rounded health and wellbeing programme focussing on improving and enhancing general health can have a significant impact, not only on quality of life, but also on survival. It seemed to us that there were things that people were missing out on that they could do to help themselves and we decided that, as their oncology team, we ought to be giving this more attention.

We applied for funding from the Manchester Cancer and Macmillan Innovation Fund for a one year project to develop a programme for patients with advanced stage cancer.  We were successful in our application and our project manager Liz Islam, started work in September.  We now have a year to construct a pilot programme, develop an interactive website and evaluate it with a group of patients. The working title for this project is PlanBe. 

The reason behind the name is that getting cancer is no-one's Plan A, but this programme is much more than a second thought - it is about being as well as you can for as long as you can; about being more in control of what is happening to you; about being more in the moment; about the idea of being responsible for your wellbeing.

We are really interested in people's comments and suggestions to help us in this project. What other activities do you participate in besides your cancer treatment? What have you found that has been really helpful, or not so helpful?  And, if you are living with advanced cancer, what help and advice about your PlanBe would you find useful? We'd love to hear from you about this project and what you think, so please email the project team at PlanBe@christie.nhs.uk