Welcome to Canteen Connect!

Hello New Canteener, I would like to welcome you to Connect, where you can be who you are, what you want, and just be yourself, judgement free.My name is Bobby, and I started my journey with Canteen after my Dad was diagnosed with late stage pancreatic cancer. After his passing at the start of the year, I became a Connect Leader and what an honour and privilege has been. I have had good days and bad days, but it always seemed to help when I&rsquo;d log into Canteen Connect, and see what complete strangers are writing or commenting on. Over time, some of those strangers turn to friendships, people who start to check-in on you; a community is created where everybody looks out for everyone. A lot of the things I read are like the way I&rsquo;m feeling, things I can relate to. With the support that Connect has shown, it&rsquo;s enabled me to adapt to life outside Connect. The biggest lesson is that cancer doesn&rsquo;t choose who it is going to affect. It doesn&rsquo;t discriminate someone&rsquo;s culture, nationally, age bracket or sexuality, or even which family member. Cancer can affect people from all walks of life, and in different ways. The good thing about Connect is that it allows a diverse mix of people to share their journey through cancer, from all over Australia and New Zealand, while helping guide others through their own path.For me, Connect has been an amazing experience. You can have a bad day, and people understand what you are going through without judgement. It&rsquo;s &nbsp;indescribable; a sigh of relief that you can finally be at ease with people who understand you, and what you are going through.So I hope you enjoy your time with Connect - smile, remember to reach out, and most importantly you&rsquo;re never alone&hellip; cause we are stronger together.Bobby.

My parent died from cancer

My parent has cancer

I survived cancer

I'm a young person with cancer

My sibling died from cancer

My sibling has cancer

Bobby's Story

My parent survived cancer

My sibling survived cancer

Friends

Hey everyone! So I know I’m one of the lucky ones cause my mum survived cervical cancer 4 years ago but I miss who she was before the cancer. Since cancer she’s hasn’t been herself, the cancer caused her to go into early menopause, and she’s since been diagnosed with Graves’ disease and recently she has been fighting off viral infection after viral infection. It’s scary because when I see her lying in bed unwell my brain takes me back to when she had cancer, to when I thought she was going to die. And this causes me a lot of anxiety... I wonder if this happens to anyone else? I have memories of mum doing cartwheels with my sister and I in the garden, jumping waves with us at the beach, horse ridding, I used to take all of these thing for granted. And I know how lucky I am to still have her around but I wish I could have pre cancer mum back. And at the same time I feel guilty for wishing it. Back when mum was first diagnosed with cancer my sister came up with a metaphor for our situation, we were all embarking on a really scary train ride in a dark tunnel and at the end of the tunnel was a beautiful light, a place where we could be happier and stronger than ever. The problem is it feels like with been in the tunnel for four years and we still aren’t any closer to the end, mums cancer might be gone but she’s still not healthy. And times like these I wonder if she ever will be again... UPDATEmum had a biopsy the other week, to see if her cancers back. The doctors said it was just to be on the safe side but it doesn’t make waiting any less scary. I dunno why but when I found out we had to wait two weeks for the biopsy I felt like the world should go on pause for two weeks. Then I remember that’s not how it works. The world keeps spinning regardless of how out of control it all feels. No preexisting issues go away to make room for the new ones, and the hard part is making sure they don’t all take over. It’s realising what is and what isn’t in your control and putting what isn’t to aside to deal with what is. That’s probably the biggest lesson I’ve learnt from my mums whole cancer journey, accepting that I can’t control everything and just spending time on what I can.

