NEWSLETTER

No.46 June, 2006

Editor: John Conroy



1. COMING EVENTS

(Meetings are normally held (unless otherwise advertised) at 6.30 pm on the first Tuesday of each month in the Palliative Care Cottage, Mona Vale Hospital)

Tuesday, 6 June

Visit to the Sydney Adventist Hospital Pathology Laboratories The Pathology of Prostate Cancer. This will take the place of the usual monthly evening meeting. It will be an opportunity to visit the laboratories, speak with pathologists, examine prostate tissue, see the workings of a prostate tissue bank, and learn how the Gleason score is calculated. We will also see something of the facilities of Jacaranda Lodge.

Directions The Group will meet at Jacaranda Lodge at the rear of the Sydney Adventist Hospital, Fox Valley Way, Wahroonga, at 2.00pm. Use the entrance beyond the main entrance. Go through the traffic control gate and park in the car park behind Jacaranda Lodge. There may be a $2.00 exit parking charge. We will be split into groups of six to eight to make the tour.

Those who have signed up to attend are: David Bennett, John Conroy, Geoff Emanuel, John Kirkland, Michael Kotzen, Rosie Kotzen, Don Roberts, Jo-Ann Steeves, and Andrew Zahura. Please let me know if your name has been omitted or if you would like to attend (9918 9358). However, numbers are limited.

Thursday, 8 June

Seminar at the Garvan Institute, Darlinghurst (10am - 12 noon): Pancreatic and Prostate Cancer.

Tuesday, 4 July

Members' Open Forum A chance to share information and experiences with men in similar situations to your own.


2. Report of the Meeting held on Tuesday, 2 May

Apologies were received from John and Una Conroy, Ron and Mary Jones, Bob Nicholson, Mark Tweeddale and Peter van Wensveen.
Maxine Rosenfield, Counsellor and Life Coach, Northern Beaches, introduced the subject of depression, saying how important support and communication are for sufferers of this illness.

The following notes were handed out by Maxine:

What is depression?

Depression is an illness in which a person experiences a marked change in their mood and in the way they view themselves and the world. Sadness or emotional numbness is experienced to a degree that appears to be disproportionate to external causes. (From People in Crisis by Ron Hoskinson.)

Symptoms or features of depression

Persistent anxious or Oempty mood Feeling hopeless, worthless, guilty, helpless Irritability, restlessness
Difficulty in concentrating, remembering or making decisions
Constant pessimism
Loss of interest in hobbies or activities, sex, socialising
Unable to sleep most of the night, early morning wakening or oversleeping
Loss of appetite and weight loss or overeating and gain in weight
On-going physical characteristics that do not respond to treatment such as headaches, chronic pain, digestive disorders

Self help suggestions to challenge the depression

Write to help clarify thoughts
Ignore suggestions to 'pull yourself together'. It can't be done without professional help
Seek advice from a GP regarding medication. Modern anti depressants are generally not addictive and can be used to help balance moods Seek counselling
Listen to music
Remember that feelings of hopelessness are part of depression. As depression lifts, so will these
Try not to be isolated from people
Set yourself one small, realistic goal each day and acknowledge the achievement if you complete it. If you don't, tell yourself you'll try again tomorrow
Break tasks down into small pieces to enable you to manage them
Do not make any major decisions

'Remember that you are not seeing the world, yourself or the future in an objective way when depression clouds your judgement'

Maxine handed out worksheets and had the group work in pairs to change 'closed' and 'unsympathetic' questions which might be asked when talking to a person facing difficulties, into a format which would encourage more than a yes/no answer. This leaves the way open for further discussion and the opportunity for some real support and understanding. The idea was to be aware of any judgmental or suggestive words, and to try to remove these and make the questions more open. The questions were:

Do you feel sad?
Are you still suffering side effects?
Isn't it about time you started to pull yourself together?
Is you partner supportive?
Do you think you should be making a will?
Are you suicidal?

Further notes on this issue were provided by Maxine to clarify some of these points:

There are a variety of different types of questions you can use. Each has a different purpose, and some are more effective than others.

Open Questions:

A question which encourages the person to talk or elaborate further and allows them to control what they choose to say or not to say.
Open questions are particularly useful early on in the conversation to enable the person to tell their story.

Examples:

Who? When? Where? Which? What? How? Why?

Asking Why? questions can be perceived as threatening or an accusation, so care is needed in how it is used.

