The Royal Melbourne Hospital

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

• Breezy Relax Wheelchair – this will enable lower level brain and spinal cord tumour patients to leave the ward with their families

• Ipads / Bluetooth speaker – to assist patients with primary brain tumours to stay connected to their family and friends via social media, email and video calls

• Wig Library – providing dignity for women undergoing chemotherapy with associated hair loss

• Breast reconstruction photo album – helping women requiting a mastectomy with decision making

• Head & Neck patient care room – providing a room where head & neck, gastro and hepatobiliary patients can tube feed in privacy

• Mobile studios – to deliver our therapeutic songwriting program safely in our specialized ‘Hepa filtrated’ rooms in our Haematology Ward, and also in the garden to meet the need of our cancer inpatients and families

• Clothing & Toiletries – providing dignity and lessen anxiety experienced by patients who have no access to changes of clothing or toiletries

• Furniture for family meeting room – to create a comfortable, safe environment whilst supporting patients and their families

• Forte Zephair Critical Care Pain & Pressure Mattresses - to provide comfort and pain management in terminal stages of life

The Royal Melbourne Hospital are so grateful for your support and contribution to making a positive difference in the lives of people affected by cancer. Dry Julyers, you should be so proud.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, this year is even more significant than ever for our cancer patients.

For RMH cancer patient, Steve Mahoney, life has changed dramatically after he received his diagnosis in July 2019. After discovering a mouth ulcer, he went straight to the doctor. Steve considers himself a fighter, so the word ‘cancer’ did not frighten him. While both Steve and his wife of 12 years, Robyn were prepared for the battle, they admitted they did not know anything about head and neck cancer, or what lay ahead as they drove to the RMH from the Mornington Peninsula for treatment. Steve soon had to give up working in the panel beating business in preparation for the many months of surgery and treatment.

Steve’s cancer resulted in many complications – infections, jaw dislocation, two tracheotomies, all within six months in and out of the hospital. One of the operations was longer than 12 hours. At one point, Steve had to prepare for the worst and organise his affairs. It was a stressful time, and he owes his strength to Robyn’s support. He told us that he would leave messages for Robyn on a whiteboard before going into each surgery telling her how he wouldn’t be able to get through these challenges without her.

When Steve heard about the Dry July campaign, he did not hesitate to sign up as an ambassador.

“The staff were amazing and kept me informed every step of the way, especially when I had my tracheotomies. Robyn was by my side every night at the hospital. When the COVID-19 visitor restrictions were introduced, she could only see me for an hour a day but the RMH staff continued to keep her in the loop. We felt so cared for, and the RMH became a ‘safe house’ for us.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic, this year is even more significant than ever for our cancer patients. Sign up to Dry July today to ensure The RMH continue to provide cancer patients with the highest level of comfort and wellbeing during this pandemic.

Read Steve’s full story here: www.dryjuly.com/2020/steves-story

Thanks to funds raised in Dry July 2019, The Royal Melbourne Hospital was able to develop a fresh look for their palliative unit by creating beautiful gardens for patients to enjoy.

The gardens have made a significant impact on patients during their stay at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, with staff receiving comments like, "It is lovely - it reminds me of my own garden." 

Another patient who was at the hospital for end of life care loved the garden and requested to have her bed angled towards the garden at all times so that it was her view throughout the day.

Thanks to the funds raised by the 2019 Dry July Foundation, this wonderful addition to the Palliative Care and Supportive Care Unit has most certainly added to the quality of life to the patients and their families!

We're pleased to announce that Royal Melbourne Hospital has received an additional grant from the Dry July Foundation October grant round. 

This grant will enable the funding of:

• The purchase of 3 treatment chairs

• The purchase of 2 mixed taps which enables nurses to make patient drinks in a safe environment without having to leave the clinical area and provide clean drinking water to patients who are required to take oral medications

Thanks to funds raised in 2019, the Dry July Foundation has been able to fund various projects at the Royal Melbourne Hospital to improve the comfort and wellbeing of people affected by cancer.

The projects funded include:

• Electronic Equipment Package - Purchase 3 x iPads and 5 cx Portable Combination Digital Radio/CD players

• Complimentary Hospital TV Rental - Ongoing rental of TV System in Palliative Care

• Platelet Incubator - Prevents wastage as once platelets dispensed from blood bank they cannot be returned

• General Equacel pressure relieving cushions

• Sara Steady Standing Hoist and iPad for speech pathology to assist ward based rehab, to speed recovery before rehab sessions

• BOSE Soundlink Bluetooth speaker to play music on the ward

• iPad for patient admission, to aid head and neck liaison nurse with visual resources

• iPad so that patients can email wound progress photos

• Purchase Post Op Care Packages for 100 head and neck cancer patients

• Palliative Care Garden - Faux turf and plants for external 'balcony' area outside palliative care windows