This month's chat gave us an opportunity as individuals and a community to reflect on the past year and prepare for the new year. We had 38 participants take part in the chat and had over 13 Million impressions. You may find our transcript here and our analytics here.
Before we began discussing our questions we announced that after two years as one of our healthcare moderators, Dr. Don Dizon will be stepping down. We appreciate the time, support and insights Dr. Dizon shared with us as we built our community. We are pleased that Dr. Shannon Westin will be joining Dr. Merry Markham, Dr. Rick Boulay and Dr. Anne Becker-Schutte as a healthcare moderator.
Our questions and some responses:
T1: What are some things you did in 2015 that brought you satisfaction? What steps have improved your overall quality of life?
- Spending time with family
- Painting
- Drinking more water each day
- Getting rid of negativities and dwelling on the positivities
- I teamed up with PBS to create a documentary on cancer survivorship, due out next June @journeycancer
- Thrilled that Sunstone Press published my book @BrightHeidi
- published our data regarding health issues experienced by gyn ca survivors during and after treatment http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26245979 - Dr. Shannon Westin
- release of book 100 Questions and Answers About Ovarian Cancer - Dr. Don S. Dizon and Dee Sparacio
T2: Is there something you wish you did differently this year? Do you have plans to try something new in 2016?
- try exercising in 2016
- wish I had taken more time to relax and be with my family
- take a little time for my self
- Get back to reading a novel per month
T3: What has #gyncsm done well? What do you find most helpful from our chats, posts, blog, etc.?
- All & anything #gyncsm is doing is great! Communication is KEY to unlock my future!
- The forum to post ideas and support the community
- Brought together patients, clinicians, physicians, researchers, etc all in one supportive community
- GYNCSM filled a the void of an online active women's cancer social network
- The advantage of #gyncsm is the good signal/noise ratio and an active group of people who care.
T4: How might we enhance the #gyncsm community for ALL participants? What would you like to see from #gyncsm in 2016?
- anyone be interested in discussing some research presented at national meetings?maybe quarterly? Or build a relevant paper into the topic of the month
- a journal club would be a neat idea
- Maybe have a list of folks who might be interested in helping w/ research? Always looking 4advice from pts!
- We'd love to reach more survivors, loved ones and caregivers. Your ideas are welcome.
- perhaps creating connections at oncologists' offices to bring in others
T5: How might #gyncsm foster collaboration in the women's cancer space? Topics you'd like to see covered? Ideas to get more people involved?
- Definitely increase the interaction with @SGO_org - this has already started!
- Realistic & mentally sound advice i.e. Sex after Hysterectomies
We ended our chat as we always do asking participants to complete the statement Today I Learned (TIL).
- TIL-again-the commitment and compassion that is the backbone of the @gyncsm community.
- TIL (but really knew already) GYNCSM is a great group committed to advocacy and education for women's cancer survivors …
- TIL: Self care is essential to be able to care for others
Christina and I thank you for a wonderful year of conversations.
We look forward to having you all join us again in the New Year. We begin 2016 with a discussion on Caring for the Caregiver. We hope you will join us on Wednesday January 13, 2016 at 9pm ET.
Wishing our entire community Happy Holidays!
Dee
Co-Moderator
