Fabulous Breast Care Nurses…

by Lucy Blunt on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

Well, what a blast Jane and I had last week.  I was invited to speak about the book at the 12th Breast Care Nurses Conference – an absolute honour (and an absolute hoot!!).  There were 311 delegates (can you believe it??) of which 43 were McGrath Foundation nurses.  They are the most lovely, dedicated people – we were blown away.  I spoke to one wonderful nurse from Cooma, who had funded herself to be there ($500) and was only being paid for one of the two days of the conference – however felt that it was important to attend for her knowledge - and to keep up to date with her colleagues.  Now that doesn’t happen in every profession does it??

So, I spoke about Talking to your Children about Cancer: The Book – and was delighted by the warmth and encouragement with which it was received.  I do wish that Eloise had been there to see how useful the book can be as a resource – and how appreciative people who work with breast cancer sufferers at grass roots level are – both for the resource and for her wonderful illustrations.  She is so proud of having illustrated a book, and yet at times so reluctant to speak about it, because it is tainted by the “breast cancer is in our family” brush.

What was truly wonderful however, was meeting delegates who had come together from all around Australia.  People from Perth, Darwin, Mt Isa, Melbourne, Tasmania, Adelaide, Brisbane etc etc, as well as some wonderful people from New Zealand and even Malaysia!!  It was great that it was so well attended.  Add to that the very fun dinner – MC’ed by Jean Kittson (who was absolutely hilarious) – all in all a terrific event.

On the home front, Eloise has started high school this year and young Chloe has also started in Year 5 at the same school (bliss to have them in the one place again).  Chloe has just finished illustrating the new book – which is on bullying – and is extremely excited, but more about that later…

With warmest wishes,

Lucy

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On the Move…

by Lucy Blunt on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month!!  We have just returned from New Zealand, where Eloise and I were kindly invited to tour along with the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation’s (NZBCF) roadshow.  We spoke in Wellington and Nelson about the immense psychosocial impact of Breast Cancer on women and their families.  We felt very fortunate to be included in such a worthwhile campaign. 

The tour was also fabulous as it introduced me once again to the impact of a cancer diagnosis in its initial stages.  We met some truly wonderful women and their partners, who also struggle to come to terms with the powerlessness and fear which is induced by a diagnosis.  It was great to be able to talk with these women and to see the benefit they received from the NZBCF from hearing more about what options, resources and information were avilable and which they would need to equip them along their journey.

This week I gave a lecture at Royal North Shore Hospital to the Year 2 Medical students on the Psychosocial Impact of Breast Cancer.  I give this talk every year and absolutely love doing it, as it allows me to have contact with 40 or so young people who are about to become the next generation of doctors.  We talk about what works and what doesn’t at a psychological level for cancer sufferers while they go through treatment.  The feedback is always about how useful it is for the students to come into contact with a “live” patient and to hear firsthand about someone’s experience and to be able to ask questions without the fear of being the treating doctor at the time.  Research indicates that when young doctors give bad news for the first time and it “seems” to go well, they are likely to adopt this method of news giving for the rest of their professional lives.  As most patients are in shock at the time they are given bad news, it doesn’t allow much opportunity for feedback to the medical practitioner as to whether or not their method was good, bad or indifferent.  Allowing medical students the opportunity to hear about what does and doesn’t work for patients gives them the chance to learn about the best practise model and to refine their own techniques before being let loose on the public!

Back at work again now and admiring the plethora of people wearing pink ribbons and badges showing their support of cancer and breast cancer.  Now we just need to add a couple more research breakthroughs…

With warmest wishes,

Lucy

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Dr Lucy Blunt

by Lucy Blunt on Monday, August 10th, 2009

I am delighted to be part of the JCP Blog.  It is a wonderful opportunity to make contact with other women and their families about the experience of having cancer.  Drop me a line, I’d love to hear from you!…

Warmest wishes,

Lucy

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