Andreia Fernandes is the lead nurse for gynae‑oncology at The Royal Marsden, where she has worked since 2003. She has a strong clinical interest in supporting women living with the long‑term effects of cancer and its treatment. Andreia has completed a Master’s degree and a pre‑doctoral fellowship focused on improving care for women after gynaecological cancer. She is passionate about helping people access the support they need and feel confident in managing their health. She is now preparing a new research project in this area and wants to work with people who have had gynaecological cancer — as well as their carers, partners, family members, and friends — to decide together the direction of the research.

Gynaecological cancers are cancers of the ovary, womb, cervix, vagina, and vulva. Treatment for these cancers can feel very personal and hard to go through. People may have different experiences. This can be affected by their culture, religion, sexual identity, past trauma, or support they have around them such as partners or family. After treatment ends, people still go to the hospital for check-ups but life doesn’t always feel easy. Some people have long-term physical problems. Others worry that the cancer may come back. Some feel unsure about the future. These cancers affect private parts of the body. Because of this, it can feel difficult to talk about it or ask for help.

We want to improve the support people get after treatment. We want support to match what matters most to people, so they can live well.

In this session, Andreia will share the early ideas for her research and ask you to talk about your experiences — what has worked well for you after treatment, what hasn’t, and what you feel the project should focus on. Your views will help highlight the real priorities of people after treatment and guide the next steps of the study. Andreia will also share her contact details, and if it feels more comfortable for you, can arrange to meet with you — or your relative, carer, or friend — after the session.

Here is some information about how to use Zoom on different devices:

On your computer

On your smartphone or tablet (iPad)

On your landline or mobile phone

Ovacome staff are here to support you, so please get in touch if you have questions or are unsure about how to join the session on 0800 008 7054 or at support@ovacome.org.uk

If you require support to attend one of our online sessions, please let us know when you sign up. Some examples of support we can give include:

• Enabling translated captioning
• Closed captioning is available on all our Zoom sessions
• Translators including British Sign Language (BSL).  We usually require around three weeks advanced notice to allow for booking.
• Tech assistance – we have a user guide to help with our online Zoom events and we are here to help people get connected.  We can set up a practice Zoom meeting with a member of the Ovacome team. We can also talk through any questions you may have about this technology.
• Financial assistance - we want to ensure that Ovacome members can access the support groups they want to without worrying about the associated costs. For example, we can cover the internet costs for people who would like to join our online support groups. For more information please see: Financial assistance