After a parent has survived cancer

Family

Hi! I’m Katherine! I just turned 12 and this is my first post! I love maths and anything crafty. I’m really interested in science to! When I was 8 my mum was diagnosed with a rare and inflammatory breast cancer. I was only 8 so, not everything made sense to me. I remember a week of so before Easter mum came home from the hospital crying. She announced her diagnosis and everyone started crying. I just stood there, dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to do, whether I was supposed to cry, or just stand there. After a group hug I ran to my room, then it started to make sense, I didn’t get it, but I understood it was a bad thing. So I started crying. I mean, a little overwhelming for an 8 year old.A year later and after a series of chemotherapy and radiation (when I was 9), mum had a Mastectomy. It was actually planned for my birthday! But thankfully mum changed the date. Phew. When I went to visit her in hospital she was different. I kept on looking at the empty space on her chest, I couldn’t help it, I just did. There was a lot of problems that year. Things like the wound not closing, a lot of excess fluid giving mum pain. Ugh.Then when I was 10 things started taking shape! Mum began to be herself again, she was happier, more energetic. We did things and everything was going great!It all went down hill from then.I was now 11, starting grade 5! Excited for a good class and great teacher. It was the first time my bestest ever friend was in my class since prep! I had a great first month or so of school, then suddenly one afternoon mum comes home crying worse than ever before. Terminal lung and liver cancer. Terminal=Forever. No cure. Last year was one of absolute disaster. Anyway, I was so scared. Thinking about losing her! It could happen. But I know it won’t, I’m keeping strong!Mum was having this treatment, it wasn’t chemo, but it was like it. She found out the tumour on her liver was shrinking! It was all really good until (brace yourself) the treatment wasn’t working on her lung. The lung tumour kept growing and growing. Apparently it’s like a tree that is literally squashing her lung, literally. Now she is on what they call the Red chemo. The worst chemo you can get. And oh man, it really is the worst. She has to have 6 rounds of it then we will know if it is working or not. If not there is nothing they can do. It will work though!But what angers me is the carelessness of people. They are always joking about cancer. One boy said “Sean has Cancer in his face!” In a stupid voice, and then he laughed. I went up to him and said “if you had it you wouldn’t be laughing” and put on the dirtiest look. Guess what he said, Meh. I have gone through 4 years of absolute rubbish and he doesn’t care. People really need to be educated about these things...Thanks Everyone ;)

Mum’s 4 Year Journey

My Parent's Cancer

Welcome to CanTeen Connect! No-one knows more about what dealing with cancer is like than someone who's been there and done it. So it'd be great if you could tell us a bit about you and your experiences...

Introduce yourself

Hey everyone - there are three finalists for the new 2020 Canteen Bandanna, check em out! <img src="https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/assets.canteenconnect.org.au/blog-images/bxOxCVRemRBoPNIA5gtR0qBK2mCEnRIcwW2hB0vf.jpeg">We'd love the Connect community to have a say... please leave an emoji or GIF in the comments to indicate your vote! 🍣 - sushi🐨 - koala🐶 - puppyCut and paste the above, use your apple/android options and/or variations on these accepted!

What is your pick for the new 2020 bandanna? Vote HERE!

