ALBURY-WODONGA BREAST CANCER SUPPORT GROUP

T he Albury-Wodonga Breast Cancer Support Group meets on the third Friday of each month, 10am to noon, at the Mitta Mitta Canoe Club building, Noreuil Park, Albury, a confidential and caring meeting, sharing

knowledge and experiences and offering comfort and friendship. Coffee and tea are supplied and you can bring nibbles to share if you wish.

PLEASE JOIN US

The Tit Tattler would not be possible without the generosity of Conway Printing at Jindera who print the newsletter without charge.

Thanks also to Kellie and Kelvin Davies of K2 Design who donate their time and skills maintaining our website and providing technical support.

And thank you to our contributors whose input helps us to pass on so much important information, advice or just something to make us laugh.

What? A Knitted Knocker !

19 September AWBCSG MEETING 10 am Mitta Mitta Canoe Club 19th Birthday Celebrations

19, 20, 21, 26, 27 & 28 September BCNA Fundraiser—Flowering Clivia Display Taminick Gap Rd, Wangaratta South

14 October– 9 December Encore Program– to enrol contact Sigrid Brown 0428 253 046

17 October AWBCSG MEETING 10 am Mitta Mitta Canoe Club Breast Cancer Awareness Month

25-26 October Relay for Life Wodonga Raider’s, Birallee Park, Wodonga www.relayforlife.org.au to register

21 October and 2 December LOOK GOOD FEEL BETTER– to enrol contact Rosemary Creed 02 6021 3604

21 November AWBCSG MEETING 10 am Mitta Mitta Canoe Club

5 December AWBCSG Christmas Lunch 11.30pm Stanley Room Commercial Club, Albury

DATES FOR THE DIARY

A project that has been operating in the US since 2007 has now made

its way to Australia. Ladies from the Burwood Neighbourhood House in

Melbourne, lead by Cheryl Webster a breast cancer survivor, started

‘Knitted Knockers Australia’ in September 2013. The project involves

the knitting of a 100% cotton prosthesis which is then given to women

who have had a mastectomy. This is an alternative for women who have

not had reconstructive surgery and require a silicone prosthesis. Many

ladies find the silicone prosthesis heavy and uncomfortable in summer

so a knitted knocker breathes, can be washed and dried easily each day. Continued Page 6

hydrotherapy pool every Wednesday at 12.30pm. For women who have or have had breast cancer, the exercises are gentle and focus mainly on lymphatic drainage. The format for the class is to meet and change in time for a 12.30pm start, stretching, gentle exercise using equipment and relaxation to finish. The class ends at 1.30pm The cost is $5.

H ydrotherapy is held at the Albury Base Hospital

CONTACTS

Committee Heather Knott (02) 6059 2314

Robyn Daly (02) 6021 5353

Marg Harrison (02) 6021 4551

Jodie Hart 0410 046 330

Marlene Gibson (02) 6021 6364

Barbara Iverson (02) 6056 1437

Genevieve Black 0427 258 897

Feel free to contact any committee member for information or support.

Correspondence to: Heather Knott– Facilitator 4 Armstrong Terrace West Wodonga Vic 3690 kknott@iprimus.com.au Editor: Heather Knott kknott@iprimus.com.au Sub editor: Robyn Daly robyn.daly3@bigpond.com Hydrotherapy contact: Marlene Gibson (02) 6021 6364

Heather with Happenings

Hi Everyone, Hopefully the chilly weather has come to an end and we will have lots more sunny days to make us more motivated to get out and about. During the cooler months it has been a quieter time for our group but also interesting as you will have read on the front page.

At our June meeting Gwenda Howard came along and explained about the Knitted Knockers project. Gwenda has been asked to be the local co-ordinator and she explained to us how the project started and what they aim to achieve. Gwenda is seeking ladies willing to be knitters as well as informing ladies who have had a mastectomy that a cotton prosthesis is available free of charge. Many ladies from our group are now Knitted Knockers knitters and are recruiting their friends to also become knitters.

