People Living with Cancer » Support

PSA Meeting Cape Town.

Hilly — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:11:29 +0000

PROSTATE SUPPORT ACTION (PSA) GROUP Cell Phone Contact: 073 560 3067 Telephone: 021 786 16 71

Hello to all of you with an interest in our group.

Herewith a copy of the May notice which I hope will appear in your local “knock and drop” community newspapers. At time of writing I do not have our guest speaker’s topic. Also, I have missed getting this into today’s Peoples Post, so please spread the word if you can.

Quote

The Prostate cancer Support Action group (PSA group) will meet at 17:45 for 18:00 on Tuesday 15 May in the auditorium of MEDICLINIC Constantiaberg, Burnham Road, Plumstead. Dr Conray Moolman has kindly volunteered to be our guest speaker. Newly diagnosed patients and their partners or carers from all over the Cape Metro are welcome to attend, meet prostate cancer survivors, and share details of their experience. For more information call or SMS the group phone 073 560 3067.

Unquote

Please pass on the word that newly diagnosed patients (and patients at any stage) and their partners or carers from all over the Cape Metro arewelcome to attend, meet our prostate cancer survivors, and share details of their experiences.

Thanks to Alf Vismer for sharing his further experience and ideas on proton beam therapy, which remains an interesting topic to hear about.

Our June meeting will probably be an open discussion meeting, unless we can find a guest speaker. July and October are also open for speakers, so any ideas or volunteers will be welcome…… A possible topic that has surfaced recently is the idea of “Focal HIFU”, and also “Focal Brachytherapy”, which would require some rather advanced technology, one suspects. It also seems that the technology for cancer scans is much enhanced, and mght make an interesting talk by someone in that field.

In August, Dr Louis Kathan, who in April 2010 up-dated us on developments in external beam treatment of prostate cancer, will speak. Again, his topic will be finalised nearer the date.

We look forward to Dr Hans Rabe’s speaking to us on Tuesday 18 September on New Issues. We will start at our normal time with open discussion to give Dr Hans time to get to us through the heavy traffic, but should still finish not too long after 19h00.

Do let us know any ideas you may have on improving the group effectiveness. I have more copies of Terry Herbert’s 2010 version of his booklet “A Strange Place”. Terry has kindly given permission for us to reproduce his latest version as long as his copyright is clearly stated in case he develops it into a book. I also think we must only allow its use for distribution free to group members, as has always been the case.

VENUE: The Auditorium, Ground Floor, MEDICLINIC Constantiaberg,Burnham Road, Plumstead. TIME: 17h45 for 18h00

(Should finish by 19h00 approx)

Thanks to all at MEDICLINIC Constantiaberg for providing our venues, juice, tea/coffee and biscuits. Also, thanks to our speakers, for the time and effort they put in to keeping us up-to-date with progress in treatment of our problems.

Yours

Alan

021 786 16 71

PSA group cell 073 560 30 67

Finding Meaning in my Cancer Experience.

Hilly — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:50:22 +0000

Peter Fox facilitated a very moving and informative Support Group Meeting in Cape Town on Monday night, 7 May.

Here is Linda Greeff’s feedback -

Dear All,

Some Reflections of our Cancer Buddy group last night !!

I want to take the time to thank Peter Fox from St Luke’s Hospice Spiritual caring team and his team for the sharing and compassionate intervention last night in our PLWC support group. We were 12 members ( cancer survivors and caregivers ).

To me the most important factor was the sensitivity and empathy levels of this team and the respect with which Peter Fox and his team entered into the group …..what an experience .!!!

Our theme was creating meaning amidst the cancer experience and it was so special to hear the stories of other patients in this regard which Peter shared with us as a group .

The stories of Trish , Kit and others highlighted so many important ideas and opened us all up to spend more time pondering what this meaning making is for each of us as an individual.

Peter, please thank the patients that shared their stories with you to share with us.

I want to highlight a few themes that were opened up as a taster to all and to showcase the importance of such intervention.

