Westmead Hospital - The Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre

These packs are a treat for patients who may need a lift and will be given out by nursing staff to those who are in either financial difficulties or having a bad day and need a lift.

Staff at CPMCC Westmead have assembled these packs into a gift-bag (as pictured) in their own time for the benefit of their patients.,

There are two types,

An inpatient pack consisting of  Shampoo, Condition, Intensive hand/body cream and ip balm, and;

An outpatient pack consisting of soap, intensive handcream and lip balm.

The Dry July Foundation now in its 10th year has been helping to raise funds for people with cancer each year and the CPMCCC has been an active participant. Through this funding we have been able to purchase much needed equipment & resources for the centre to ease the burden on patients with cancer.

One of our recent purchases from these funds was a piece of equipment called a portable oxygen concentrator which assists patients with respiratory difficulties in the community. The first patient to benefit from this new piece of equipment is Derya who is a young Mum with 3 children. Derya was diagnosed with Myelodysplasia, a cancer in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature and become healthy blood cells. She underwent a transplant in 2014 and developed a condition called chronic graft versus host disease which has her affected her lungs resulting in chronic breathing difficulties. When asked how this oxygen concentrator has helped Derya said “It has helped a lot. It has meant that I can get out to see my kids soccer games. It has also made it easy to get to and from the hospital for the many specialist appointments I have to attend. It is easy to use, lightweight and portable which is important as well. I would never have been able to afford to purchase the concentrator for myself. I am so grateful to the hospital for providing this”

This year Tonya celebrates 30 years since she was first treated for breast cancer at Westmead in 1987. She was diagnosed with another breast cancer in 2014 and is still going strong.

She has been blown away by some of the things that have been purchased with Dry July funds and would have loved to have had those things when she was undergoing treatment. She was very impressed with the new treatment gowns for breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy and said that would have made such a big difference at the time she was having treatment and remembered how difficult it was with the old hospital gowns. When she had her chemotherapy she had a hard backed uncomfortable chair that she had to sit in for hours. She was in awe of the new comforts in the chemo suite again provided by Dry July funding. She will also be receiving a patient pamper pack when she comes to see her treating specialist A/Prof Verity Ahern, whom she says she owes her life and can’t say enough about the wonderful care and treatment received her at Westmead.

High Fashion at CPMCC - Very exciting times as we take delivery of the first lot of our new purpose-designed gowns for our breast cancer patients funded by 2016 Dry July fundraising efforts.

The project was conceived and driven by our wonderful radiation therapists who wanted to offer their patients a more suitable treatment garment which provided both modesty and dignity when undergoing treatment. The final gown design and fabric was a collaborative decision made with input from both patients and staff.

All these types of projects are above and beyond, but our staff know that it is these little things that can make such a HUGE difference to our patients. Congratulations to all involved and BIG THANK YOU to the wonderful Dry July organisation who make all our dreams come true!

Dry July funds from 2015 and 2016 will go towards stage 2 development of the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre Westmead website. In this stage of development the website will focus on providing content and links for patients which will better inform them about their cancers, what to expect with regards to physical and mental issues, support services available at Westmead, accommodation information, on-line patient consultation bookings etc.