Our July meeting was held at La Maison. It was a lovely morning of chatter , catching up with what everyone has been doing or planning to do. It was a nice surprise to receive in the mail a cheque from Wodonga Lions Club for $500. We are very grateful that they have once again included us in their annual donations to community groups. The money will be used in our Pamper Bag Project. So far this year 102 bags have been presented to newly diagnosed ladies by our McGrath Breast Care Nurses.

Thank you to all the readers of the tit tattler who attended the movie night organized by Bubbly Charity for one of our members– Annie Marr. The ladies from the support group who attended enjoyed a very social night out.

August’s guest speaker was Greg Pearl, Project Officer for the Albury Wodonga Regionnal Cancer Centre. Greg gave us an update on where the building works were at . Each week the contractors take photos of the buildings progress– we have included 2 on page 5. Each week as I drive along Borella Road on my way to the support group’s hydrotherapy session at the Albury Hospital pool it is exciting to see the progress being made and the shape of the building becoming obvious. It is hoped the building will be completed by the end of 2015, and occupancy to take place early 2016 after being fitted out and furnished. We also had Melissa and Alex from Cancer Council NSW-Wagga office also attend our meeting so they could obtain responses to a survey on community perceptions and experiences in accommodation facilities across the state. The information gathered will be used in determining where and how Cancer Council invest in these types of facilities in the future. Daffodil Day on 22nd August was a reminder of what some of the funds raised are used for. A big thank you if you bought daffodils or a badge also thanks go to Joan, Trisha, Kathy, Norma and Barb for manning the stall at Myer Centrepoint.

Elizabeth, Marg and I attended the first meeting of Knitted Knockers on Monday 18th August. It was lovely to meet ladies who are willing to be knitters, with several coming all the way from Wagga, with other ladies attending coming to collect Knitted Knockers for their own use. We were delighted to meet Cheryl Webster who is the President of Knitted Knockers Australia. Cheryl is so thrilled with how this project is snow balling, all thanks to the ladies willing to knit. We will be getting together on the following Mondays- 15th September, 20th October & 17th November at St John’s Anglican Church Beechworth Rd Wodonga. All are welcome.

At our September meeting we will be celebrating 19 years since Carol Stevenson and Judy Gray formed AWBCSG. We always light a Remembrance Candle and acknowledge the ladies who have lost their breast cancer battle. We look forward to this celebration and hope you may be able to join us.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there will be many activities on during the month, in particular fundraising events for the NBCF (Pink Ribbon) to continue their research projects with the aim of zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030. It is also the Border’s annual Relay for Life. Brave Hearts are joining the Go Girls Team (Ovarian and Gynecological Cancer). If you would like to be part of the team you can join by following this link http://relay.cancercouncil.com.au/2014/border_2014/Brave-Hearts-on-the-Murray Alternatively, give a donation on line or just turn up at the Raiders Football Ground, Marshall St Wodonga on 25th or 26th October and show your support. Look for the Brave Hearts flag.

Unfortunately Brigitte Weber was unable to attend our August meeting. We are hoping to reschedule her Relaxation and Meditation session before the end of the year.

By the time our summer edition comes out we will have had our final get together for the year - our Christmas Buffet lunch, so mark your diary- Friday 5th December Stanley Room, Commercial Club, Albury from 11.30am. Once again Breast Cancer Survivors will have their lunch subsidised. We will be holding another Christmas Raffle which will be drawn at our lunch. First prize is this beautiful queen bed sized patchwork quilt kindly donated by Narelle Haining. Invitations and raffle ticket books will be distributed in October. Marg Harrison will take requests for raffle ticket books and the bookings for our lunch- 6021 4551. You may like to bring along a Kris Kringle present, value $10, to go under the tree.

Until our next tit tattler, enjoy the lovely spring weather and soak up the vitamin D.

