News from our last meeting
We had two new members at our last meeting and our mascot Hope’s gone home with Grace to play with her son Samuel for the month.
Rita took charge of the meeting as I was away in sunny Queensland with Judy, who has had a set back since our return and is currently in hospital recovering from surgery. Many of you know Judy and I’m sure like me, will be very happy to see her out of hospital and back to her champagne sipping best as soon as possible. (though, I am managing to get extra glasses out of a bottle of Pink while she’s not around)
We received our Access software package from Microsoft Australia Unlimited Potential Software Donation Program and Rita and I will use it to set up The Young Ones new data base soon. This program will help us to identify the needs and issues that are important to young women with breast cancer more easily and identify who within the group would be interested in what information, event, issues, etc. Many thanks to Microsoft for supplying it to us at no charge, so as we can continue to offer ongoing and improved support for our members.
Mary will be taking part in an adventure in December run by Amazon Heart Odyssey. Mary and other young women from around the world who have experienced breast cancer will be going to Sri Lanka to help build new houses for impoverished families. It will be a great opportunity for her to meet other young women from around the world who have the disease and share her experience with them. She needs to raise $5000 to be able to achieve her goal and invites people to support her by making a donation on line at www.amazonheartodyssey.org and using the links. We wish Mary a safe trip and know that she will be a wonderful representative for young Australian women with breast cancer.
Join me on Saturday arvo
When the Young Ones was started over 5 years ago it was decided that there should be a cut off age for members as there were many support groups around but none specifically just for young women. Forty-five was decided upon because the majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer were over fifty.
One of the reasons that the Young Ones has been such a successful support group is because we have always listened to what our members have to say and what is important to them. We have grown considerably in the last few years and many members are now nearing or have passed our cut off age.
Because of this I have decided to start the Saturday Arvo Group. This group will be open to all women who have experienced breast cancer with no age limits. As with the Young Ones we will have no set agenda except to offer each other hope, understanding and friendship. We will have no set meeting times to start with and will agree upon our next date at each meeting. I’ll then put it in the next newsletter for those who would like to come along. We may decide to try different venues each time or find one we like and make that our permanent venue. We might even try different starting times.
You are quite welcome to attend both meetings if you like, so please don’t feel that you need to choose between the Young Ones or the Saturday Arvo group. Rita will now run most of the Young Ones meetings as I’m finding it too much working full time and I will be at the Arvo ones. Our first meeting will be on Saturday June 4th at 12.30pm and to make it easy we’ll meet at Café CoCo. Can you let me know if you’re coming so I have an idea of how many to expect. Tanya Wilson.
Our next meeting
Our next meeting will be on Thursday May 26th at 7pm Cafe Coco, 129 Smith St Collingwood
What’s happening?
Healthy eating. Wednesday 18th May, 7.30pm. Baton Rouge Quality Inn, 1233 Stud Rd. Rowville.
Dr. Rick Kausman from the Jean Hailes Medical Centre and author of award winning book “If not dieting, then what?” will talk about the non dieting approach to healthy weight management. R.S.V.P to Lee Alexander the Valley Private Hospital on 9790 9333. Cost; Free.
Living well, taking control. Saturday 21st May 11am-3.30pm. The Cancer Council Victoria, Corner Victoria & Rathdowne St. Carlton. This forum will address family issues, living with uncertainty, financial and legal issues and treatment options. R.S.V.P is essential by calling the Cancer Council. Cost; Free.
Lymphoedema: What it is, how to treat it and what’s available. Wednesday 25th May, 12-1.30pm. BreaCan, 1st floor. 123 Lonsdale St. Melbourne. Judy Purbrick, senior physiotherapist at Mercy Lymphoedema Clinic will talk about the association between breast cancer and lymphoedema. Cost; Free.
Bone health in women living with breast cancer and the consequences of its treatment. Thursday 2nd June, 6pm. Cardiology lecture theatre, building 1b, 2nd floor, room 2319, The Royal Melbourne Hospital. (enter via car park or main entrance) This lecture will be given by Dr Christopher Gilfillan head of endocrine services at Frankston Hospital, Clinical Research Associate Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research. Cost; Free.
Pink women invade the MCG
When arriving at the MCG, the first thing that stood out to me was the car loads of happy, smiling women and the buses decorated in pink. Thousands of women were mingling around the entrance of the ground as the incredibly organised BCNA volunteers handed out pink ponchos.
A sea of pink doing the Mexican Wave greeted us as pink ponchos totally filled 4 bays of the MCG. The 100 men in blue, representing the number of men who get breast cancer each year, looked as moved and excited as the thousands of women surrounding them.
As we all started making our way onto the ground into the silhouette of the “pink lady” a tinge of disappointment and despair was felt as we watched the pink lady fill. It seemed impossible that we would all fit, and I thought that some of us would miss out on the experience.
Sure enough, we all managed to squeeze in (with a bit to spare) and all walked onto the “pink lady” silhouette. The sight of 11,500 women and 100 men on the MCG, and associating this with the amount of people diagnosed with breast cancer each year was a staggering and powerful image.
The atmosphere was touching and inspirational as women (and men) hugged and embraced whilst listening to the speeches and watching the moving stories of breast cancer survivors on the big screen. To see the amount of people with both hands raised when Lynn Swinbourne asked how many people were breast cancer survivors, was amazing, and to see the amount of people with both hands raised when asked who had supported people with breast cancer, was incredibly poignant for all.
We left the pink lady amongst many women and men with tears in their eyes, and smiles on their faces. It was truly an emotional and touching experience.
To later watch the actual football match and to see the sea of pink in the crowd made us proud that so many people had attended to raise money for such a wonderful cause.
Overall the night was an amazing success and the BCNA should be congratulated on the huge amount of effort that would have gone into organising an incredible event such as this.
By Donna Gordon.
