HEALTH CORNER
An extensive central support system for any health condition at any stage of your diagnostic 'journey'. Independent and reliable information to provide support with your diagnosis, treatment, healthcare system and impact on your personal life. Independent, medically-accurate and aimed to support people in both the NHS and private system with a focus on people facing health challenges in the prime of their life.
Below are guides on the often 'unspoken' aspects of living with a health condition, as well as specific information about health conditions and the healthcare system.
The information below is not a substitute for individual medical support. For individual, personalised concerns always consult your own physician/GP.
FIRST STEP:
Getting to know YOU...
The most important relationship you can have is with yourself. A potentially life-saving relationship. If you become familiar with your body and know what is 'normal for you' then it becomes easier to spot when something changes. Early recognition of symptoms that something is wrong could be the difference between curable or incurable. Here we have produced a toolkit to help you take control of your own health.
For some health conditions, like primary cancer, you can be 'in the system' having active treatment for months or even years. Suddenly when this stops there can be an overwhelming absence of support that you aren't warned about. We have created a support system specifically for this.
Life after treatment
Second Step:
ENTERING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM...
Understanding how the healthcare system works can be confusing. From whether to go private, how to advocate, what your options for treatment are... Below are a series of guides covering a range of areas; the things not readily talked about. Curated by health care professionals to shed some light on how the health care system works to give you back a sense of control in your own journey.
NHS Or Private
A question that is often raised is whether to stay within the NHS or to go private...this can be a very difficult decision, even more-so if you don't have private insurance. This is a personal matter which only you can decide, but can raise a lot of confusion for some people particularly when worried about long waiting times. Here is a guide to help understand better the different routes available.
GP Vs Specialist
The GP is usually your first point of contact. The GP practice and services available are known as primary care. When the GP refers you to a specialist (Consultant), this is often within a hospital and is known as 'secondary care'. Here is a guide to understanding these systems better.
WHAT IS A 2 WEEK WAIT?
When your GP has concerns that your symptoms or signs might indicate something more urgent or serious (like cancer), they refer you to hospital under the '2 week wait' pathway. At this stage the referral is to explore the possibility of cancer as a cause, and means urgent tests and review are needed. There are different types of referral pathways depending on urgency of symptoms, and this can be confusing or a cause for anxiety. Here is a guide to understanding what the 2 week wait pathway means.
GETTING A LIFE CHANGING DIAGNOSIS
Any diagnosis can be life changing. Always remember everything is all relative - there shouldn't be a cause for comparison. A chronic condition - be it something that can be treated but will mean a challenging year of two of treatments, or something that will need life long medication - can have profound impact on your ability to work, your relationships, your mental health. How you adjust to this is not something readily talked about. Here we provide some guidance on how to navigate this. For extra support please also see our Sunrise Support.
PRACTICAL NECESSETIES TO KNOW
No one gives us a handbook on how to 'adult' and we often think that life insurance, will writing or funeral planning is something to be left until retirement. However being prepared is key to keeping control when the unexpected happens (should it happen). Here is a guide to the key things to consider to help ensure financial security and control in preparing for the possible situation of having a major diagnosis.
FINALLY...
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We have created a list of commonly asked questions. We are often messaged with questions about different topics, and have compiled the most commonly asked questions here.
Something Missing?
As a growing charity we are keen to cover all the different areas of support and advice needed. If you see something missing please feel free to drop us a line so we can consider
SUPPORT OUR WORK...
DONATE NOW to help thousands of people affected by health issues at a young age.
1 in 3 people have chronic health issues. A life changing or incurable diagnosis at a young age can happen to anyone. We need your support to help grow our services and provide leading support and education across all major health conditions for anyone. Every donation makes a huge impact and goes directly to the work we do.
