The Auckland South Breast Friends meet on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7.30 pm at 55 Marne Rd, Papakura. Please contact either Annette ((09) 298 8172) or Jill ((09)268 0414) for details - or call us on 0800 BreaCanSupport (0800 273 222). New members are always welcome. 

Latest News:Wine Appreciation!
 

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 Auckland South Breast Friends - 2010

Wine Appreciation!
This month we had our wine appreciation meeting which was very well attended!

Peter Fowler was our wine master for the evening, and the wines were donated by Villa Maria Wines.

Peter explained how to look, smell and taste the wines, what regions they come from, and also the suggested food matching.

We tried 5 wines starting with the 2010 Lightly Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc, followed by 2009 East Coast Gewurztraminer. Next to 2009 East Coast Chardonnay, the 2009 Marlborough Pinot Noir and lastly the 2009 Hawkes Bay Organic Merlot.

The favourites amongst the ladies were the first and second wines while the men preferred the reds.

A fun filled evening was had by all. Thank you to Peter and Villa Maria Wines. 

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September
Our speaker for September was Eric Dillion on Niagara Healthcare who covered awareness of blood circulation, the ageing process, toxin removal and what we can all do to help ourselves. Niagara specializes in helping people with problems such as Arthritic pain, poor circulation diabetic problems, poor lymphatic drainage, poor sleep etc.

During the evening Eric threw out challenges to us. They were:

• How many litres of blood (on average) do we have circulating around our body? 5-6 litres
• How long would it take for a drop of blood to circulate and return to the same spot:
  In a child? - 1 minute. In a 35 year old? 4-5 minutes. In a 70 year old? 7-8 minutes
   
Circulation system involves veins, arteries, capillaries, lymphatic vessels...
• If we could extract these and every other vessel relation to our circulation and micro circulation and lay them end to end, how far would they stretch?
• Clues – its in Kilometres and is between 5000kms and 100,000kms!!! 96,500 Kms!!!! Amazing!

We all learned something during the night!

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August
At the August meeting of the South Auckland Breast Friends we had a “guess the baby photo” competition and a “swap recipe evening”. Looking at the photos of when we were young compared to what we look like now was very interesting. This was followed by stories of when we were young. We also had a number of scrumptious recipes, copies of which will be available at our next meeting.
 

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March
Three of our lovely ladies have been attending laughter yoga sessions at the Alfriston Hall over the past six months and have thoroughly enjoyed themselves and as ‘laughter is the best medicine’, invited Noel and Gavin to our March meeting.

We had a hilarious evening of laughter with Noel and Gavin, gentle exercise and stretches with lots of laughter. It was great to see our ladies enjoying a good laugh and learning about the benefits of laughter, for example: a sense of well-being, increased stamina and fitness, relief of stress and tension, boosting the immune system, oxygenates and cleanses the body, increases your sense of humour.

After an hour of laughter yoga, you feel as if you have had a hard workout at the gym but with more fun and merriment. Thank you to Noel and Gavin for introducing us to this!
 

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February - March
At our March meeting, we welcome guest Noel from Laughter Yoga. This is a combination of breathing, gentle stretches, laughter exercises, and relaxation. Come and enjoy the proven health benefits of laughter.

At last month’s meeting (February) Jackie spoke to us about her radiotherapy in Abu Dhabi. Jackie 37, was diagnosed last year while down in New Zealand on a short break. Because of her family history she was having checkups.

Her oncologist was very impressed with the operation she had in New Zealand As there are only two Emirates that have radiotherapy clinics, both private, Jackie chose to go to Abu Dhabi. Her oncologist at the clinic was trained in America and had worked also in England. Her treatment was similar to what we receive in New Zealand. Jackie travelled 1 1/2 hours each way to attend the clinic for treatment, and towards the end her employer put on a vehicle and driver for her.

In May last year Nakheel, the company Jackie works for, brought in a doctor to speak to all the women employees about breast cancer awareness. After Jackie was diagnosed, all the women proceeded to go for a mammogram.

Thought for the Month: “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” (Victor Hugo)

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February 2010 

Welcome to 2010! At this month's meeting (Wednesday 10 Febuary) we are hoping to have Jackie Coutts talk to us about her treatment at Abu Dhabi Oncology and the techniques that they use there. For more information about the meeting, please call either Annette or Jill on the numbers listed above.

Our March meeting will be held on Wednesday 10 March - speaker to be advised.

Thought for the month: "No one needs a smile more than the person who doesn't have one." (Anon).

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