Thoughts to ponder and left us all thinking :

The importance of silence and the value it has for healing
about living to leave a legacy and to be a model for children and others
the value of celebrations
paying back practices
the power of a deep spiritual connection to God and the strength that comes from this
The continuous stress on oneself to be perfect and the importance of just being a bit more gentle with oneself
Making time for healing and self care
The reprioritising of life that happens when diagnosed with cancer and not wanting to go back to the old self but also the struggle of staying in the new self mode with awareness
To keep remembering to appreciate the small things and not to get trapped in the rat race again !!
The fact that material things become less important and relationships become the core of what we need
Learning to live the good and the not so good days equally
The down days make it hard to commit to healthy option but the consistent drive to do the best you can is hard at times !!
The importance of sharing stories was highlighted again and the level of awareness that comes when we open our hearts to these stories

Thank you to all for making this possible and it is a joy to know we have such special people in our community that care and reach out to people in need.

I honour you all and am grateful for your sharing !!

Warm Buddy hugs

Linda

Moving forward – Fertility.

Hilly — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:24:12 +0000

Cancer and its treatment may affect a person’s ability to conceive a child in the future. In these two “Moving Forward” videos from American Society of Clinical Oncology and the LIVESTRONG, get perspectives on fertility and cancer from oncology experts and young adult survivors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CB9WoXbXtr0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_uwfwIRMUA&feature=player_embedded#t=0s

Cancer and cancer treatments can cause infertility in young adults. LIVESTRONG offers resources for people facing treatment in their childbearing years. These resources include:

Fertility Preservation Information
Assistance Understanding risks and options related to cancer treatment and fertility
Accessing discounted rates for fertility preservation through the Sharing Hope Program
Finding local fertility related resources

Have questions about fertility and cancer? Call LIVESTRONG at 1-855-220-7777 or go online to request assistance.

Above are two great videos produced by LIVESTRONG and ASCO about cancer and fertility. One is from the perspective of a cancer survivor and the other is from a healthcare professional.

Cancer Awareness Talk held at Kagiso

Hilly — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 11:44:01 +0000

A Cancer Awareness Talk was held on 27 March at Odirile Maponya Clinic by Raynolda Makhutle.

This is Raynolda’s report -

The talk went very well – there were 90+ people and I was given time from 8H45-10H00 and that gave me enough time to open for questions. I even managed to have a 1 on 1 session. I will be doing another talk this Thursday at the same clinic.

My topic today was” Early detection saves lives” and ” The importance of a support group”. I spoke more about shy cancers according to the pamphlets.

I had a chat after the talk with Sister Jose Monamodi (Sister in charge) who is also a cervical cancer survivor who assured me that we can start a support group.

Her contact number is: 082 5881182 and the name of the clinic is Odirile Maponya-Kid Maponya is one of the schools I went to do trauma counselling.

We both agreed that there is a great need for one. She said 2 weeks ago people came to her about a gentleman who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer; and some ladies with female cancers were asking her there was a support group around and she said there was none.

We agreed about starting a support group in April and she going to have a meeting and come back to me with the date.

They showed me the place which we will be using and I will request Peter and team to be present.

I will be using more pamphlets/flyers and will be needing more if possible.

Tomorrow I will be joining the Chris Hani buddies as they requested that I should join them.

Cancer Practices that must stop!

Hilly — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:53:34 +0000

Five Cancer Practices That Must Stop!

Zosia Chustecka

April 5, 2012 — Five common cancer procedures and tests have been identified that are not supported by evidence and should no longer be used, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Oncologists should stop the unnecessary use of chemotherapy in patients with advanced cancers who are unlikely to benefit, and should limit their use of colony-stimulating factor (CSF) drugs in patients undergoing chemotherapy.

They should also curb their use of advanced costly imaging technologies for staging of early breast and prostate cancers, and for detecting breast cancer recurrences.

These recommendations, compiled after an extensive review of the literature and with input from more than 200 ASCO members, were published online April 3 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The move is part of the Choose Wisely campaign, organized by the American Board of Internal Medicine, in which many different medical specialties identified tests and procedures that could be skipped. In total, 45 procedures and tests were deemed unsupportable by evidence.

This campaign started when Howard Brody, MD, PhD, professor of family medicine at the University of Texas in Galveston, challenged each medical specialty to take a critical look at its field and identify 5 practices that are commonly performed despite a lack of evidence (N Engl J Med. 2010;362:283-285).

