The Royal Melbourne Hospital

We are pleased to announce that with your help we raised an astounding $43,705 for the care of our cancer patients. We are extremely grateful for your fundraising efforts and dedication.

Your fundraising for Dry July has enabled The Royal Melbourne Hospital to purchase items for:

• Patient Library & Relaxation Lounge –Having a relaxed environment where patients can retreat to and relax can help improve mood and help build more positive experiences related to hospital admissions

• Vital Signs Monitors – Having new wall mounted obs machines would minimize the infection risk in our 4 bedroom trache rooms, less equipment around the patient and help decluttering the room which would improve overall patient care and safety

• Recliner Chairs –The new recliners provide pressure relief features for long term seating which are perfect for patients with diseases such as lung cancer

• Prostate Care Packs– Developing a Prostate Cancer Survivorship Toolkit for men undergoing surgery for prostate cancer will help them understand the short term or permanent side effects of prostate cancer surgery and accessing rehabilitation options are critical for recovery of physical and emotional health, relationships and social life

• Coffee Pod Machine & Supplies – this will be a luxury to offer patients during chemotherapy and blood transfusions etc. It also allows nurses more time to provide direct patient care

• A dip Sculpt Medical Centrifuge - A new centrifuge to use for fat grafting in our head and neck cancer patients will mean less need to reschedule appointments due to unavailability of a machine minimising impact to a patient’s life, and will assist patients to have a more body positive outlook

On behalf of all the patients and staff at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, and our amazing ambassador Natasha Prolisko, we would like to thank you for your support and contribution and for making a positive difference in the lives of people affected by cancer.

For Natasha, life was go, go, go. Prior to March 2022, she was busy running her own business and managing a family with 2 young children.

In March 2022, Natasha was about to launch her online homeware store but a day before she was diagnosed with leukaemia, her world stopped! Natasha wasn’t feeling well, she thought she may have been suffering from long COVID as she previously had a bout of tonsillitis and COVID.

Natasha was also convinced she might be run down. She went to her son’s ‘ tae kwon do’ class and whilst there she tried a couple of star jumps but her heart was racing, so she went to the doctor - she was convinced it could be long COVID given her recent experience.

The doctor did a blood test that morning and at 4pm that day, the doctor phoned Natasha and said, “The emergency department is waiting for you, you need to get there right away”.

Natasha burst into tears, the doctor said they were looking into blood related diseases, possibly leukaemia but you need to get yourself to the hospital. Natasha left for the hospital and she didn’t return home for 31 days.

Within an hour of arriving at the hospital, Natasha heard the three words nobody ever wants to hear “you have Leukaemia”. They had been studying her blood all afternoon and discovered she had Acute Myleoid Leukaemia – Natasha was shell shocked.

All Natasha could say to herself, “Well this is the place I need to be, but I just don’t want to be here, I want to be home with my kids”.

“The doctors were amazing, they really helped me understand my diagnosis and gave me so much help and advice and talked me through the process. Within one day I was offered clinical trials I could participate in” said Natasha.

Natasha is such a positive person, she actually prefers her appearance now with no hair compared to her blond long hair from before. Natasha’s life has slowed down and she has a new perspective on life – before her diagnosis she would be living life at 100mph, often working till 10-11pm at night. Life now is very different, Natasha values every day with her kids just doing the simple things like enjoying the sunshine and having picnics with the family in the garden.

After 31 days and going into remission, Natasha finally left hospital. “All I want to do is go home and sit with my kids, my partner Tom and my cat” she added.

When she was home, Natasha had to tell her children about cancer. This was really hard but the RMH had provided support in how to have these conversations. “It was heartbreaking because my youngest Tommy didn’t understand and he was very angry, but we managed to work it through together. They were so brave” said Natasha.

Natasha said “The RMH are like family” she spent 8 of her last 10 weeks in the hospital, she felt so relaxed and cared for. “The care and attention is amazing” Natasha added.

Having had this experience Natasha said “Take time in life to take a breath and be kind, don’t forget to appreciate the good things in life”.

Natasha added “This condition is horrible and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. If they can cure it, and find out why it happens then nobody has to go through this - that would be my dream”.

