Sarah Holmes

MBE. Rtd Nightingale Nurse. 30 years overseas with FCDO. Living with advanced breast cancer. Loving life

[Sophie Blake @sophieRblake]

Last night I attended a wonderful @BreastCancerNow event with my sister. One of the important messages it reinforced is to check your breasts regularly and know what is normal for you. Early detection really can save lives.
When breast cancer is found early, survival rates are extremely high. But the reality becomes very different when the disease spreads beyond the breast like mine.
For those of us living with metastatic (Stage 4) breast cancer, the five year survival rate is only around 29%.
When you are living with an incurable diagnosis and have so few treatment lines available, time is everything. That is why it is utterly incomprehensible that @NICEComms is still denying us #Enhertu, a targeted, life extending drug already provided in over 70 countries worldwide, including Scotland. They claim we aren’t "cost-effective."
For those of us whose lives depend on access to new treatments, those words are incredibly hard to hear.
Breast cancer remains the leading cause of death for women under 60 in the UK. 31 women die from it every single day. That’s 11,500 mothers, sisters, daughters, friends and colleagues lost every year. How can this gatekeeping be justified, especially when new funding thresholds were introduced in April to allow the NHS to spend more on severe, life threatening diseases?
Our lives should not be reduced to a spreadsheet column.
Please, if you do one thing today, sign and share the Enhertu petition. Help us force NICE and the manufacturers @DaiichiSankyoUK and @ASTRAZENECAUK
back to the table. We deserve a deal, we deserve more time and we need it now ⬇️
https://t.co/Yom3cPgyYA

[Tom Fletcher @UNReliefChief]

The danger of allowing the world to be run by weak and insecure men.

[Claire Murdoch @ClaireCNWL]

There’s so much evidence for gardens, nature and healing environments, we must value it more! What’s lovely about the Kings scheme is that they’ve added oxygen and technical ITU kit so very sick patients can benefit!

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

Keep on rocking…

[Rock Photography @Photomusicrock]

Playing AC/DC’s music in retirement facilities is the way!

[Back in Time West London @OldLondonW14]

The patients of St Bartholomew’s Hospital were regularly wheeled outside to aid their recovery.

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

@ProfRobHoward How wonderful, many congratulations to her. My Mother’s 98th coming up soon

[Tobie Morgan Hitchcock @tobiemh]

Database benchmarks are easy to game.

So we built ours to be reflect reality. Same hardware, open harness, full durability for every engine, every config file in the repo.

Here is how SurrealDB v3.x actually holds up:

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

To feel fresh air, smell the flowers and be surrounded by greenery. Surely one of the best medicines? All patients would benefit from having accessible outside spaces to enjoy https://t.co/cs1RkW6t2Z

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

@elnathan_john Awful to have had your stuff stolen…but how amazing that you got it back, and with no aggravation. What a relief!

[Unamuno 📜 @UnamunoAgain]

En la antigua Grecia, las mujeres tenían prohibido estudiar medicina, hasta que alguien rompió la ley.

Un día Hagnódica se cortó el pelo y entró en la facultad de medicina de Alejandría vestida de hombre. Mientras caminaba por las calles de Atenas tras completar sus estudios de medicina, oyó los gritos de una mujer de parto. Sin embargo, la mujer no quería que Hagnódica la tocara, a pesar del intenso dolor, porque creía que Hagnódica era un hombre.

Hagnódica demostró su identidad femenina desnudándose y ayudando a la mujer a dar a luz. La historia pronto se extendió entre las mujeres, y todas las enfermas comenzaron a acudir a Hagnódica.

Los médicos varones, envidiosos, acusaron a Hagnódica, a quien creían hombre, de seducir a sus pacientes

En su juicio, Hagnódica compareció ante el tribunal y demostró su identidad femenina, pero esta vez fue condenada a muerte por estudiar y ejercer la medicina siendo mujer. Las mujeres se rebelaron contra la sentencia, especialmente las esposas de los jueces que la habían condenado a muerte.

Algunos decían que si Hagnódica moría, morirían con ella. Incapaces de soportar la presión de sus esposas y otras mujeres, los jueces anularon la condena de Hagnódica , y a partir de entonces, las mujeres pudieron ejercer la medicina, siempre y cuando solo atendieran a mujeres.

Así, Hagnódica dejó su huella en la historia como la primera médica, ginecóloga y especialista en medicina griega.

Esta placa que representa a Hagnódica trabajando fue excavada en Ostia, Italia.

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

@RslewisSally So much depends on who you follow.

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

@SaraTurle Poor you! I hope your knees get better soon xx

[Oliver Lewis @DrOliverLewis]

“Shame must change sides” 💪🏼

Wonderful to see the inspirational Gisèle Pelicot in conversation with Helena Kennedy at the Hay Festival. The whole audience rose to their feet as soon as Gislèle came onto the stage.

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

@bonifacemwangi @njerikan What a fine man he has become. I’ve no doubt you are a wise and loving dad and that your son must be as proud of you as you are of him.

[Zarish @Zarish5062]

PCOS has officially been renamed PMOS (Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome) as of May 12, 2026 — marking a major shift in how this condition is understood and treated worldwide.

[Michelle Welsh MP @MichelleWelshMP]

An honour to celebrate International Day of the Midwife recently with @MidwivesRCM to recognise the extraordinary dedication of midwives across the country.

Midwives are the foundation of safe maternity care - but too many are overstretched and under-supported. We need a system where midwives can thrive, because safe maternity care is not a luxury, it is a standard.

Thank you for everything you do for women and families every single day 💙

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

@S_HarringtonNHS @UHD_NHS Lovely Annual Florence Nightingale commemoration service at St Margaret’s in East Wellow on Sunday, and special to be with a gathering of Nightingale Nurses

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

@DrCarolPercy My cancer nurse specialist is absolutely fabulous. Always so helpful, knowledgeable and kind. I’m glad the way ahead seems less daunting for you now you’ve had a call from yours

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

@pjm1kbw Absolutely. What an interesting collection

[Sarah Holmes @CalmHolmes]

@SueHealy Gosh they are glorious. What a wonderful discovery