CanTeen News

Hey Everyone! This is a quick note just to introduce this as a start of a series of new blogs that the Victorian Leadership Team will be adding to throughout the year. We hope that these blogs can be something that you personally can really get into. The best part is that this is all interactive! Share your own experiences and thoughts in the comments below, we'll have our own leadership members adding to the discussion also. So have a read, and let us know what you think! We're very keen to hear it!Cheers,LucasWhy do we shame ourselves for feeling, well, not great?&nbsp;&nbsp;It feels like we have an inbuilt reaction to answer “good thanks” whenever “how are you” is asked.&nbsp;We respond this way, even when we are not good, maybe even when we are feeling pretty average! Feeling less than okay is completely normal. Additionally, we have been told countless times to reach out to friends and family when we’re not feeling okay. This is great advice!&nbsp;Though, I don’t know about you, but I often find this ends up in an attempt to fix the problem… like I’m a faulty machine? But I’d prefer to be human thanks, so… time to think differently about being not okay I reckon.&nbsp;I first reached out to CanTeen for support two years after finishing my cancer treatment. You may be asking why I only decided to get involved with CanTeen after treatment? The reason for that is&nbsp;adapting back into regular life was not so regular&nbsp;and, in fact, reconnecting with friends, navigating relationships and dating, and finding my feet at work had put me into a place of anxiety and worry. As someone who was laser focussed on making up for lost time in hospital, I constantly fought these debilitating feelings only to find that&nbsp;fighting emotions is not a very efficient strategy.&nbsp;CanTeen was fantastic in linking me up with a support worker who introduced me to the concept of&nbsp;sitting with these feelings.&nbsp;Now, I’m not saying that this is easy. These feelings are as heavy as a truck. What I learnt is to detach myself from my feelings, to say “I am feeling worried or anxious about…”. To realise these feelings are not who I am, and that they are really common in a number of different people with different circumstances.&nbsp;&nbsp;In fact, another great tool I learnt was to ask myself&nbsp;“What advice would you give to a friend who was experiencing this”.&nbsp;I discovered&nbsp;I actually gave really calming and empathic advice. Beyond thinking about my emotions, I also learnt how important it can be to&nbsp;do something you love!&nbsp;It is the best form of self-care, the goofier the better, or maybe that’s just me XD.&nbsp;&nbsp;Finally, I’ve only briefly touched on&nbsp;sitting with your feelings,&nbsp;but there is actually much more involved in the simple process of allowing yourself to feel what you are feeling.&nbsp;If you are interested in learning more about sitting with your feelings check out this link!&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mindfulness.org.au/sitting-with-feelings" target="_blank">https://www.mindfulness.org.au/sitting-with-feelings</a>&nbsp;This blog has been written by the Victorian Youth Leadership Team, and is based on our own thoughts, feelings, experiences and ideas.We know that dealing with cancer in our worlds can be challenging, and maybe this post brought something up for you that you would like some help with.We would love to hear what has helped you when you are not feeling okay?Please let us all know in the comments section below.&nbsp;Thanks for&nbsp;reading our blog post, we have loved having you here!Stay tuned for more posts from the Victorian Youth Leadership Team!&nbsp;&nbsp;We would like to take this opportunity to remind you of a few supports that can help if you need it:-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A Canteen Connect counsellor is only a click away, by pressing the big orange “CHAT TO A COUNSELLOR” button at the top of your screen (between the hours of 10am-10pm AEST Mon-Thu, 10am-6pm AEST Fri and 11am-6pm AEST Sat-Sun).-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Reach out to your main contact at your local Canteen Office (within business hours).-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kids Helpline online at&nbsp;<a href="https://kidshelpline.com.au/" target="_blank">https://kidshelpline.com.au</a>&nbsp;or phone 1800 55 1800 (24/7).-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Beyond Blue online at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.beyondblue.org.au/" target="_blank">https://www.beyondblue.org.au</a>&nbsp;or phone 1300 22 4636 (24/7).&nbsp;

It's Okay to Not Be Okay!

Wellbeing and Self Care

Kia ora koutou, we are excited to announce a trivia night based on Disney. Disney stories are full of messages about leadership and we want to explore these with you! Using Kahoot, your Disney knowledge will be put to the test followed by some insightful teachings, quotes and advice around leadership.*This event is open to any Canteen young person in Australia and New Zealand aged 12 - 25*This event is hosted by the South Island, NZ Leadership Team - Brittany, Emily, Hirini, Jemma, Jenni, Lauren, Mike, Nikau, Teri, Tim and Georgiana5pm AEST/ 4.30pm NT/SA/ 3pm WA/ 7pm NZEvent will be held over Zoom.Click RSVP to let us know if you are coming. We will then send you an email with the Zoom link.

Online

Leadership Learnings from Disney - Trivia

Come have some fun! LGBTIQA+ young people &amp; friends across Australia and NZ, we invite you to come hang out &amp; connect with your community. WHEN:&nbsp;Thursday 13th August 7:00pm-8:30pm (NZ time)WHERE:&nbsp;Wherever you feel comfortable and safe to log in, via Zoom!WHO: CanTeen young people, all ages WHY:&nbsp;Being seen, heard, and connecting as exactly who you are matters, and we’d love to get to know you!WITH: ...the most colour you can find! Dress up as your most colourful self!...Bring your favorite snack. Having fun is hungry work....A song recommendation to share and enjoy!Register your interest for this event or get in touch with Youth Worker Abi for more details on abigailc@canteen.org.nz See you there!