Heather Knott

Complimentary Therapies Massage Therapist. Sue Butcher is also a registered lymphoedma massage therapist and has rooms at 468 Swift St Albury &15 McInnes St Holbrook. Sue can be contacted on 0427 369 570 or admin@backstraightmassage.com massageresults.com.au PINC. Leanne Hodge a physiotherapist, is also accredited to deliver the PINC Cancer Rehabilitation program for women diagnosed with cancer. Leanne is now operating in Albury at 562 Thurgoona St on Wednesdays . Leanne can be contacted on 0417 616 957 or lhpysio@ozemail.com.au

Holbrook/Culcairn Cancer Support Group

Meetings are held on the first Monday of each month from 1pm alternating between Holbrook and Culcairn

No meeting 6 October due to Public Holiday 3 November 1pm at Culcairn

1 December 1pm at Holbrook

Enquiries to Judy Ross 0409 445 051 or Sharyn 0428 566 802

YMCA Encore

Gentle Hydro-therapy

Exercise Program

Eight week program - 2 hours per week for women who have had breast cancer

at any time in their lives.

The program is FREE of charge

The next program is Tuesday 14th October to 9th December

from 3pm to 5pm at the

Albury Base Hospital

Participation is by enrolment Contact: Sigrid Brown: 0428 253 046

Elizabeth's Custard Sponge Elizabeth, one of our members, made a lovely sponge for our Biggest Morning Tea. Lots of the ladies who attended our BMT were asking for the recipe, so here it is!

INGREDIENTS

4 eggs 1 cup custard powder 3/4 cup castor sugar 1/2 teaspoon bi- carb soda 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

METHOD Beat eggs and sugar on fast until NO Bubbles appear- takes some time

Stir in, the sifted together, custard powder, cream of tartar and bi-carb soda

Grease a high sided sponge tin

Pour mixture in

Give tin and mixture a good bang on the bench to get air bubbles out

Cook 20-25 minutes in 180° celsius fan forced oven

Put on cooling rack to cool. When cool, decorate as required and enjoy!

LOOK GOOD… FEEL BETTER

for 2014

Sessions will be held on the following Tuesdays 9.15am – 12

21st October and 2nd December

Please register at least 2 weeks prior to the session you wish to attend.

Contact Rosemary Creed 02 6021 3604 or email on

rtcreed@bigpond.com

Clivia Display-Open Garden BCNA Fundraiser

Yvonne Hargreaves is once again opening her beautiful garden at Blue Wren Cottage, Taminick Gap Rd, Wangaratta South as a fundraiser for BCNA.

You can visit her clivia display on one of 6 open days- Friday 19th, Saturday 20th, Sunday 21st, Friday 26th, Saturday 27th or Sunday 28th September.

Entry is $5 which goes to BCNA as well as the sale of a great range of clivias of all colours and sizes, both flowering clivias and bulbs. Over 125 plants have been donated by Yvonne’s clivia growing peers.

Robyn and Heather along with Norma, her daughter and two grandsons visited last year and we were amazed at the vast display of clivias and her beautiful garden set at the foot of the Warby Rangers. A lovely day out.

Yvonne can be contacted by phone on 03 5725 7244 or 0447 194 602 or emailed at plantnut2@bigpond.com

AWBCSG ladies at our Wednesday session of Hydrotherapy at Albury Hospital Pool

Walk and Talk Group on their

return from a Thursday

afternoon walk through Noreuil

Park and back to Byrne’s Lagoon

AWBCSG ladies at our July

meeting held at La Maison

A view that will be seen from the

top floor of the Cancer Centre

Progress to the end of July of the

Regional Cancer Centre building works

Chris Slapinski celebrating her 89th

birthday at lunch with the ladies from

the hydrotherapy group

Ladies at the Knitted Knockers

meeting on Monday 18th August.

Gwenda Howard local facilitator

Cheryl Webster– President Knitted Knockers

Robyn Daly, Myer Centrepoint Bakers

Delight Manager, and Heather Knott

during the Pink Bun Campaign.

