Westmead Hospital - The Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre

Thanks to funds raised by Dry July, The Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre Westmead have been able to purchase iPads for their radiation treatment rooms, to entertain and distract patients during treatment.

During radiation treatment, patients are alone in the room for treatment whilst therapists control treatment from outside. The iPads mean that patients can select their own music to help make the treatment space for comfortable, and is more calming than the quiet, clinical environment usually found in radiotherapy bunkers.

The music has helped patients reduce anxiety and take their mind off the daily treatment, making them more relaxed.

There has been great feedback from the iPads, and many requests for a large range of music genre choices.

One patient, Beverley, recently commented that she enjoyed listening to the 60s and 70s jukebox music during treatment; "It's a great distraction and takes my mind off the event of treatment. It makes me feel happy and reduces my stress levels".

As told to Laura Adamson - one of our radiation therapists.

To kick off Westmead Hospital’s Dry July campaign, the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre hosted a mocktail party featuring Western Sydney Wanderers stars.

Patients’ faces lit up as players Brendan Hamill and Vedran Janjetovic handed them mocktails, showing the football club’s support for the cancer centre’s Dry July campaign.

Dry July funds have been applied to provide information and support to patients and their carers at CPMCC at Westmead Hsopital.

These brochures have been well received and reinforce the support available to those affected by cancer.

CPMCC at Westmead Hospital has used Dry July funds to replace all of their chemotherapy chairs at the centre. The photographs show the enthusiastic and motivated staff modelling the chairs.

This has improved the environment as well as the comfort of attending patients. The centre features in the Dry July TV Commercial which commenced showing on 15th June 2017.

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.