Author: abcgadmin

Workshop for Women, Partners, Families and Friends On Saturday October 13 2012 a workshop was held for family and friends of Advanced Breast Cancer Group members. The workshop provided an opportunity to meet other members of the group, and Mary and Pia, face to face and to introduce family and friends. Dr Maree Colosimo was…

  I love her and she loves me. For the past twelve years Seiko and I have been constant companions. The bond between us is powerful and not fully understood. Her cataract-clouded eyes shine green in the light these days, but she can still sense when I am in need of her. The love simply…

  It’s Tuesday, so I do what I always do on a Tuesday. I get up and take my morphine and, to ward off the dreaded constipation, its ‘sad little mate’, coloxyl and senna. I shower and rub on the cream that has almost vanished the horrific burn I copped from the radiotherapy. I dress…

  I remember the moment I discovered the first lump in my breast. I was at Phil’s unit for the long weekend. He lived in Sydney, and I in Brisbane. We were commuting regularly to spend time with each other, enjoying our romance. In hindsight, it was just as well I was at his place….

Group Get Together and Workshop 2012 On Saturday 24 March we held our 4th Get Together and Workshop for the group. Six women, three partners, three adult children and three friends attended what was for all another very enjoyable day. This workshop included a Q&A session with Dr Nicole McCarthy, Medical Oncologist, followed by a…

Dr David Spiegel outlined the goals of supportive-expressive group therapy (SEGT) in his book Group Therapy for Cancer Patients published in 2000 by Basic Books. Dr Spiegel, Stanford University, pioneered the use of SEGT with women with breast cancer and is the model we use for the group. Goals include: Overcoming isolation – like Margaret,…

An Advanced Health Directive is a way to think about and plan what medical treatment you would like in the event that you cannot make decisions for yourself.

It would be nice to have a cleavage It would be nice to be able to bend forward without worrying Using your hand over your chest or a shirt tight around your neck It would probably be nice to see a hairdresser and use colour and wear a bikini in summer It’s sad that I…

One group member recently reflected on words and phrases that she and many women with secondary breast cancer find unhelpful. She writes On being a “Survivor” “The other phrase I have difficulty with is “Survivor”.  I personally have never referred to myself as a “Survivor”.  If I ever feel the need to label myself or…

Workshop 2011 Photos