Agenda - phone-in meeting tomorrow Friday 22 November: Member updates (Pathologist postponed)

[Admin]

Some of you may have been expecting pathologist Dr Devika Thomas as special guest speaker at this Friday’s phone-in meeting,  explaining what her lab does with the various blood tests we have in advanced prostate cancer. Dr Thomas’ talk has been rescheduled to the Friday 20 December 2013 meeting.

 

Many thanks to Secretary Nev Smith for preparing the content of the meeting this Friday (below).

 

Agenda 22 November 2013

 

Disclaimer

This Community does not give medical advice. No members are authorized to give medical advice. Ask your doctor if you hear anything here that you think may be related to your treatment. 

 

Time 

9:30am - 11:00am Eastern Standard Time (Queensland)

The formal phone-in meeting ends after 90 minutes.

The lines are kept open for an hour after that for members to informally chat.

 

Daylight savings times

Brisbane 9:30am

Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart: 10:30am

Adelaide, 10:00am

Perth 7:30am

Winter times

Brisbane 9:30am

Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart 9:30am

Adelaide 9:00am

Perth 7:30am 

 

Dial in 

You must dial in - we do NOT dial you.

 

details email to members only

 

Speaking time 

We want many voices to be heard. If you are a member listed to speak below, the chair will probably expect you to take no more than about 5 minutes on presentation so there is plenty of time for others to respond.

Special Guest Speakers are invited to speak for 10-15 minutes, then field questions.

 

Guidelines

No noise

House - radio, TV, computer, pets, other phones, conversation

Yourself - mute button, or mouthpiece away from mouth

Phone - call waiting off (#43#), Mute button or hang up to leave the room. No mute button? ##4 to mute, ##5 to unmute. Cordless phone - don't carry, put on folded handkerchief to limit reverberation

Other calls - Please do NOT use call waiting or another line on the same phone to take another call - members around Australia are left listening to your 'hold' music until you return.

Speaking

Speak clearly into mouthpiece in ordinary voice.

Say who you are when signing in, and each time you speak.

Listen for the gavel. The Chair may need to interrupt.

Help the secretary by later emailing details for the minutes.

Restarting

You may hang up and sign in again as many times as necessary.

Sometimes we may have to restart the meeting - dial in again. With everyone calling at once you may need to try more than once.

 

Apologies 

Peter Martin has had both a bad heart attack and a broken pelvis recently. Peter reports he is on the mend and we certainly all wish him well.

 

Late starters 

Maybe you haven't had access to the agenda or you have late breaking news you would like to share. Tell the chairman here at the beginning of the meeting that you would like to speak, and he will fit you in probably later, perhaps right now if that suits. 

 

Temple getting a new medical team

Temple, aged 71, told us in February that he had two to three years to live according to his medical team. 

Temple since then changed, not only the city he lives in, but the state in which he lives as well. Having just moved he is now in the process of getting a new clinical network to look after him on his continuing journey.  

 

John wants a measure of his dihydrotestosterone

John, diagnosed with a PSA of 32, and at diagnosis was fifty eight years old, recently joined the group. John, a follower of the ‘Snuffy’ Myers videos, is coming up to his ninth year of hormone treatment and his having trouble finding a doctor to give him a Dihydrotestosterone blood test. 

 

Dick’s rollercoaster ride

Dick at Buderim also very recently joined the group was diagnosed in 2009 with a Gleason 9. He had radiation therapy and brachytherapy in 2010 and has been on Zoladex since 2010. Dick has had a troublesome PSA and has recently had chemotherapy and is going to share his rollercoaster ride with us.

 

Frank’s disrupted travel plans

Frank and his partner didn’t get to see their daughter in Dubai this year. They are going to take their grandsons to Fiji in January. Frank will update us with his journeys and the reason for the change in travel plans.

 

Gordon’s travels

Gordon is also having to fit his international travel plans around his treatment. He fitted in a 3 week trip to Vietnam and Thailand and is now looking to visit New York. Gordon will tell of his treatment and how he fitted these things in.

 

Mal’s lymphoma story

Malcolm was diagnosed with lymphoma, after being quite ill, in May this year. The outcome of this setback may not be quite the story you expect.  

 

Other updates 

Any man who wishes to update us on his progress is welcome to contribute here.

 

Formal end 

The Chair will declare the formal part of the teleconference closed at his discretion, perhaps around 11am. The teleconference lines will be kept open until at least 11:30 for anyone who wishes to continue discussions, update his health, or just chat. 

 

Informal chat 

Any topic you like - topics we didn't reach, something discussed earlier you wish to comment on, an update on your health, how your new boat is going, moaning about the weather, anything that you wish to say. 

 

Future phone-in support group meetings 

Teleconference meetings are held on the fourth Friday (NOT always the last Friday) of each month (except January, which is one week late) and December (which is one week early). So February may have 2 teleconferences - the delayed January teleconference, and the normal fourth week. In 2013 this means teleconferences on both 1 February and 22 February.

 

Phone-in support group meeting dates 2013

1 February 2013 

22 February 2013

22 March 2013 (not last Friday in month)

26 April 2013

24 May 2013 (not last Friday in month)

28 June 2013

26 July 2013

23 August 2013 (not last Friday in month)

27 September 2013

25 October 2013

22 November 2013 (not last Friday in month)

20 December 2013 (not last Friday in month, not fourth Friday in month)

 

Changes or questions 

If you wish to update us about any changes in your health or treatment, or have a question you would like answered or discussed, or you would like to talk about joining a teleconference group, let us know. Then we can put it high on the agenda so it doesn't get lost - just reply to this email, or use Contact Jim on JimJimJimJim.com.

 

This message has been send to you because you are a member of an Advanced Prostate Cancer Support Group.

 

Visit JimJimJimJim.com and click on Contact Jim if this is a problem.