On being a Dry July Ambassador, Natasha added “I’m so happy to participate in Dry July - it’s part of the journey. No drinking is good for my health, so I’m looking forward to the challenge, involving my friends and raising lots of money for The Royal Melbourne Hospital through Dry July.”

Your incredible Dry July fundraising efforts have enabled The Royal Melbourne Hospital to purchase items for:

• Turnco Sence Power Recliners – this will enable head and neck patients to sit comfortably out of bed and encourage them to get moving;

• Axis Health Avalo Treatment Carts – purpose-built trolleys would mean we are more efficient at attending to our cancer patients pathology testing causing less anxiety to our patients and reducing waiting times;

• Head & Neck Post Op Nurture Packages – patients will be able to use products at home to alleviate the side effects of head & neck cancer such as dry mouth, scarring of the face and neck and aid healing of donor sites used for reconstructions;

• Building on Portable Studio & Therapeutic Songwriting program for cancer patients –equipment for music therapy will provide virtual guided relaxation sessions to keep cancer patients connected and relieve anxiety;

• Tilt in space breezy relax wheelchair – this allows patients who are severely deconditioned and weak to sit out of bed safely, when a standard high back chair or wheelchair would not be supportive enough. This facilitates increased alertness, increased activation of postural muscles and prevents respiratory complications;

• Sleeper Chairs – providing close family members / carers with quality sleeping condition which improves communication, interactions, mood and understanding. This will significantly impact patient well-being as well as improve the quality, experience and outcome of patient care;

• Enhanced recovery after surgery project – providing carbohydrate drinks which will optimize nutrition for head and neck patients by attenuating insulin resistance and minimize protein losses.

On behalf of all the patients and staff at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, and our amazing ambassadors Kelly O’Sullivan and Rory Sweet, we would like to thank you for your support and contribution to making a positive difference in the lives of people affected by cancer.

2020 will be a year Kelly O’Sullivan never forgets. COVID was running rampant all over the world, Melbourne was in lockdown and Kelly was diagnosed with head and neck cancer.

Kelly was no stranger to head and neck cancer as her step father battled with the disease, but it still came as a shock. Kelly was fit, active and very social with 2 grown up children and a 4 year old who kept her on her toes. Following a dental check, a lesion was found in her inner cheek lining. After having this closely monitored for around 3 years, an epic ulcer developed in her mouth and then her tongue. Kelly’s regular specialist appointment was cancelled because of COVID but when her pain became so bad, she was ordered to come into The Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Initially, Kelly thought it would just require scraping and she would be given some pain killers, but realised the worst when she was told she had Stage 4 cancer requiring a full jaw reconstruction. Kelly is bubbly, vivacious and a fighter. Her first reaction was “All right, its game on. Let’s go”. She was frightened but more determined to fight this than let it overcome her.

Kelly and her husband Rory worried about how to tell their son Winton. “Because it was through COVID, we had this extra thing of him watching or hearing news and COVID and this and the other, so when we had the chat about mom being sick, he said, "Oh, have you got COVID, Mum?" And I said, "No, I have cancer." He said, "Oh, phew." He was relieved. Cancer was the better option to COVID”.

Life became a whirlwind after that with never ending appointments, a 14 hour lifesaving surgery to rebuild her jaw and acquiring an infection just 7 days later. COVID meant that her family couldn’t visit so Kelly had to find other ways to communicate during her 20 day stay in hospital. “I couldn’t talk for 8 or 9 days after surgery which was especially heartbreaking for Winton. Instead, I made a series of videos that Rory played to Winton every morning and every night – he would play them over and over again. He also gave me his little Paw Patrol teddy to look after and that teddy became the star of the videos. I was secretly happy that we couldn’t see each other because of COVID - having to say goodbye every day would have been devastating. FaceTime was much easier, not chatting at all but watching the same programs together”.

Kelly credits her recovery to the fabulous nurses who became like a surrogate family to her, the amazing surgeons and more recently, the head and neck support group at the RMH who have become lifelong friends. She is also eternally grateful to the whole community of Gembrook and her family and friends who rallied around her and gave her an unbelievable amount of support.

Kelly’s message today is "Go to the dentist. If you've got dentures or teeth or whatever, go and get a mouth check. I had a client say to me, "Oh, I don't need to go to the dentist. I don't have any teeth." And I'm like, “You've got cheeks and you've got lining and that can grow things really quickly”

“Put yourself first so you can stay around for the rest of your family and friends, or whoever. Because it's unbelievable. One little thing, it just changes your life so much”.