BRAVE HEARTS NEWS Brave Hearts Dragon Boat Club has been in the winter break so it has been rather quiet. Except, that is, for an intrepid group of 9 or 10 paddlers who have been assisting Mike who is coaching L J, a lady we are very proud to have as a member of Brave Hearts. L J has made it through the 1st round of try outs for the Australian Dragon Boat Team, the Auroras. It will be a great honour for L J and the club, if and when she makes it through.

Monday 18th August was the 1st training session for the new season, and we will be training Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays each week. Mike is very keen to see us do well at the up coming regattas, including the Nationals in Perth in April 2015!

Pleasure Cruising starts up again on August 31st. We would love to see you down at the lake at 3.30pm. New paddlers welcome.

In June, the North Albury Football and Netball Club held a Pink Day Luncheon and auction. This was a sell out and we were presented with the magnificent sum of $15,000 raised on the day! We hope this local club is able to overcome this difficult period they are going through. We all need to support them. Blue Illusion once again have supported us by holding a fashion parade on 16th August in aid of Brave Hearts and the Look Good Feel Good programme.

Our President, Jenny Black is at present in NZ, as her darling Dad Syd passed away. Syd is now "home with his beloved Daphne".

On Friday 22nd August- Daffodil Day - our vice president Suzy was interviewed by the local ABC at their broadcast from Hilltop, regarding our inspirational book which is close to being published. Judy Campbell and I were involved in a voice over broadcast to promote the day. We also manned a table at Lavington Square in the afternoon.

We look forward to our first regatta for the season in October. Bring it on!

Cheers Mel x

Would you like your

radiation tattoo removed?

Did you know that Albury Image is willing to

remove radiation tattoo’s for free?

Contact them on 02 6021 5077, toll free

1800 22 99 22 or call in to the 1st Floor

CML Building, 497 Dean St, Albury and

make an appointment.

We have received this information on the

recommendation of 2 of our support group

ladies.

Border Wellness Circle is held every second Thursday, 10.30am- 3pm, in the Boardroom of Murray Valley Private Hospital, Nordsvan Drv Wodonga . Women who have experienced any form of cancer are welcome to come along and enjoy complimentary therapies, self care activities as well as craft and pamper days. $2.50 covers lunch. Come along on September 11th , 25th, October 9th, 23rd, November 6th, 20th for a fun day of relaxation and friendship. For more details contact Brigitte on 0400681720 or email brigitte.weber@gsahs.health.nsw.gov.au for a program of the years activities.

From front page

Cheryl has been recruiting ladies in the North-

East and Riverina for the project with groups

starting up all over. Gwenda Howard has taken

on the role in Albury/Wodonga. Gwenda is

recruiting knitters, helping the knitters to get

the hang of the pattern, providing the kits to

the knitters, checking the finished product then

organising for the knockers to be given to

breast cancer survivors. Gwenda is also

recruiting knitters in many locations in outlying

areas. If you would like to be a knocker knitter

or know friends who may be interested, Gwenda

would love to hear from you. The local Knitted

Knockers group is meeting 3rd Monday of each

month at 10am St John’s Anglican Church Hall

Beechworth Road Wodonga when knitters can

drop off their work and collect more kits, new

knitters can get started and ladies can come

along and put in their order or collect their

knitted knockers. Any ladies who have had a

mastectomy recently or many years ago and

would like to try the knitted knockers contact

Gwenda or the McGrath Nurses to arrange a

fitting.

Gwenda 6056 0045

Jodie 0407 035 768 Jude 0428 284 642

These Knitted Knockers have been knitted by

ladies in our support group. Knitted Knockers

come in all cup sizes and a variety of colours.

Nerida Millward and Mel McIntyre at

the Brave Hearts Christmas in August

THOUGHTS, PRAYERS and RAINBOWS

For any suffering loss, grief, sadness, any illness, just not feeling good or awaiting results, our thoughts, prayers

and rainbows go out to you.

Denise A, Gail S, Thel W, Jenny B & family, Lil H, Annie M, Vicki H and Sue S

If you know of anyone who could use a thought, prayer and a rainbow, please let us know so they can be included in the next newsletter.

‘Love can bridge all distances.