CanQueer and Friends!

People

Connect with peers

Discussions

Share my story

Events

Get involved

Resources

Get information

Chat to a counsellor

Counselling

<h1>1: General</h1>Before you use <a href="http://www.canteenconnect.org.au">canteenconnect.org.au</a> we recommend that you read:&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; our <a href="https://www.canteen.org.au/privacy-policy/">privacy policy</a>;&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; our terms and conditions of use, as set out here which, together, are the Terms and Conditions that apply to your use of our website.By using this website, you agree that you will use the website while following the Terms and Conditions.Except for <a href="http://www.canteenconnect.org.au">canteenconnect.org.au</a> which may be accessed by users in Australia and New Zealand, our website is intended for use in Australia only.For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions, &ldquo;Canteen&rdquo;, &ldquo;Canteen Connect&rdquo;&ldquo;us&rdquo;, &ldquo;our&rdquo; and &ldquo;we&rdquo; refers to The Australian Organisation For Young People Living With Cancer (ABN 77 052 040 516) (CanTeen), as operator of this website, and &ldquo;you&rdquo; and &ldquo;your&rdquo; refers to you, the client, visitor, website user or person using our website.We may change part or all of the Terms and Conditions at any time. The most current Terms and Conditions will always be posted on this website. If you continue to use our website, this means you accept the Terms and Conditions that are current at that time. If you do not agree with any of the Terms and Conditions (or any changes made to them), you should immediately stop using and accessing the website.<h1>2: Using our website</h1><h4>2.1 How to register</h4>The <a href="http://www.canteenconnect.org.au/">Canteen Connect</a> website contains general information that you can access without registering.In order to interact with the Canteen Connect Website (comment and connect with other users, apply for events), you will need to register and log in.Registration requirementsTo register you must be between the age of 12 and 25.When you register on the &lsquo;Registration&rsquo; page, you will need to provide:(a)&nbsp;&nbsp; a user name and password (Your Login); and(b)&nbsp;&nbsp; your email address(c)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; your age(d)&nbsp;&nbsp; your gender(e)&nbsp;&nbsp; your cancer situation(f)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;your postcode(collectively, Your Registration Information).You will need to provide us with accurate and complete Registration Information and keep Your Registration Information accurate and up to date.It&rsquo;s best to register with an email address that is private. This means that only you know the password and can see the emails that come in and go out.&nbsp; Your username and password also keeps your information safe so think carefully about choosing a password that other people can&rsquo;t guess easily.Your loginYou must not provide details of your Login to any other person. You must not allow any other person to use your Login.You are responsible for all activity that occurs under Your Login.<h4>2.2 What you can do on the Canteen Connect Community website</h4>Once you have logged into the Canteen Connect Website there are a number of services that you can access and use:Your DashboardOnce you have registered and logged in, you will be able to access your personal &lsquo;Young People&rsquo;s Dashboard&rsquo; (Your Dashboard).In Your Dashboard, you can follow the visual and text prompts to:(a)&nbsp;&nbsp; contact a counsellor;(b)&nbsp;&nbsp; chat online with other users in Discussions; and(c)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if you are over 18 and you can use your mailbox to send messages to other users (Private Messaging).Connect with peersOn the &lsquo;People Like Me&rsquo; page, you can search for other users registered to the community by cancer situation, gender, age and locationParticipate in forumsOn the forum page, you will be able to:(a)&nbsp;&nbsp; read forum threads;(b)&nbsp;&nbsp; post comments; and(c)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;add &lsquo;I Get It&rsquo; and &lsquo;Hug&rsquo; to postsBlogAs a registered user you can write a blog on anything related to your cancer experienceContact a counsellorOn the &lsquo;Contact a counsellor&rsquo; page, you will be able to access counselling sessions (Personal Counselling Sessions). On this page, you can:(a)&nbsp;&nbsp; chat to a counsellor online;(b)&nbsp;&nbsp; get a contact number to phone a counsellor;(c)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; email a counsellor; and(d)&nbsp;&nbsp; request an appointment with a counsellor.Personal Counselling SessionsYou can receive personal counselling sessions online, by telephone, email or in-person.Personal Counselling Sessions are provided by health professionals.If the website stops working and we are in the middle of a Personal Counselling Session with you online, please call 1800 835 932 (1800 TelWeb) to continue the session.The advice that we provide to you during a Personal Counselling Session will be based on the information that you provide to us.&nbsp; Please make sure that you provide truthful information and bring to our attention anything that you feel is important.You are responsible for how you interpret or use the Personal Counselling Sessions and any actions you may take as a result of the Personal Counselling Sessions.<h4>2.3 Canteen Connect rules</h4>We want the Canteen Connect Community to be helpful and safe for everyone.