On Wednesday 26th February 2020, we held the first event in our Lifting the Lid series - Lifting the Lid on Cancer and the Menopause - at the incredible Samsung KX.

Our hostess with the mostess was the brilliant Lauren Mahon (Trekstock's Young Adult Ambassador, GIRLvsCANCER and host of the award-winning BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C). An audience of healthcare professionals, young adults living with and beyond cancer, and their friends and family, gathered to hear from a incredible panel of experts, and young women who had been through it themselves. 

We were joined by a stellar line up of experts who were able to give straight-forward, evidence based advice, and answer all those burning questions. Thank you so much to Dr. Louise Newson (My Menopause Doctor), Dr Marie Gerval from the Daisy Network, Dr Heather Currie of Menopause Matters, and Samantha Evans from Jo Divine for all their wisdom. 

We were also joined by two amazing young women who shared their stories with great honesty and humour: Lydia Brain, who went into premature menopause during her treatment for womb cancer, and Nicky Newman from Secondary Sisters, who is in medical menopause due to her ongoing cancer treatment. We are so grateful to them both for their openness and generosity in sharing their experiences.

No topic was off-limits with some really open and enlightening discussions about both the physical and emotional impact of going through early menopause in your 20s and 30s: hot flushes, vaginal dryness, loss of libido, painful sex and more. Our panel was able to give fantastic advice on how to improve these symptoms and how to talk about them with your healthcare professionals, and your loved ones.

Speaking about her experience sharing her story, Nicky said: "It was such an amazing evening, being completely free and open about stuff a lot of us are going through, and we all need to talk about a lot more with each other." This sentiment was shared by our audience who said it was an "inspiring, empowering and informative" evening and it was "so good to have space to feel supported and to open up the conversation."

Our next event in the Lifting the Lid series is Lifting the Lid on Cancer in the LGBTQ+ Community with Dr. Michael Brady (National Advisor on LGBT Health) and a panel of experts and young adults living with and beyond cancer.