No more grapes
No more grapes is a online network for keeping in touch with friends and family during hospital visits or treatment in general. It reminds me of Facebook but it means you can choose who to update so if you have lots of friends on facebook that you dont want to know about your illness this is a great platform.
I love the story of how No More Grapes came about :
Nicky ‘Mossy’ Read, wife of Ian, mother of Jimmy and a teacher, lived with cancer for 7 years. The question: “What can I do to help?” was always being asked of her by family and friends.
Nicky recognised that the sentiment was genuine, but her response could be vague. Overwhelmed by the news of her illness, the wonderful people at Macmillan helped Nicky understand what she was going through, but there was no easy and immediate way to galvanise friends and family who were so keen to help.
Realising Nicky was slightly weary of traditional gifts of fruit and flowers, her family and friends adopted a new and different approach to help support her from near and far.
Together with Nicky, we adopted a modern approach to coping with her illness, finding humour when times were dark, providing practical help and identifying purposeful ‘gifts’ to make life easier for Nicky, Ian and Jimmy through tough times.
Above all Nicky wanted to create a safe space for conversation and inspiration that could be shared by everyone affected by illness, nomoregrapes is a place she would have been proud to put her name to.
I personally dont write too much about my cancer treatment on my own Facebook page as I have some contacts that I wouldn’t want to know what is actually happening. Also some of my treatment side effects etc. can be quite graphic so this is a perfect way to share with people that I would like to keep informed.
It is really easy to register on No More grapes which is great as my mind can not handle anything too complicated at the moment whist going through chemo.
First thing you need to do after registering is invite your friends and family who you want to be added to your contact list. This is simple you enter their email address and a personal message and once they accept they will be able to see your account. There is also the option of sending someone the link which is useful if you do not have a email address as this is easy to use over messenger. Also if you did not want to invite people individually you could put a post on Facebook with the link asking people who want to be kept informed to click on the link.
Post
You can post just like you do on Facebook so you can keep your friends and family up to date with what is happening or how you are felling. You can also post videos and create events an idea would be to list when you have chemotherapy that way your friends and family can follow your treatment plan. I would also post when I am having scans as this is a common question I get asked as my friends like to follow the progress of my cancer treatment.
Wish List
When you are going through any sort of treatment there may be items that you require or would wish to have but do not have the funds. There is a function on No More Grapes that you can create a wish list just like a wedding gift list.
My friends have been lovely this time round and I have been surprised a few times with gifts coming through the post. Not only have they been useful items but it makes me feel so happy and cheers me up when I am feeling grotty from my cancer treatment.
There is a list of items you can select and having a look through it has given me some ideas of what I would love to receive. I like the idea that you can create a list as I am often asked what I would like as a gift but I feel a bit cheeky saying something also I dont know how much they would like to spend this way you create a list and they can decide what they can afford.
The wish list is divided into sections such as practical help and treats which is really useful. I need practical help but I am too independent to actually ask for the help I need. Sometimes my friends say is there anything that you need but normally when they do I cant remember what is it I actually do need so this is a good way I could record the items I would like.
The shop has some interesting ideas for gifts such as cook books and vouchers for meal plans. I personally would appreciate a voucher for a cleaning service as this is what I find difficult keeping up with during my treatment as I just dont have the energy. At the moment it looks as though you can only enter items that are already in the shop it would be good if there was a option that you could enter something specific that isn’t on the list but i could not see how to do this. Some of the profit from the shop goes to charities including Macmillan, Penny Brohn and Maggies. Macmillan and Penny Brohn mean a lot to me as they have supported me during my cancer treatment so this makes me happy.
Community
There are posts written by people who use the No more grapes platform that are interesting to read such as support shouldn’t stop after cancer treatment and Your friend has cancer what can you do to help.
It looks a great website to use to keep friends and family up to date with your treatment if you would like more information or to join click here.
I was asked to try this website out for which I have received payment I have however given my honest opinion and do think its a cool website.