&nbsp; When you use our website and chat with others in the Peer Community, we ask you to follow a few rules.Respect for othersWhen you chat with others or use our forums and blogs, you must respect others by allowing everyone to have their view heard, understand that people see the world differently, and treat others the way that you would like to be treated.You are responsible for all chats and content that you post or upload and all of your activity on the forums.All chats and content that you post or upload (including Private Messages) will be backed up by us and may be accessed by us for technical reasons or if we suspect that you have not followed these Terms and Conditions.Only post or share your own informationBy using the website, you will be sharing, posting and submitting your experiences, information, details and content with other people (Your Content).You must not share other people&rsquo;s information without their permission, for example, by copying and pasting information or telling other people outside the forum or blog about what has been discussed.You must not share or post photos or videos of other people unless you have their permission to do so.You must not post, submit or upload anything that:(a)&nbsp;&nbsp; is an unauthorised commercial communication (such as spam);(b)&nbsp;&nbsp; may interfere with how the website might function for other people;(c)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; may make you feel uncomfortable either now or in the future;(d)&nbsp;&nbsp; breaches any law or regulation or could encourage a violation of any law or regulation;(e)&nbsp;&nbsp; is harmful (including due to any virus, worm or trojan horse);(f)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; is threatening, or is (or is likely to be) defamatory, abusive, libellous or fraudulent, is inflammatory, scandalous or profane;(g)&nbsp;&nbsp; does, or is likely to, denigrate, marginalize or offend any person or class of person based on race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, age, sexual preference, religion, disability, political belief or marital status;(h)&nbsp;&nbsp; refers to or depicts any illegal activities or violence;(i)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; solicits login information from another user;(j)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; bullies, intimidates, or harasses any other person;(k)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; infringes or violates someone else&rsquo;s rights (including intellectual property rights); or(l)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; impersonates any person or entity.We can decide not to post or publish, or to take down, any of Your Content that we believe does not comply with these Terms and Conditions.&nbsp; We may also remove your material without notice, for any reason, at any time, including without limitation if technical problems, irregularities or misuse occurs or we suspect it may occur.All your material must be all your own information or material and must not infringe the rights of any other person.&nbsp; You must own all rights, title and interest in and to your material (or that you otherwise have the right to licence or sublicense your material to us in accordance with these Terms and Conditions).We are not responsible if you share Your Content outside of the Canteen Connect Community website.Act ResponsiblyYou are responsible for:(a)&nbsp;&nbsp; all of your activity on and in connection with the website;(b)&nbsp;&nbsp; all of the your materials that you submit into, or post onto, the website;(c)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; what you access on the website, how you interpret or use the website and any actions you may take as a result of using the website;(d)&nbsp;&nbsp; not using any information on this website for any commercial purpose or otherwise (either directly or indirectly) for profit or gain; and(e)&nbsp;&nbsp; not using any device, software or process to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of this website.&nbsp;<h4>2.4 CanTeen may suspend your access and remove your information</h4>You may stop using the website at any time for any reason, without notice to us.We may terminate, disable, lock, block or suspend your access to the website if we feel that your access is not in your best interest or the interest of others, or if you have not followed (or we reasonably suspect that you have not followed) these Terms and Conditions.We may also remove information that you provide that we consider offensive or harmful or not in the best interest of others.<h4>2.5 Our duty of care</h4>If at any stage we become worried about your safety or the safety or someone close to you, we may need to get other people involved to help you. If this happens, we will need to let them know enough information to help you. If we think this may happen, we will try our best to let you know first.If we see from your communications (including Private Messaging) that you are distressed, we may reach out to you via Private Messaging if it is between the hours of 10am and 10pm on a weekday or 11am to 6pm on the weekend, and we may take other appropriate steps (e.g. notifying health services) to help protect your health and safety. It is your choice about whether you want to respond but we hope that you will so that we can support you in the best possible way.<h4>2.6 CanTeen may use material you post or share on the Canteen Connect Community website</h4>You grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sub‑licensable, worldwide licence to use, publish, reproduce, transmit, distribute, modify, edit, display, translate, enhance, sublicense and adapt Your Content (but not including personal information) and all intellectual property rights you may have in Your Content in any medium and for any purposes.By posting Your Content on our website, you consent to us using, publishing, reproducing, transmitting, modifying and adapting Your Content without any further reference to you or attribution of authorship (for example, we may, but are not obliged to, remove identifiable features in a quote that you post to protect your anonymity). You acknowledge that your consent is irrevocable and is a genuine consent given under Part&nbsp;IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and has not been induced by duress or any false or misleading statement.<h1>3: Privacy</h1>All personal information we collect from you will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy. &nbsp;For more information on how we handle your personal information please refer to our Privacy Policy at <a href="https://www.canteen.org.au/privacy-policy/">https://www.canteen.org.au/privacy-policy/</a>.<h1>4: Entire agreement</h1>These terms and conditions represent the entire agreement between you and CanTeen concerning your use and access to this website and your use and access to the documents and information on it. No other term is to be included in these Terms and Conditions except where it is required to be included by any legislation of the Commonwealth or any State or Territory. All implied terms except those implied by statute and which cannot be expressly excluded are expressly excluded.These terms were last updated on 28 November, 2019.

