Dear support group members,

So where were you all on Wednesday evening? (Last support group meeting 42 of us, this month 17!)
Either you have all made miraculous recoveries or you were too snug and cosy at home to venture out to deepest, darkest Chorleywood.

On the night, we had Gayan (Guy) Chetiyawardana from Hillingdon/Mt Vernon, a Urology Advanced Practitioner, who gave a brilliant talk on radiotherapy which was of particular interest to one of our new members who was about to start treatment. Alvan Pope, our consultant urologist, took over from Guy and, of course was, as Alvan is, one of the cornerstones of the support group. For the first two years, when we held the meetings at 34 Orchard Drive, he was the only professional we had to help and inspire us to get the support group to what it is today. On Wednesday, he was telling us about Donald Trump’s PSA reading, which was disclosed on US TV recently. He (Trump) has done what no other president has ever done (albeit inadvertently) and raised awareness of prostate cancer. Can you imagine the collective chorus of “What’s a PSA?” when his medical records were released to the media? A chorus we also hear on this side of the water, when trying to raise awareness.

Our next meeting is on December 7th. This is our annual Christmas get together, which we will try to make as light-hearted as possible, but not so light-hearted for the turkey, presently running around a field in Kent, which Phil Nisbett has earmarked for our raffle again this Christmas (let’s be clear – it’s the turkey that is being raffled, not the field). Another member, Martina, has, through her late-husband Dave’s involvement with the English National Opera in St Martin’s Lane, London, donated two tickets for a performance of the Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. These tickets are for a matinee in February and are valued at almost £200. The proceeds of the raffle will, we hope, go a long way to paying for the venue hire for the support group and related costs.

Finally, can I draw your attention to an upcoming event which Mick Flynn and his band are hosting and performing at in the Sandy Lodge Golf Club, Moor Park, in aid of Movember, the men’s cancer charity,

Mick is another tireless worker who, with his wife Donna and his band members, raise thousands of pounds for cancer charities – for all information and queries related to this event contact Sandy Lodge on 01923 825429 Ext. 1.

We hope to see you all on the 7th, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and ready to use the occasion to thank Alvan, Julian, Guy, Victoria and Rhys for their invaluable help in keeping us intact for the past year.

Kind Regards

Gabrielle

PS Our other cornerstone, Julian Shah, was otherwise in demand, weaving his particular magic elsewhere. We missed you, Julian and Victoria.