Trekstock Support: All the ways Trekstock can help you
Living life alongside cancer when you’re in your 20s or 30s brings its own unique set of challenges. But we exist to help you make the most of the parallel lives you’re living as both patient and person. Here’s a rundown of everything we offer.
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Living life alongside cancer when you’re in your 20s or 30s brings its own unique set of challenges. But we exist to help you make the most of the parallel lives you’re living as both patient and person. Here’s a rundown of everything we offer.
At Trekstock, we exist to help people in their 20s or 30s who’ve experienced cancer live life alongside their diagnosis and treatment. From exercise to friendships, sex to nutrition - we're here for it all.
If you've ever struggled to explain to a friend how fatigue is impacting your ability to socialise, if you've ever walked up and down the supermarket aisles wondering what the heck you should be eating now you're living with cancer or if you've ever found yourself sat in a restaurant calculating the best time to tell your date that you have a stoma - then you'll know how confusing and isolating a cancer diagnosis can feel.
And if you're in your 20s or 30s, you'll also know how little there is out there to support your age group through one of the toughest experiences someone can ever face. Too old for the teenage cancer ward, but too young to be able to relate to most of the people you see when you go in for your hospital appointments. You feel like you're in this weird hinterland, where there isn't really any support for you - but guess what? There is! *Trekstock enters the chat*
"When I discovered Trekstock on Instagram a year out of treatment, it felt like everything I was feeling made sense, and I had finally found my community." - Carolina
Whatever type of cancer, whatever stage you're diagnosed at, through our range of bespoke programmes, we help our community meet others, move their bodies and empower them with information on the trickiest things they're facing.
Get Connected
We humans need community. Even the most introverted-introverts of us need to touch base with another person from time to time - but cancer amplifies this need by a 100. Your friends and family will hopefully rally around you - but when you're living with a cancer diagnosis, you'll need others in the same boat as you to check in with from time to time.
Whether you want to connect with others in your local area, find an online space to chat to others living with cancer, or you simply wanna check if other people are facing the same struggles as you (like why is cancer so expen$ive??) then we've got a flat-packed, ready-made community right here for you over on our bespoke platform.
Get Active
Cancer completely wipes out your energy and getting your Joe Wicks back on can feel, well, impossible. But exercise can be fun (we promise) and more than that, it can actually benefit you during treatment and post - so for whatever level of movement you feel up to doing, we've got a programme for that. Yoga or pilates? Sure. An 8-week exercise programme? Absolutely. Spot of paddle-boarding? Go on then. Our yoga, RENEW Exercise Programme and our Meet & Moves' will get you moving your body again in a way that feels good.
Get Informed
Getting accurate information and advice when you're living with cancer and it's aftereffects can be supes difficult - chat to 5 people and you'll probably get 10 different opinions. But Trekstock is waiting in the wings with a bunch of different ways you can get to the information you really need.
Our Lifting the Lid live panel events are tackling the subjects your GP likes to swerve (sex, friendships, menopause in your 20s/30s), our Coaching Programmes are giving you the tools to navigate your (bingo cards ready) 'new normal', our Nutrition Booklet is so good you'll want it at your side at all times whilst grocery shopping, and our Navigating Menopause programme is *quite literally* award-winning.
Get Heard
Dealing with cancer at a young age is a tough gig. That’s why your voice matters. Your story matters. And sharing can help shape the future of people like you. Whether you want to join us as a Trekstock Ambassador to spread the word, or join focus groups to share your thoughts – we want to hear from you.
So there we have it, our whistle-stop tour of all the support Trekstock provides is over. You'll probably need a minute to let it all marinate, but once you have, why not sign up to our community and get the ball rolling? We've got a whole plethora of support here to empower you at whatever stage you're at, to give you the tools and confidence to face anything thrown your way. And if you have ANY questions (apart from what the hell is AI?) we're here to answer them at hello@trekstock.com
Other resources
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Lifting the Lid aims to create a safe environment to delve into important topics, while letting our community of people living life alongside cancer know that there are experts on hand who understand their experiences. Check out the full library
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If you’re the parent of someone in our community with cancer, we know there’s not a lot of information out there to support you. We explore how you might be feeling, how you can help and how to take care of yourself in amongst it all.
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Receiving a cancer diagnosis in your 20s or 30s is hard enough. When you are from the LGBTQIA+ community there can be a number of issues you may face. One of these may be your sex life and sexual health. Stewart from LGBTQIA+ cancer support charity OUTpatients and experts share their tips and advice that can help you navigate sex after cancer.
Menopause is a common but not often discussed side effect of breast cancer treatment. Stacey didn't realise how much her menopausal symptoms were impacting her until she joined Trekstock's menopause programme.
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Lydia's cancer diagnosis when she was 24 meant she had to undergo a complete hysterectomy – having her uterus and cervix removed. As a result, she found herself facing the menopause. Here’s her story on how she’s reached an understanding with her symptoms.
Exercise and cancer don't seem like ideal partners. But the truth is they go together exceptionally well. Exercise has tonnes of benefits for those going through cancer treatment and living with any long term impacts. Exercise physiologist Tom Cowan explains the benefits of exercising with cancer and shares the best ways to make it work for you.
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Ambassador Carolina shares what the Trekstock community means to her and how she found support from people who'd been through cancer treatment at a young age.
Because navigating friendships in your 20s or 30s is hard enough without cancer.
No matter who you are, the physical changes that might occur because of cancer or its treatments can be really difficult. Whether you're dealing with nausea, hair loss, early menopause or anything else, learning how to manage these impacts is key to a better quality of life.
Cancer’s an emotional rollercoaster. It’s OK to find it tough to cope.