“At ASCO, we took that challenge to heart,” lead author Lowell Schnipper, MD, from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, and chair of the ASCO Cost of Care Task Force, said in a statement

“By tackling the overuse of treatments and tests for some of the most common cancers, we hope to achieve substantial improvements in the quality of cancer care in the United States,” he added.

Avoiding treatments that have little or no benefit means that “we also do our part to address the unsustainable cost increases that threaten our nation’s healthcare,” said Michael Link, MD, president of ASCO.

Stop Chemotherapy

Perhaps the most controversial of the new proposals is the recommendation to stop using or to withhold chemotherapy in patients with advanced solid tumors who are unlikely to benefit, and to focus instead on symptom relief and palliative care.

This whole area has stirred fierce debate in recent years, and attempts in the United States to introduce legislation for end-of-life discussions were stalled after accusations that this was a form of “soft euthanasia” and that these were “death panels” to persuade people not to use medical resources.

In their paper, Dr. Schnipper and colleagues emphasize that stopping chemotherapy is recommended only for a specific subgroup of patients with advanced solid tumors — those with low performance states (3 or 4) who are not eligible for a clinical trial, and in whom there was no benefit from previous evidence-based interventions and no strong evidence supporting the clinical value of further anticancer treatment.

“If a patient’s cancer has grown during 3 different regimens, the likelihood of treatment success is so poor and toxicity so high that further anticancer treatment is not recommended,” the authors write.

They cite results from the largest series of patients with nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, which showed that only 2% had a documented response to third-line chemotherapy, and 0% had a response to fourth-line chemotherapy (Lung Cancer. 2003;39:55-61).

However, despite the evidence for lack of effect, administering nth-line chemotherapy is common, the authors note. They cite several studies showing that many NSCLC patients receive 4 lines of chemotherapy, and that many patients with solid tumors are still being given chemotherapy within days of death. “This practice is not being driven by profit, but by a desire to help patients,” the authors note, and “by the inability of patients, families, and their oncologists to make end-of-life transitions.”

Oncologists admit that they find this difficult, as previously reported by Medscape Medical News. Stopping chemotherapy can feel like failure and “giving up,” and sometimes patients or their relatives can demand more — in one instance, because the “chemotherapy cheers her up.”

“Stopping anticancer treatment should always be accompanied by appropriate palliative and supportive care and referral to a hospice,” the authors state.

“Best practice would be continuation of palliative care started concurrently at the time of diagnosis for ‘any patient with metastatic cancer and/or high symptom burden,” they add. This reiterates the recent provisional clinical opinion issued by ASCO.

Limit Use of G-CSF Products

Another recommendation related to chemotherapy is to cut down on the use of granulocyte CSF (G-CSF) products for the primary prevention of the chemo-induced adverse effect of febrile neutropenia.

Two G-CSFs are available in the United States: filgrastim (Neupogen) and sargramostim (Leukine).

ASCO guidelines state that G-CSFs are recommended in patients who have “a high risk” (more than 20%) of developing febrile neutropenia as a complication of chemotherapy.

In practice, however, there is a “clear overuse of these agents.” Use is inconsistent; the products are used both appropriately and inappropriately, the authors write. They note that these products are “costly” and should be used only in patients who are at high risk of developing febrile neutropenia, as specified in the guidelines.

Stay Away From High-Tech Imaging

The remainder of the new recommendations steer oncologists away from using advanced imaging technology in specific groups of cancer patients.

One instance is patients with early-stage prostate cancer and early-stage breast cancer, who have a low risk for metastasis. In these cases, advanced imaging technologies, such as positron emission technology (PET), computed tomography (CT), and radionuclide bones scans, should not be used to determine whether the cancer has spread, the authors note.

“These tests are often used in staging evaluation of low-risk cancers, despite a lack of evidence suggesting that they detect metastatic disease or survival,” the authors state. “Unnecessary imaging can lead to harm through unnecessary invasive procedures, overtreatment, and misdiagnosis.”

In addition to the potential harm from unnecessary exposure to ionizing radiation, as well as anxiety, there is also a huge monetary cost from such scans, the authors note.

The list price of a fluorodeoxyglucose PET with concurrent CT scan is around $2500 to $5000, depending on the scan and location. In many instances, patients are directly responsible for a portion of these costs.

