Solaris Cancer Care

Barbara lives by the philosophy ‘you can do anything you put your mind to’ which is clearly portrayed through her positive, effervescent nature. She describes her cancer experience as more of a detour in the road rather than a journey, a deviation that started 18 months ago… 

Having worked in the allied health industry for several years, I instinctively knew something was not quite right. After several meetings and a constant feeling of exhaustion, the results of a blood test gave me the answers. 

Swiftly I was off to Albany Health Campus to be greeted by doctors, have biopsies ordered and treatment plans discussed. This is when it all became very real. 

After examining all options with the charming John Lindsay, we decided I would receive six rounds of chemotherapy. After completing two rounds and many a blood test, the treatment was intensified and another six more sessions of chemotherapy were required.   

This is where my trip with SolarisCare began. Whilst I was receiving chemotherapy, the SolarisCare team were always there. They provided me with massages, company and support. Without this amazing group of volunteers, my six-hour chemo sessions would have been unbearable.   

I finished chemo in October and I am now in maintenance until the end of May. Soon I will need to go back for more blood tests and maybe another bone marrow biopsy. In spite of my slight detour I am feeling so good I have gone back to work for a few hours a week.  

After my treatments had finished the amazing group of people at SolarisCare provided me with support I needed and established friendships that will last forever. It is due to this that I pledge myself to the great cause of Dry July.   

Safe trip, Barb xx 

Purchase of various items for SolarisCare Cancer Support Centres will offer patients a welcome distraction while they are undergoing treatment or during extended stays in hospital. Portable devices will provide patient enjoyment and entertainment through uploaded electronic books, movies, TV series, etc.

SolarisCare will purchase:

- iPads
- Kindles
- Head phones
- Movies/eBooks
- Puzzle and crossword books
- Jigsaw puzzles
- Magazine subscriptions 

Patients and families in the South West of WA utilise the SolarisCare South West centre in Bunbury as an area of respite where they can seek information, receive complementary therapies, be counselled or simply relax.

The SolarisCare Foundation plans on redeveloping and refreshing the centre and the surrounding gardens and grounds which are spread over 2000m2, utilising funds from Dry July and other supporters.

The project is creating additional multi-purpose areas to enhance the experience of patients and their carers and increase the capacity of the centre to deliver therapies and offer areas of quiet restfulness. The current reception area will be converted to house a dedicated library/resource area, along with several tub chairs and a coffee table to provide a pleasant and quiet reading nook. The coordinators office will be transformed into an additional therapy/counselling room. An outdoor reflection area will also be introduced.

SolarisCare Cancer Support Centres provide free supportive care services to all adult cancer patients and their primary carers. Dry July funds will be used at SolarisCare centres in Perth (Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital), Bunbury (South West) and Albany (Great Southern) towards a range of fantastic projects aimed at improving the cancer journey for patients from across Western Australia, including:

• Stylish and comfortable headwear for patients who may lose their hair during treatment, to assist with their self-esteem and ‘normalcy’
  
• Art therapy supplies to support and assist in symptom alleviation
  
• Blanket warmers
  
• Yoga equipment for SCGH
• Appointment service for remote GS patients
  
• Lip balm for pamper packs
  
• Christmas decorations
• Linen for new SW therapy rooms
• Improved main door access to SolarisCare SCGH
  

“I can thank my cancer for lots of things and contrary to mainstream belief, most of them are positive.”

Deb Walker, a former patient at SolarisCare’s Cancer Support Centre in Albany, has kindly stepped forward as an ambassador for Dry July. Here’s Deb’s story.

Christmas Eve 2013, I was diagnosed with stage 1: grade 3 breast cancer.  

I was now a member of the “C Team” and you wouldn’t have a clue what that means except losing your hair! Confusion reigned supreme.

I prepared to surround myself with professionals who would guide me through the cancer maze.

Frustrated and angry, I realised I had a voice and I can use it to nurture myself, so I asked questions and demanded that this busy Cancer Industry listened to me.

It was about this time on my journey I sought help for my mental, emotional and spiritual state of mind.  Something I find mainstream medicine knows nothing about, they have to remain analytical.

SolarisCare Great Southern at the Albany Campus was my haven, within the walls of traditional medicine I found I could make appointments for free massages, reflexology, reiki or just sit and have a chat and a cuppa. I regained some faith that modern medicine was accepting the importance of healing the whole body not just the affected site.

After six rounds of Chemo I travelled to Perth for six weeks of radiation treatment and had to re-start sourcing my support team however, I knew to go straight to the SolarisCare Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Again I had found the haven that is a privilege to those in “C Team”.

I sought free counselling, offered by SolarisCare, because I needed help relating to others after my life and changed so much.  After the “seriousness” of the last 8 months I needed to relearn and accept how this was going to affect my life from this point forward. Through SolarisCare I was able to empower myself.

I will forever be grateful to the SolarisCare Foundation for giving me these precious, priceless spaces and moments of healing.

This is why I did not hesitate to support Dry July because it raises funds to support for ALL cancer patients and their families.