“I owe my life to the amazing staff at RMH, going dry for July is the very least I can do in order to raise much needed funds and awareness for this terrible illness. While my fight is far from over, I am able to find the strength to continue each and every day surrounded by so much love and support”.

To support Kelly’s Dry July campaign or become a member of Kelly’s Cancer Warriors, please go to https://www.dryjuly.com/users/kelly-osullivan.

All funds raised support patient care at The Royal Melbourne Hospital.

We are so grateful to the Dry July Foundation for their support to help us create mini portable recording set ups, for us to expand on our therapeutic songwriting session with people living with cancer and their families- and literally help us ‘bring the studio session’ to them.

If there is one thing that 202O showed us it is that we all crave connection, and that music is such a strong vehicle for that connection. During our lockdowns we see the impact of how hard it is to be alone for everyone and this is magnified for all our patients. Often people living with cancer are isolated in their treatment without the pandemic, so add one in, and things are really, really, tough. Music therapy has been in high demand and we had to find ways to provide a safe and meaningful service through technology and our therapeutic songwriting shone through.

Therapeutic songwriting provides opportunity for self-expression and connection and, in many cases, gives patients the empowering chance to learn new skills.

Our award-winning therapeutic songwriting program was developed here at RMH and the addition of the portable music therapy studios means that patients can be involved in the creation of a polished version of their composition, replacing the lo-fi phone recordings of single performances. Being able to create backing tracks, layer instruments, edit and re-record sections of the song and capturing an overall superior audio recording results in a better sounding, ultimately resulting in a more pleasurable recording experience. The lo-fi phone recordings are now replaced with polished presentations of the compositions which patients can be truly proud of and that they can share with their loved ones.

It is very clear when we arrive on the ward that nursing and medical staff are happy to see the patients in their care having access to music therapy. The program is about the whole individual, about creative opportunities, about comfort, care, joy- its about connecting in music.

We work as a multidisciplinary team here at RMH Haematology Unit and Bone Marrow Transplant and having Dry July Foundation as a partner in helping us care for our patients truly increases our patients’ quality of life and that is a gift for us all.

Thank you Dry July Foundation!

Dr Emma O’Brien OAM, Head Clinician and Founder of Music Therapy

John Bedggood, Senior Clinician Music Therapy

A snap-shot reflection into a therapeutic songwriting in music therapy experience from Jack who was admitted to RMH for treatment for leukaemia: 

Jack had a young daughter and, while he was from a close family, restrictions meant that he was unable to have visitors during music of his admission for treatment.

Jack was usually an upbeat person, even with his diagnosis, but it soon became clear that the visitor restrictions were causing him some stress. Not only was Jack missing the face-to-face contact with his loved ones, but he was also feeling the pressure of wanting to protect his family from what he was going through.

He reflected that he was being a rock for everyone, including himself at times, which was a coping mechanism of sorts to a certain point. But the lighted hearted and upbeat persona Jack adopted during conversation with family and friends was often followed by a slump into despair when he was alone in his hospital room. Jack was still coming to terms with his diagnosis as much as his family was.

As soon as we introduced the idea of songwriting to Jack he was eager to engage. The song he composed was ultimately one of hope. He could see how he could connect with his loved ones in creating a song, and also have a safe space to express his feelings.

The key line in the song talks about how he is not done yet and that there is much more he wants to do with his family. In it he talked about looking to turn his experience of illness completely around. He described how he had always considered that he would be the one to look after one of his family members should they ever become ill, and how his plan had not considered that he would be the one to get sick.

Jack’s lyrics outline not only the coping mechanisms he uses but also talk about the days where he sees himself in the mirror and is forced to recognise how ill he is and the long road ahead.

In our discussions after writing the song Jack felt that the process had provided him with an outlet to express some of the feelings that he had found difficult to articulate.

It was also an opportunity to be honest about the way he was feeling, outlining the challenges he was regularly keeping from his family and friends in conversations for their protection. Jack felt that he would share the song with his loved ones when he was home with the new recording, which also sounded full of hope, and he was very proud of it.

Name changed to protect privacy