The other instance where advanced imaging is discouraged is in patients who have been treated for breast cancer with curative intent who are now asymptomatic.

“The majority of patients with breast cancer diagnosed today present with early-stage, node-negative disease that is found on screening mammography,” the authors write.

“As a result of earlier diagnosis and the efficacy of adjuvant therapies…most of these women have a normal life expectancy and a low risk of recurrence.”

Several studies have now shown that in such patients, there is no benefit from routine imaging with PET, CT, or radionuclide bone scans, or from serial measurement of serum tumor markers, including CEA, CA 15-3, and CA 27-29, the authors state.

In addition to no benefit, there might be harm from false-positive results, leading to unnecessary invasive procedures, overtreatment, and misdiagnosis, they add.

Instead, such patients should be followed with mammography, with careful attention paid to patient history and physical examination, they suggest. Breast magnetic resonance imaging is not recommended for routine surveillance, because it has a high-false positive rate.

Lower Cost to Patients and Society

Reconsidering the use of these top 5 cancer treatments, tests, and procedures is likely to improve the value of cancer care, the authors note. This means achieving the desired clinical outcome at the lowest cost to the patient and society.

At the same time, each patient with a life-threatening disease is a challenge. In each case, the oncologist must take the unique features of each individual into consideration when making decisions on the management of their cancer, they add.

Dr. Schnipper reports serving as a consultant for ITA partners. Several of his coauthors report consultancy agreements with a number of pharmaceutical companies. Coauthor Douglas Blayney, MD, from Stanford Cancer Center in California, reports owning stock in Abbott, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Express Scripts, Johnson & Johns, and United Healthcare.

J Clin Oncol. Published online April 3, 2012.

Journalist

Zosia Chustecka

Zosia Chustecka is the News Editor for Medscape Oncology. A pharmacology graduate based in London, UK, she has edited and written extensively for publications aimed at clinician audiences. Winner of a 2011 Award for Excellence in Urology Health Reporting for an article on prostate cancer, her work also has been recognized by the British Medical Journalists Association, and recently she was awarded a Harvard University Fellowship on Cancer Genetics (May 2011) as well as a US National Press Foundation Cancer Issues Fellowship (October 2010). She can be reached at zchustecka@medscape.net.

Disclosure: Zosia Chustecka has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Medical Aid Pitfalls.

Hilly — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 11:39:57 +0000

Gap-cover health insurance under scrutiny.

THE government is tightening the noose on companies selling “gap-cover” health insurance, hoping it can stabilise the medical schemes market and ensure better consumer protection by scrapping all but a few tightly defined products. Last Friday the Treasury published draft regulations to both the Long-term and Short-term Insurance Acts, which aim to draw a clear distinction between medical schemes and health insurance policies. The draft regulations propose scrapping most gap-cover products, but will allow health insurance for loss of income, travel, emergency travel, HIV/AIDS and frail care. The proposals, which are open for public comment until April 23, are the government’s response to a court case on the legality of gap-cover products which the Council for Medical Schemes lost on appeal in 2008. The council took Alexander Forbes’s short-term insurance subsidiary, Guardrisk, to court, arguing that its gap-cover products were illegal because they were doing the business of a medical scheme but were not registered to do this. The council was denied permission to take the matter to the Constitutional Court, and so turned to the government to amend legislation to deal with the threat it sees in gap-cover products. For several years now, growing numbers of employers and consumers have been buying top-up health insurance to deal with the payment gaps facing medical scheme members. Medical schemes typically set a ceiling on how much they will pay for healthcare providers’ fees, and leave their members to pay the difference if a doctor or dentist charges more. Many medical scheme members face co-payments if they want to use medicines or doctors not on their scheme’s approved lists. They often have to pay a lump sum contribution for medical devices or for certain procedures. Into this breach stepped companies selling health insurance products aimed at two categories of consumers: those who already belong to medical schemes and need extra cover, and those who cannot afford even the most basic medical scheme package but want some protection should they face illness or injury. Whether these gap-cover products are a good or bad thing is open to debate. The Council for Medical Schemes believes gap-cover products destabilise the industry because they encourage younger and healthier people to “buy down” and join less comprehensive medical scheme packages, which they then complement with a health insurance “top-up”. The other problem with health insurance products, it says, is that they are not subject to the close scrutiny faced by medical schemes, which have to comply with the Medical Schemes Act. This leaves consumers in a weak position if they buy health insurance products that turn out not to give them the cover they expect. Wits health economist Prof Alex van den Heever agrees with concern about the lack of protection for consumers, saying the rights of medical scheme members are spelt out in the Medical Schemes Act. Unlike medical schemes, which must charge members the same rate regardless of health or age, health insurance products can “risk rate” and charge more as people grow older. Companies selling insurance products are also under no obligation to take on an individual, whereas medical schemes by law may not exclude anyone. Prof van den Heever says the regulations do not go far enough and should give the Council for Medical Schemes final say over which products are harmful, rather than the registrar of the Financial Services Board.

