Dumfries mum with incurable cancer aims to help others with new support group

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Dumfries mum living with incurable stage four secondary cancer is reaching out to others in the region as she launches a new monthly support group today.Sarah McDiarmid, 41, said she is filling a gap in meeting the needs of others in a similar situation – men and women of all ages from across Dumfries and Galloway – with her new Make Seconds Count face-to-face tea and chat group.The first in the region for anyone with secondary cancer, the new group is free to join and based on friendship.The get-togethers will be held in The Usual Place in Dumfries on the second Friday of every month from today, with an open invitation for others coping with secondary cancer to pop in between noon and 2pm.Sarah said: “I truly believe that by bringing people together to share their experiences and support each other, it can make navigating this whole journey so much easier.“It is about like-minded people in a similar situation chatting to others who know and understand what they are going through.“There are groups for people with cancer – but this is for those with secondary cancer, which has its own challenges.“I really hope people come along.”Sarah, who is a busy mum to five-year-old Ella and Harry, aged eight, also works three days a week as a depute head teacher at Wallace Hall Primary School, on top of her regular hospital treatments.A blogger on Things Cancer Made Me Do on both Facebook and Instagram, she also finds time for her role as an ambassador for the charity Make Seconds Count and believes the opportunity for people, going through a second challenge of living with cancer, to meet up and support each other is a medicine all of its own.She said: “Being diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is devastating news at any age,