Blog Topic: Coping with cancer
Photo: Fred Binge and daughter Teena A cancer diagnosis and any mention of palliative care is troubling, but for Teena’s dad, Aboriginal community leader Frederick (Fred) Binge, extra hurdles that need not have been there, lay on his path. When Fred was told by a doctor in 2013 that his liver cancer was terminal, while […]
I was interested to read Dr Ranjana Srivastava’s article in The Guardian and the ASIC review into life insurance claims. The article is a heartfelt letter to a deceased man, whose mourning wife has struggled to successfully claim her husband’s life insurance after he died. This article really struck a chord with the team here […]
This week is National Carers Week. Kaye has been caring for her husband Wayne ever since he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three years ago. Cancer Council NSW’s telephone support group has been a great source of support for Kaye. To learn more about our services for carers, visit our support page caring for someone with […]
Brett was diagnosed with brain cancer in December 1988 – the same night as his year 10 graduation, at 15 years of age. 28 years later, he is thankful to call himself a survivor of the disease. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month – read Brett’s Story After receiving the shocking diagnosis, Brett endured five […]
Death can be a thorny topic to discuss, so, many people just don’t talk about it. But having the opportunity to say goodbye and spend time with family and friends when we know we are dying can impact lives immeasurably and offer some comfort and support at a time when all else may seem unbearable. […]
A cancer diagnosis inevitably comes with an avalanche of challenges – personal, medical, financial and more. But for some patients, the type of cancer they have adds an extra layer of difficulty, because it’s one that may difficult to discuss. Annie Miller, the practical support manager at Cancer Council NSW says there are a […]
Every week, I receive emails and phone calls from women who have recently been diagnosed with cancer. With one in eight Australian women being diagnosed with breast cancer and one in three women being diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life, it’s a disease that touches many of us. But instead of being […]
Muppets creator Jim Henson reportedly specified that nobody should wear black at his funeral and requested jazz tunes. Big Bird sang at his public memorial and mourners heard his advice, made well before his 1990 sudden death, to “watch out for each other…love and forgive everybody…”. Many of us don’t want such fanfare in […]
Just hours before my father died peacefully in a palliative care ward, surrounded by his family, he whispered that he “didn’t think it would be like this”. We hadn’t spoken about what his death might be like when we learned he had advanced cancer, but I still wonder whether the lead-up to his death matched […]
When Michael Mulchrone learned the lung cancer he thought long gone had migrated to his brain and doctors mentioned palliative care in 2015, he was fearful of the journey ahead. A year-and-a-half later, Mike says palliative care wasn’t a “death blow” after all but a life-enriching experience. “When I was first diagnosed, I was left […]