Terms and Conditions for CanTeen Connect

CanTeen

CanTeen is committed to providing a safe and inclusive service for all people regardless of their ethnicity, culture, faith, disability, sexuality, gender, or economic situation. If you need an interpreter, please feel free to contact the Australian Government interpreting service on 131 450 or InfoNOW Aotearoa New Zealand on 0800 656 656. <ol><li>Keep it respectful: Everyone has different beliefs and values. It is important that everyone feels welcome to have their say, especially regarding their own lived experience. You might not always agree with another&rsquo;s opinion or approach, but you should still be respectful of everyone in this space.</li><li>Keep it safe: As a member of Canteen Connect, you have the right to feel safe and respected. If you see something that is offensive, inappropriate, worrisome, or spam, please report it. This applies to both posts and private messages &ndash; please note private messages will only be visible to staff if reported.</li><li>Keep it private: We know that privacy is important to you. It&rsquo;s important to us too. Remember that you can always choose to make your discussion post private. CanTeen Connect&rsquo;s content is viewable without a log-in, including non-private posts, your username and image. That&rsquo;s why we encourage you to create a username that keeps you anonymous and does not include your first and last name. When speaking about your experience, please do not name hospitals, doctors, medications or specific medical advice you&rsquo;ve been given. If you&rsquo;d like to learn more you can read our privacy policy here <a href="https://www.canteen.org.au/privacy-policy/">https://www.canteen.org.au/privacy-policy/</a></li><li>Keep it appropriate: Our admins may remove any content that could be considered harmful or identifying personal information (phone number, address, school, etc.) If your post is removed, admin will contact you to explain why. </li><li>Keep it peer-based: CanTeen Connect&rsquo;s discussion spaces are designed for peer support, not professional advice. As every person&rsquo;s situation is different, nothing can replace the advice of your or your loved one&rsquo;s treating team of health professionals. Posts providing medical advice will be removed. 
You might notice some young people have -ConnectLeader on the end of their username. These are young people who have been part of Connect for a while, and have volunteered to be part of our online Leadership Program (which includes ongoing meetings, training and development). These Leaders have signed a Code of Conduct, have a good awareness of Connect, and can provide peer support. Connect Leaders are young people just like you, not professionals. If a Leader is concerned about you, they will direct you towards a staff member who can help. If you&rsquo;re interested in Leadership, you can express your interest by emailing <a href="mailto:online@canteen.org.au">online@canteen.org.au</a></li><li>Keep it simple: We ask that individuals only have one account. If you&rsquo;re having issues accessing the CanTeen Connect community, please contact <a href="mailto:online@canteen.org.au">online@canteen.org.au</a></li><li>Worried about someone? Has someone private messaged you or left a comment that&rsquo;s made you feel concerned? You can contact our counselling team at <a href="mailto:online@canteen.org.au">online@canteen.org.au</a> as well as suggesting they speak to Kids Helpline (AU), Kidsline (ANZ) or Lifeline (ANZ).</li></ol>Counsellors are online for Canteen Connect 10am-10pm AEST Mon-Thu, 10am-6pm AEST Fri and 11am-6pm AEST Sat-Sun. If you are unable to reach us and need to speak to someone, we recommend Kids Helpline (Australia). They support young people aged 5-25 and are available 24/7. If you&rsquo;re in Aotearoa New Zealand and are under 18, you can call Kidsline. If you&rsquo;re over 18, Lifeline is available. For urgent and confidential support, you can reach Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 or webchat through their website. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Kidsline are on 0800 54 37 54 or you can call Lifeline on 0800 543 354. If you are dealing with an emergency and need help immediately, please call 000 (AU) or 111 (ANZ).CanTeen Connect welcomes and appreciates your feedback. You can contact us at <a href="mailto:online@canteen.org.au">online@canteen.org.au</a> about:<ul><li>What we are doing right</li><li> What we could be doing better</li><li>What you&rsquo;d like to see</li><li>Suggestions for updates to these guidelines</li></ul>