Surely the substance of rainbows is love.’

Interesting Research Patients with breast cancer are being coached to hold their breath while radiation treatment is being delivered. It’s a techn ique that

may virtually eliminate long-term risks from radiation to the heart. Epworth Hospital radiation oncologist Andrew See said radiation

was an effective treatment for breast cancer but was linked to a small increased risk of cardiac complications, including heart

attacks, in the years to follow. He said the new technique helped minimize radiation to the heart and lungs by delivering a dose only

when patients held their breath, which expanded their chest and pushed it away from their heart. The Melbourne specialist said

women being treated for left-sided breast cancer at the Epworth hospital were being invited to use the technique, which would

soon be part of a clinical trial at several hospitals in Australia. “The heart is slightly inclined to the left-hand side so the major

chamber and coronary vessels can come close to the radiation field,” Dr See said. Judith Rothe is one of about 10 patients to try

the breathing technique. She was diagnosed with breast cancer 5 years ago and recently found a recurrence of the cancer under her

arm, requiring surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Border Mail July 9 2014

A new blood test could tell women if their lifestyle is putting them at risk of developing breast cancer. Scientists say the test could

identify those who are in danger 10 years before any symptoms appear. This would give them time to take preventative action–

which can be as simple as exercising regularly or losing weight– long before the disease gets a hold. The breakthrough could see

women in their 50’s and 60’s having regular tests to monitor their risk level by the end of the decade.

The finding, by scientists at University College London, involves the first breast cancer screening tool that monitors the scale of

damage to genes from environmental factors such as smoking, diet, alcohol consumption and the chemicals we come across in

everyday life. Current tests for breast cancer risk rely on identifying those with high-risk DNA. But until now scientists had no early

screening method for non-inherited breast cancer, which makes up 90% of cases. The new test could be used in regular screening

sessions for post menopausal women.

Herald Sun July 5 2014

A scientific breakthrough could lead to a new treatment for one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. Scientists have

pinpointed the molecule which causes cancerous cells to grow and spread quickly, making them hard to treat. Now that they have

found the specific molecule, they are confident they can use an existing drug to stop cancer. The discovery offers hope for women

diagnosed with HER2– positive breast cancer, which tends to spread far more quickly than other types. Many women with this

breast cancer do not respond well to the standard treatment, a medicine called Herceptin. Researchers from the Bart’s Cancer

Institute at Queen Mary University of London conducted the study, which was published in the journal of the National Cancer

Institute. They hope women could have tumour biopsies to check for the molecule. If found, they would be offered the existing

drug– which is mainly used in trials– with Herceptin. Early studies on mice have shown the combination of these two treatments

eradicates the tumors.

Herald Sun June 28 2014

Albury/Wodonga’s Look Good….Feel Better program has won the 2014 Look Good...Feel Better National Venue of the Year Award. Look Good….Feel Better has been providing workshops in Wodonga for cancer survivors for the last 10 years. The award was presented to Rosemary and her team of volunteers in Sydney on September 5th. Well Done

CONGRATULATIONS

Just a reminder that mammogramming your boobs is more

important than Instagramming them.

Please advise if your mailing details are incorrect or if you do not wish to receive this newsletter. The newsletter can be emailed to you or you can access it from our website.

Have you visited our website lately? You can check out the calendar for details of our next meeting, and in the section ‘all the latest news’, you can subscribe to the newsletter and organise to be

notified when the website has been updated . Log in at http://awbcsg.com

The aim of the Albury-Wodonga Breast Cancer Support Group is to provide a confidential and caring meeting place where a group of women who have or who have had breast cancer can share knowledge, information and experiences. We can give and receive comfort, friendship and be a source of hope and acceptance to other women on their journey.

If undelivered

Please return to:

A–W BCSG

4 Armstrong Terrace

West Wodonga 3690

WISE WORDS The past cannot be changed, forgotten, edited or erased.

It can only be accepted.

Thursday nights’ ‘Walk and Talk’ participants Rosa, Pauline, Eileen and Julie