The West Auckland Breast Friends meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 7.00 pm at the Plunket Society, 5 Woodford Ave, Henderson. Please contact Marie ((09) 835 1890), Maureen ((09) 827 2636) or Nola ((09) 834 0208) for details - or call us on 0800BreaCanSupport (0800 273 222). New members are always welcome. 

Latest News: Fighting breast cancer with vigour!

Annual Auction 'out West' raises nearly $300 for BCS

Paddling forward!
 

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Fighting Breast Cancer with Vigour!!

This report from Group Coordinator Marie Goudge
Words that might describe the speaker,  Gwendoline Smith (pictured at left with Karen Boyd), at the West Auckland November meeting might be – dynamic, enthusiastic, decisive, determined and passionate.

Gwendoline has had surgery for breast cancer and feels strongly that by sharing some of her own experiences she can offer some help and support to other women with a breast cancer diagnosis.    
Gwendoline is also a Psychologist.

Her newly launched book, “Breast Support” has chapters dealing with a variety of issues that women may face.

She covers the specific problems young women may encounter as well as tips to help women find their way through the hospital system.

Practical suggestions served up with a spoon full of humour were scattered throughout her talk.
Information about Gwendoline’s book can be found at her website. 

The West Auckland Breast Friends will not meet formally again until February but an informal morning cuppa is planned for the 20th of December.

Many of the women are planning to attend the combined function at Domain Lodge on the 5^th  December.

Happy Christmas from the women in the West! 

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Annual Auction 'out West' raises almost $300 for BCS!

This report from Group Coordinator Janet Catton
The night started slowly but you could feel the excitement in the air ... what bargains were going to unfold?  

October's meeting out West was the Annual Auction.  Our aim was to raise funds to go towards the upcoming Young Women's Support Group being planned for 2012.

The auctioneer (pictured with BCS Chair Deirdre Parr on her left) took her place, ran through the rules and outlined how the silent auction worked.  We were given a number for a mystery prize and then the bidding began.

There was fierce bidding for the home baking, and the toiletry packs. Between laughing and eating delicious home made fudge the bids rolled in.  It had been decided prior that anything that wasn't bought would be donated to the Women's Refuge.  The evening ended with an empty table and happy shoppers.  From the conversations going on, there will be lots of lovely people out there getting beautiful presents this year.  

The result from the evening certainly kept the BCS spirit alive, supporting our Breast Friends by raising nearly $300. 
 

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Paddling forward!

This report from Group Coordinator Marie Goudge 
At our gathering on Tuesday 20^th September eleven women heard about the joys of Dragon Boating.

Robyn Gamble, Lynn Simmons and Toni Girver, all members of the Pink Dragons team spoke with passion about their chosen sport.

“We are a sports team, but we are also a support group,” said Robyn.

There are 20 paddlers needed for the boat but 25 to 26 women belong in the Pink Dragon’s team. The women agreed that paddling in the fresh air was the ideal way to discard the tensions that build up from our busy life styles. The camaraderie is strong and the exercise improves fitness. Women from all backgrounds and all ages belong to the Pink Dragons but the bond that these women have and the affection they have for each other springs from their common meeting point – breast cancer.

The West Auckland Breast Friends are proud that several of our members are dragon boaters and we wish them well in their competitive paddling.

It was lovely to have little Max at our meeting. Max is the infant son of one of our members. His little fresh face and frequent smiles sent ripples of innocent happiness around the group.

Max, you remind us there are a lot of good things to be enjoyed in life.

We adults often make things so complicated. You charmed us all and when you got tired you went to sleep. Perhaps we could learn from you.
 

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Mr Bright Eyes visits West Auckland Breast Friends

This report from Group Coordinator Marie Goudge
It was a cold but fine night when the West Auckland women met at Stan and Marie Goudge’s home for a “Pot Luck” meal and social evening. Twelve attended, fewer than usual, which probably reflected the cold August temperatures and the coughs and colds of winter.