Probing/Challenging Questions:

A question which encourages the person to talk about a specific topic and/or in more depth. Often used after an open question to enable you to establish key issues and to focus to the important points in a story.

Examples:

Can you tell me more about that?
What were you thinking/feeling when that happened?
You mentioned 'x'. What about 'y'?

Maxine issued some additional notes on managing stress:

Stress management
Learn how to relax(!!). Easier said than done, but sometimes consciously thinking that you need to slow down can help. After all, acknowledging that you are stressed is the first step to managing it.

Some signs of stress reactions:

Over reactions to events
Making mountains out of molehills
Viewing things as urgent when they are not
Taking on everyone's problems as yours
Procrastination to the point of paralysis
Disturbed sleep
Hyperventilating in certain situations

Action to manage stress:

Take 30 seconds to stand up and breathe really deeply, holding each breath for 3 seconds
Decide if a situation is your problem or someone else's. If it's not yours, walk away from it
Set realistic and achievable goals
Don't think you have to control everything all the time
Reduce complex tasks into smaller steps to help you prioritise
Get organised. Make a daily schedule with activities that include time for sleep, food and recreation and don't fill every minute. Leave gaps in case one thing runs later than expected
Exercise regularly
Laugh long and hard
Eat nourishing food and avoid alcohol and drugs
Have regular massage or reflexology
Seek counselling

Only you can change yourself. Others can help and support you but the desire and will to change has to come from you.

Maxine's book: Cancer at Your Fingertips, published by McGraw-Hill, is available in bookshops.

One very positive outcome of the session was the suggestion that a non-intrusive 'Buddy' system could informally check on Members who do not appear at a few sessions, just to ensure that further support or encouragement is not needed, even if not sought, due to depression. What do you think of this idea?

Some comments overheard at the meeting:
1. 50% of getting over or on with anything, even depression, is making a start!

2. One of our Members walked into Woolworths and got very depressed at the price of bananas at ten bucks a kilo. On the way out he saw a notice which read:
"My son is missing. If you have any information......"
Puts things into perspective, doesn't it?!

3. A Member introduced Jo-Ann Steeves as the most important person in the Group, being the supplier of Grub; - and added, - he was the most impotent!!!!!

3. PCFA

Minutes of the NSW Support and Advocacy Committee (SAC) Teleconference held on Wednesday, 18/05/06 are available for perusal.


4. INFORMATION UPDATE

Publications Received

(i) Cancer Support News. Issue 4, June, 2006. The Cancer Council, NSW.

This issue includes information on a telephone-based Prostate Cancer Support Group for younger men aged 40-55 diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. Phone 13 11 20. It also contains information on the use of Thalidomide in cancer treatment, the value of physical activity in cancer survival, and whether cancer survivors can safely donate blood.

'And find out how you can help support the Cancer Council's latest study to answer important questions on how various environmental and genetic factors impact the chances of developing a range of cancers. The NSW Cancer, Lifestyle and the Evaluation of Risk (CLEAR) study is seeking to recruit a total of 10 000 patients less than three months post-diagnosis, and also requests that the partners of those patients participate as a reference group.'

(ii) Cancer e-Update May, June 2006, The Cancer Council, NSW.

Items included in this issue:
What does Osurvivorship' mean?
Positive Thinking (including a literature search of related articles), and A Personal Story (by our own Mark Tweeddale).

(iii) Smart Living, Autumn/Winter 2006, The Cancer Council, NSW.

(iv) The Word Is Out. Vol. 5, Issue 3, Winter, 2006. Cancer Support Centre - Jacaranda Lodge Newsletter.

(vii) Prostate Cancer Support Group, - Jacaranda Lodge. May-June, 2006.


Copies of all the above are available for borrowing from the Lending Library.


5. PAIN MANAGEMENT SYMPOSIUM

Two day Symposium to be held at the Centenary Lecture Theatre, Royal North Shore Hospital on 28-29 July.

Day 1. The Problem of Cancer Pain
Day 2. Complementary and Alternative Therapies in Pain Management

Cost: $198 per day or $341 for both days (GST incl.)

Phone: Ms Ros Wylie: 9926 7386
Fax: 9926 6780
Email: rwylie@med.usyd.edu.au



YOUR CONTACT NUMBERS

Program Co-ordinator

Dr Peter Moore
Northern Beaches Palliative Care
9997 3555
Group Leader

John Conroy
9918 9358
NSW Cancer Council Cancer Support Helpline

13 11 20
Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia

1800 220 099