CanTeen Community Guidelines

It&rsquo;s up to you to decide who you do or don&rsquo;t tell that you&rsquo;ve got cancer, and how much you tell them about what&rsquo;s going on.Deciding who to tell and what to say is difficult. You might be avoiding telling friends or other people because you&rsquo;re worried about how they will react.It&rsquo;s normal to be worried about how they will react and whether they will treat you differently. But usually once people understand what you&rsquo;re going through they can be a great source of support.<div data-oembed="https://youtu.be/ufYQcG4qwRg" data-oembed-type="video" data-oembed-provider="youtube"><iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ufYQcG4qwRg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><h4> 
Tips for telling people you have cancer</h4>&nbsp;<ul><li>Think about what you want to say. 
You could write it down, or even practice it with someone in your family. Maybe you could find someone who&rsquo;s been in a similar situation and ask them how they handled it.</li><li>Be prepared for weird reactions. 
Sometimes friends act weird when you tell them what&rsquo;s going on. They might ask some uncomfortable questions as well. Remember that they might not fully understand and are probably shocked by the news. They may have no idea what to say or do, or be worried about saying the wrong thing or upsetting you.</li><li>If it&rsquo;s too hard to talk, try other ways to share the news. 
Try putting it in an email or DM or maybe on Facebook (if you want your whole social network to know!). Or send them a link to this website where they can read about the kinds of things you&rsquo;re going through and ways they can support you.</li><li>Decide who to tell. 
Talking about cancer with your closest friends and family can be challenging, but what do you do about telling people in your wider social circle, like work colleagues or sport teammates?If you work, you may have to tell your immediate supervisor or your human resources manager or both if your treatment involves you taking time off. They may also be able to help in other ways, such as reducing work hours or helping with physical access. 
 
If you are a student, there is no legal obligation in Australia for you to tell your school, Uni or TAFE about it. But if you think your cancer will affect your marks and ability to meet course requirements, it is a good idea to tell your teachers. There is normally a student liaison office or services centre that can help you with your workload or deferring exams if necessary. Don&rsquo;t forget that you get a say in who knows at school. If you would rather not tell people, ask your year coordinator or teachers to maintain your privacy.Ask your YCS Cancer Care Coordinator for advice about who to contact. 
 
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