What a scrumptious selection of food! Everyone agreed, “This is better than eating at home”.

In the relaxed atmosphere there was much sharing and supporting of each other. One new woman was welcomed. As so often is the case, this lady had come because an existing member had invited her.

Mr. Mystery, the magical entertainer (Stan Goudge) and Mr. Bright Eyes, the white rabbit, provided entertainment. The owner of a beautiful diamond ring was puzzled as to how her ring could end up in a locked set of boxes when she had carefully given it to her friend to hold. Others were left wondering how Mr. Bright Eyes could appear from an empty wooden house.

Everyone went home feeling warmer and a little more confident because of the friendship and hospitality they had experienced.
 

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'I'm just a young woman - how come I have breast cancer?'

This report from Group Coordinator Marie Goudge
The seventeen women attending the meeting of “Breast Friends” in West Auckland were challenged to think about the extra ramifications of a breast cancer diagnosis on young women.

The women were guided through this exercise by Rosemary Geard who recently attended a Conference in Australia which concentrated on the impact that breast cancer can have on younger women – say, younger than forty-five. Some issues that surfaced were:

• Where is my peer support? None of my friends have experienced this.
• I haven’t got a partner. How and when do I tell a potential partner I’ve had breast cancer? Maybe that I have only one boob?
• Will I still be sexually attractive to my partner? (This applies to all ages)
• Will I be able to have children after chemotherapy? Should I consider having some eggs preserved?
• Will I lose my desire for sex? (applies to all ages)
• I have preschool children. Who will look after them while I have treatment?
• I have teenage children. How do I tell them about the cancer?
• I’m a solo mum. I haven’t got time to have cancer!!!
• I take pride in my appearance. Will this make me old before my years?
• I’ve got a high powered job. How can I take time off?
• Will my work colleagues be prepared to cover my job for me?
• Will my boss be sympathetic? Will he by pass me for promotion?
• Should I try to soldier on without telling anyone at work?
• I’ve just taken out a big mortgage. How can I keep up the payments?
• How can I spare my elderly parents this worry?

And so the list went on. Some of the worries were across the board for all ages but it was clear that younger women did have specific issues that applied to them only. hank you, Rosemary, for sharing the material from the Australian conference. Over the usual cuppa the women continued the discussion.

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What is the largest organ of the body?

This report from Group Coordinator Marie Goudge

That was the question Margaret Walsh asked the seventeen women at the West Auckland Breast Friend’s meeting in June.

“The skin,” was the answer.

“It’s everywhere,” said Margaret. “It holds everything inside the body!”

Margaret, the owner of “Face and Body” in Titirangi, went on to tell the women how to take care of this all important skin.

If the women were expecting to hear about never fail rejuvenating face and body creams they would have been disappointed because this was not Margaret’s message at all.

For the skin to look and function at its best it needs to be treated from the inside. The skin responds to omega oils found in fish, flax oils and oils from nuts.

The state of our skin is largely determined by what we eat and how much we expose it to the harsh elements of sun and wind.

“The skin has a memory,” said Margaret. “I can remove the brown spots for you but the chances are the skin will fairly quickly replace them again.”

Margaret often works with women who are having chemotherapy. She guides them through the process of drawing in eyebrows and lining eyes that haven’t any eyelashes.

The women warmed to Margaret’s practical advice and sensitive understanding of dealing with the side effects of cancer treatments.

Her talk was delivered with a liberal sprinkling of humour – thank you Margaret for encouraging us to welcome the laughter lines around our eyes.

The other high light of the evening was the presence of Max, the 2 month old son of one of the women. What a charmer! This dear little boy immediately found himself surrounded by a room full of honorary aunties.

“We knew you before you were born,” cooed the aunties as Max looked straight at them through his big brown eyes.

Oh, Max, you were flirting with us all and we loved it!
 

