Archives > BCS News 2012 > East Auckland Breast Friends
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Breast Cancer Support - empowering New Zealand women
emotionally on their journey with breast cancer
The women of BCS offer support & encouragement
from a positive personal experience
to others who have had a diagnosis of breast cancer.
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East Auckland Breast Friends
The East Auckland Breast Friends meet on the third Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm at the Highland Park Community House. Please call 0800 273 222 or email for more information.
Latest News: Enjoying stained glass mosaics Enjoying stained glass mosaics From Group Coordinator Jennifer Woodroofe The East Auckland group met on a cold winter's night and unfortunately only 10 ladies came. Never mind. It’s a sign of the season.
Our guest speaker – Jenny Cottier – came to show us samples of the work she does with stained glass and glass mosaics. She had some great pieces to show us and the best was a great big pictures she had made from pieces of stained glass – a work of art! It's mid-winter dinner time ... This report from Group Coordinator Jennifer Woodroofe
This year we decided to change the venue. One of our group is a member at the Howick Club so we went there! It was a great night. 15 ladies attended including two we have not seen for a while. After most ladies had gone there was a small group of us left just chatting and one of the waitresses came over and asked us what group we were, as she had heard us talking about bras and thought it was a strange topic. One of our ladies explained who we were and the waitress was thrilled. She sat down with us and joined in our conversation saying it was great to be able to talk to someone about what she had been through.
A rainy Mid Winter night ...
This year we decided to change the venue, and one of our members is a member at the Howick Club – so we went there! It was a great night, 15 ladies attended including 2 who we have not seen for a while.
After most ladies had gone there was a small group of us left just chatting and one of the waitresses came over and asked us what group we were, as she had heard us talking about bras and thought it was a strange topic! One lady explained who we were, the waitress was thrilled and sat down with us and told us her ‘story’. She said it was great to be able to just talk to someone about what she had been through.
Easing pain .. with magnets!
Doug has travelled to many countries of the world as a physiotherapist with various sports teams for example the All Whites and the All Blacks. Doug now follows his interest in pain with the use of ‘Q’ magnets that he places on various trigger points on the affected area. These magnets act by reducing the pain signals to the brain. He told us that the use of magnets on the human body has been around for thousands of years and appears to have originated in Asian countries. There are two types of pain – chronic and acute - and both can affect the body’s nervous system. Acute pain is an indication that something is wrong with the body (be it a broken leg or similar) and chronic pain is that which has been endured, in some cases for years, and also involves tissue damage. The human body can be compared to a computer because it has hardware and software!. Doug explained to us how an MRI works and why this procedure is becoming a very popular diagnostic tool. One point of interest he made is that the brain is made up of thousands of nerves. He asked us to guess, if these nerves were linked up together, how much distance do we think they would cover? Several suggestions were made, but the answer is, in women150,000km and men 175,000km!
After he had spoken on the subject he asked one of our ladies if he could use the magnets on her. She had recently undergone a knee replacement and was having a lot of pain. She agreed and after a couple of minutes said her pain level had decreased and walked out of the building a lot easier than when she came in!
Keeping safe within our communities ...
He had a Power Point presentation but unfortunately it did not work! So we just saw slides, which was a pity because his actually presentation contains video clips and was very educational. He gave us some very helpful advice: you should not leave the garage open when home, put handbags on floor of the car and not on the seat, know your neighbours, report anything strange you might see around your area, and record registration on strange cars. He also spoke to us about how to answer door to strangers (especially if asking to use phone for emergencies),and advised passing on information to police even if it seems inconsequential. We had some still photographs to present the situations he spoke to us about and we had good discussion ... and could probably have talked for a lot longer!
A wet and rainy night? No problem for East Auckland
What an easy craft to create! And they look so pretty. All you need is glossy paper, scissors, a tube of glue and a knitting needle (or toothpick). Jo had made one item for a friend - a three-strand necklace made from sheets of wrapping paper – black on white and white on black – and some red beads. The colour contrast between the black, white and red was exquisite. As usual the evening was accompanied by supper and quite a few sticky fingers! Thoroughly enjoyed by all and Jo was ever so willing to help anyone who got ‘stuck’. Thanks Jo. Enjoying a Lotus Root salad... This report from Group Coordinator Jennifer Woodroofe The East Auckland group met this past week to plan for the year ahead. Aside from the usual Mid Winter dinner, some of the suggestions included a craft night, a visit from the Cancer Society Liaison Nurse, a presentation from a Physiotherapist, a movie with icecream and popcorn, a Lymphoedema talk and hopefully a return of the excellent podiatrist from last year. Last year one of our Korean Members invited some of us to go to her house in January to enjoy a Korean lunch so we could taste the food of her culture. We did this the week before our meeting. Ten of us attended and thoroughly enjoyed a selection of delicious dishes and all felt the highlight was the Lotus Root salad. It was yummy and is Korean. Jenny purchases the root from the Korean market presliced and frozen and she made the salad with capsicums sliced and a dressing! Very nice. All agreed it was really ‘different’. Other dishes included fish, courgette, sliced beef and pork, meat balls, a spicy meat dish and a lovely dish that had eggs and seaweed in it. Afterwards, Jenny produced a beautiful tiramisu and Korean coffee. We were really appreciative of Jenny’s efforts and some of us had no dinner that night – we were too full! Thank you Jenny! |
The East Auckland Breast Friends group met on a rainy night for their mid-winter dinner.
The East Auckland Breast Friends met on a rainy night for their Mid Winter dinner.
The East Auckland group met on a rather cold and wet May evening and welcomed 
Darryn Heaven, the area Community Constable, came and spoke to us at our April meeting about keeping ourselves safe.
The East Auckland group held their March meeting on a very wet night!