Jonathan Broomberg, the CEO of SA’s biggest medical scheme administrator, Discovery Health, says the main impact of gap-cover products is to encourage members and employers to buy down to cheaper options that provide less cover than they actually need. He says schemes are being undermined in their ability to provide lifetime cover, which is based on those who are healthy subsidising those who are ill over time. Many smaller schemes, and those with relatively poor risk profiles, are already experiencing these negative impacts, he says. Broomberg says gap-cover products offer poor value for money, as many policyholders fail to claim, adding that typical payout ratios of health insurance products are in the range of 30 percent-50 percent, whereas medical scheme payout ratios for hospitalisation or cancer are typically above 98 percent. He says the low payout ratios of health insurance products make them artificially cheap at present. However, they will become more expensive over time, as policyholders claim more and as they age and experience health events. However, the Board of Healthcare Funders, argues that consumers need the protection offered by gap-cover products. Spokeswoman Heidi Kruger says that without set tariffs for doctors, consumers would be disadvantaged if we were to lose gap-cover products completely. Mike Settas, MD of gap-cover seller Xelus, says the government’s proposals fail to distinguish between products that complement medical schemes and those that compete directly with them.

Tamar Kahn: Business Day, 8 March 2012

Comment from PLWC : Patients must make sure what their medical aid covers and advocate for their rights! Remember – Cancer is a part of PMB (Prescribed medical benefits)!

Ride for Skin Cancer! Update and Pic’s.

Hilly — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:24:21 +0000

Cancer Buddies – Ride 4 Skin Cancer (CBR4SC-012)

Cape Argus Pick ‘n’ Pay Cycle Tour 2012

Hi Everyone

What a day! We couldn’t have asked for a less windy ride! The heat on the other hand…! ! Enough about the weather – a HUGE thank you to everyone for their incredible support; whether it was on the bike, the side of the road, cocktail party or by donating on www.plwc.org.za. It is all sooo appreciated!

The Ride 4 Skin Cancer Awareness started out 5 years ago to create awareness of Skin cancer and to give something back to those suffering from Cancer of any kind.

Once again we joined up with Cancer Buddies to bring friends, associates and strangers together to raise awareness and much appreciated funds for our chosen cause.

60 Riders started in our charity bond this year and another 10 rode in the shirts (we even saw a few of last year’s shirts floating around!).

Our very eager followers wore their supporters T-shirts and there was much admiration of our kit!

The final figures are being tallied up and more donations are still coming in to www.plwc.org.za so we have not got a final number yet but by all accounts we have had a great year of fundraising for the R4SC – Thank you to all the wonderfully generous supporters of our cause (big and small!)

There were sore bodies, smiles, punctures, laughs and long hills!!

Some of our riders on the road…

At the end!

See you next year!!

BIG FIGHT – Boxing for Charity

Hilly — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:46:18 +0000

Update : Visit http://www.facebook.com/bigfightcapetown for the latest news about The BIG FIGHT.

BIG FIGHT CAPE TOWN
5th April 2012, Trinity Nightclub, Cape Town

Some of Cape Town’s best amateur boxers are stepping into the ring with a new purpose – they’re fighting for charity in East City Boxing’s fundraising tournament on 5th April. The event will include live entertainment, good DJs at a great venue hosting up to one thousand people.