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Lymphoedema Therapist Denise Flett visits in May

This report from Group Coordinator Marie Goudge

Eighteen women attended our May meeting and three women were attending for the first time. As usual it was from an invitation from an existing member that the three new women chose to attend. Word of mouth is always a strong recommendation.

Lymphoedema Therapist Denise Flett was the guest speaker. Lymphoedema is always a topic that interests the women (you may like to visit the website of the NZ Lymphoedema Therapists for more information and for a list of Therapists nationwide). Denise is very experienced in dealing with this unpleasant side effect that some women develop. Denise gave concise information and answered the questions that some of the women had. Taking sensible precautions to cut down the risk of lymphoedema developing and careful management of the problem should it arise was Denise’s overall message.

The group was dismayed to learn that both the experienced lymphoedema therapists who have been caring for patients at North Shore and Waitakere hospitals are leaving and they are being replaced by a therapist who is not fully trained. One of the women (who has lymphoedema) has written a letter expressing her deep concern and suggested that others may like to do the same.

The trial run of having refreshments at the beginning of the meeting is working quite well. Soon we will make a decision whether to keep it as a permanent arrangement.
 

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Appreciating the Past, Living the Present and Planning for the Future

This report from Group Coordinator Marie Goudge 

Deirdre Parr, the Chair of Breast Cancer Support, spoke briefly (at the April meeting) about the historical background of BCS and how since the 1970’s the services had evolved to meet changing needs. Recently BCS has become known to an increased number of women through the website and 0800 telephone link. In a short time a forum for women with breast cancer will be available through the BCS site. Providing appropriate support for younger women is a focus for 2011.

Deirdre, an entertaining speaker, delivered the information punctuated with amusing anecdotes so that the fourteen women present found the presentation interesting and informative.

A high light of the gathering was when the women were asked to share, “What’s been happening in your life lately?”

As always it was good to hear the positive comments that so many were pleased to tell. Many of the stories shared were not about a breast cancer journey but about family, work or recreational activities.

The evening ended with a lot of informal chatting and frequent laughter. 
 

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A cup of tea ... and podiatry!

The West Auckland Breast Friends enjoyed a cup of tea, shared baby stories and words of wisdom with our very soon 'mum to be' and then, for something completely different, we had an education about feet - the make up of the foot and the importance of caring for our poor, oft-forgotten feet. We were given simple but helpful advice on what to look for when buying shoes, definitely what to avoid and some of the causes of different common feet problems and treatments available. We sat with our jandals and slip ons tucked under our chairs .. and these are a 'no no' in the world of Podiatry.  The evening ended with a gift basket being presented to our mum to be and her husband.
   

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Breast Friends renew friendships in the West

This report from Group Coordinator Marie Goudge

After the break over the holiday period it was good to meet up again and experience that friendly support that characterizes the spirit of the Breast Friends group.

There was much sharing to be done.

“I am more than halfway through my radiotherapy” volunteered one woman.

We knew she was wearing a wig but only because she told us. It was so natural looking that no one would have guessed her secret.

There were lots of stories shared about family and holiday activities often with amusing twists in the telling.

It was reported that one of the group, not present, was going through a rough patch. The women were quick to send a card, keep in touch and send their loving thoughts.

A sad but beautiful story was shared by Karen whose dog had died aged 14 years. “She was my constant companion during my cancer treatment. She identified with me so closely that when I lost my hair during chemotherapy her hair fell out too. The Vet could not find a medical cause. Together in our hairless state, we attracted a few puzzled looks from those we met on our daily walks.”
That’s a true Breast Friend (of the canine variety)!

Our group is excited because one of our members is having a baby in March. We are delighted to know the health of both mother and baby is excellent.

Planning the programme for the year was on the evening’s agenda. A list of possible speakers and activities was made. There was a wide variety of ideas – not all associated with breast cancer.           
 

Over supper we chatted and strengthened our connections with each other. It felt good to be linked again to our:
                                                Breast Friends
 

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