All the competitors have a chosen charity to fight for. Spectators at Big Fight Cape Town will learn more about the work of the charities on the night, and if they choose to place a bet on a match, the proceeds will go to winner’s charity. The fighters will be training and fighting their hearts out in the spirit of competition and also for a very worthy cause. This is the first in what it is hoped will be an annual event in the City.

The charities are all local Cape Town initiatives with many from the City Bowl itself. They include:

- Straatwerk
- Uturn
- Scalabrini
- Mylife (for street children)
- The Haven group
- The Homestead Boys
- Ons Plek Girls
- African Brothers
- Abundant Life
- Childhood Cancer Foundation SA (CHOC)/Imerman Angels
- The Ark
- The Carpenter Shop
- People living with Cancer

Patrick’s Big Fight Cape Town

Patrick Young will be competing in Big Fight Cape Town. A cancer survivor of bone cancer in his jaw, Patrick only began training with East City Boxing six months ago and this will be his first competitive fight. He is fighting to raise awareness of the international one-to-one cancer support charity, Imerman Angels and to raise funds for the Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa to benefit their residential centre in Cape Town.

Cancer machines still down!!!

Hilly — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:08:04 +0000

JOBURG HOSPITAL RADIATION MACHINE DOWN AS PAYMENT WOES CONTINUE.

12 March 2012

Cancer patients were turned away today at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital as a radiation machine had not been repaired due to a non-payment dispute with Siemens.

I was contacted this morning by the anxious brother of Mr Anthony Ramothale, a 49 year old patient with colon cancer, who was told that the machine broke down last Friday and should have been repaired this weekend but this did not happen because the service provider had not been paid.

I visited the Oncology Department and found that this is one of eight radiation machines that treat about 300 patients daily.

The breakdown of this machine means that more than 30 patients could not be treated today.

Part of the problem is that there is an intermediary company called Phambili that complicates payment with Siemens.

I agree with National Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi that this type of middle man as a problem as it unnecessarily pushes up costs.

Payment disputes in Gauteng must end so that patients do not continue to be victims.

Statement by Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Health Spokesman

Tel: 082 333 4222

Note: Khesa, Anthony’s brother, can be contacted at 083 540 8374

This is how the news hit the streets -

CANCER PATIENTS AT RISK AS RADIATION MACHINES FAIL

Cancer patients at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria are being denied life-saving treatment today because all four radiation machines have failed.

This is because Siemens has refused to service and repair these machines since November last year as the Gauteng Health Department owes them about R120 million.

The machines are used to shrink dangerous cancer tumours.

Seventy cancer patients are affected today, and there is a backlog of 120 patients needing treatment as no new appointments have been done for the past two weeks.

This is absolutely shocking. What do you tell a patient whose life is in danger because machines don’t work?

The department claims that progress is being made in paying suppliers, but here is a non-payment case that is endangering many lives.

Urgent intervention is needed to repair these radiation machines.

Statement by Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Health Spokesman

Tel: 082 333 4222

PLWC comment on this situation -

· PLWC are gravely concerned about the fact that cancer patients are being denied access to urgently needed radiation treatment that could impact their recovery and long term prognosis

· This is indicative of the bad state of affairs in our Health System in South Africa

· A government that cannot keep their commitments and cannot manage their finances needs to take responsibility and explain to their constituents why this is happening and what is going to be done .

o They need to answer to the reasons for this situation and there should be serious consequences for the persons and departments responsible for this situation .

o Furthermore civil society should face up to the fact that we need to insist and demand change in this sector of care as the whole population is impacted by this when worldwide statistics show that 1 in 3 people get cancer.

o IN SA more that 42 million people are dependent on the government sector for medical services and only 8 milion on private sector care ; services levels and governance has to change

· More concerning is the fact that this is happening again and again without anybody speaking up as the majority of cancer patients in South Africa have no Voice and need to be educated about the importance of advocacy and their rights as patients depending on medical services for life giving treatment of cancer

· Patients and family members who have been touched by these problems must please contact People Living With Cancer so we can assist and support them and also start telling the real stories that hidden behind the impact of this situation www.plwc.org.za or phone 076 775 6099

Argus Cycle Tour – Photo’s

Hilly — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:36:38 +0000

: At the Start!