Please remember that our Support Group February meeting date is changed to this Thursday, February 8th @ 7:00 p.m. instead of our usual second Tuesday (February 13). This change, for this meeting only, is due to a conflicting Hospice commitment on February 13th.  Please mark your calendars accordingly.

As with normal meetings, this will be a Hybrid-ZOOM meeting; please join us in person at the Hospice (Empress St.) or remotely at the following ZOOM Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6953623178

For those attending in person, please bring pot-luck desserts if possible.

The presenter for this meeting will be Sonia McMahon-Comartin from the local chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).  Sonia has worked in mental health and wellness roles within the public sector for over 20 years, assisting a multitude of people of all ages.  She obtained her Psychology Degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, specialized grief and loss certification from the University of Western Ontario, and Professional Life Coaching Accreditation from the Coaches Training Institute. Sonia is the Bereavement Educator for the Canadian Mental Health Association, Windsor-Essex County Branch, offering various bereavement seminars and webinars, as well as coordinating and facilitating a number of loss-specific grief support groups.

Topics will include CMHA, its services, and other mental health services that might be available to prostate cancer survivors and their loved ones. Nancy Hannon (WRH Social Worker) previously briefed our group last year on mental health services that the Windsor Cancer Centre provides; her presentation was excellent, relevant, and very well received.  We look forward to Sonia’s presentation to see what other mental health services are available.

Upcoming Events:

Play for a Cure on Friday 17 April from 0800 to 1600 requiring 8 to 10 volunteers

WRH Foundation Golf Tournament Wednesday May 22, 2024 at Essex Golf & Country Club).  Funds from this year’s tournament will support the Dr. Richard Boyd Men’s Health Program, specifically with funding being directed to assist with the purchase of a new DaVinci Robot for Windsor Regional Hospital.  This event requires up to 12 volunteers for “Hole-in-One” and “Beat the Pro” contests.  These entail 3 hour shifts with the 1 shift enjoying a brunch and the second shift a cocktail  reception.

Garry

Support Hub 2023 Summary Report from PCFC:

For those of you who have not yet received the Support Hub 2023 Summary Report, you may access it at this link.

The Summary Report includes a summary overview at the beginning, a detailed report from each breakout room and panel, and attendance data. (Note that you may jump to a section of interest by clicking on that section in the table of contents on the 1^st page)

Please feel free to reach out with any questions, concerns, or feedback.

Thank you, as always, for your participation and support,

Richelle Green, Support Services Manager

Direct  |  richelle@prostatecanada.ca  |  604.834.7757

#4-17918 55th Avenue, Surrey, BC  V3S 6C8 Canada

General Inquiries  |  1.877.840.9173  |  prostatecanada.ca

Hello All

Upcoming Hybrid-Zoom meeting Tuesday 14 November 2023

At our October Meeting, Dr. Ronald Sorensen’s presentation on genetics and prostate cancer was excellent and well received.
Our special thank-you to Dr. Sorensen, one of our local respected Urologists who was instrumental in establishing our Support Group years ago and continues to be very supportive.  At our November Meeting – Dr. Sorensen will be presenting again; the topic to be confirmed.

We would hope you can join us in person on Tuesday, November 14th @ 7:00 p.m. at Hospice, 6038 Empress St., Windsor, ON. If you’re unable to attend, then please join us on Zoom at this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6953623178

Upcoming Meetings

Tuesday 5 December Christmas Season Social – Rather than the regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday 12 December, we will have our Christmas Season get together at Legion 594 (Howard) on Tuesday 5 December, which is coincident with that Legion’s bi-weekly Spaghetti Dinner. This has proven to be very successful the past few years. As with previous years, please bring potluck desserts.
Winter 2024 Meetings – The following summarizes some of the presentation ideas for the winter 2024 meetings:
CMHA – Sonia McMahon-Comartin has agreed to give a presentation in the Winter of 2024, currently penciled in for the Tuesday 13 February meeting. Sonia is the Mental Health Educator for the Windsor Chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA);
WRH Foundation – Ashley Weeres, who is the Manager of Philanthropy for the WRH Foundation agreed to give a presentation during one of our winter sessions;
National Group – Garry plans to share a briefing regarding the National Group that focuses on providing feedback on the many services that Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada (PCFC) offers; and
Medical Professionals – We will continue to engage Dr. Sorensen and other medical professionals for upcoming winter program presentations. The following previously indicated interest:
Dr. Jonathan Peng – WRH Radiation Oncologist, and
Dr. Tom Deklaj, Urologist

OUTREACH
The following summarizes some of the outreach activities that your Steering Committee has been and will be engaged in:

Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) Foundation – On Tuesday 24 October Garry met with Ashley Weeres who is the Manager of Philanthropy for the WRH Foundation. Ashley detailed an upcoming fundraising campaign to acquire a second DaVinci Machine. She requested a volunteer from our group who has undergone the DaVinci procedure to share their story as part of this campaign. If you are interested in participating, please let us know.

Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada (PCFC) – On Saturday 28 October, the National group (PCFC) held a conference for all support group leaders across the country. Garry chaired a break-out session as part of this conference to provide feedback on the many services that PCFC provides. This was a well attended and successful conference.

Windsor Spitfires – We manned our Awareness Booth at the Spitfires Game on Saturday 28 October where we were able to distribute close to a hundred “Get Checked” flyers.
WE SPARK HEALTH Institute – Garry and Jim were invited by Dr. Lisa Porter (University of Windsor) to attend the WE-SPARK Health Research Conference at Caesars Windsor on Saturday 4 November. This conference profiled many research topics, many of which had direct application to prostate cancer; it also gave us an opportunity to network with the medical research community.
Communication/Brochures to Local Urologists – We continue to try and deliver posters, brochures, and other awareness documents to local urologists. The next time you have an appointment with your Urologist, please ask if they are interested in a poster and brochures in their waiting rooms.
UNIFOR – Garry continues to engage Dave Cassidy (UNIFOR) to discuss strategies for approaching local companies to brief. Garry will be briefing UNIFOR Local 200 and Local 1973 on Thursday 9 November.
City of Windsor – As a follow-on to the “Light up in Blue” campaign, the City of Windsor requested that we give a presentation which may happen in spring 2024.
Organizations to Approach – We are keenly interested in approaching companies (e.g. Stellantis, Ford, etc.) and other organizations to provide community awareness briefings. If you have any ideas, please let us know.

Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation Grow-On Campaign

Garry, Jim F., and Murray attended the Grow-On campaign kick-off on Thursday 26 October. Grow On Windsor is a local fundraising campaign created by the Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation in 2015. The campaign takes place every November in support of cancer awareness, research and treatment for men living in our region. To date, Grow On Windsor has raised more than $1 million and, most importantly, every dollar raised in this region stays local. We have been proud supporters of Grow On Windsor since its inception. We hope you’ll support our team this month.

You can join our fundraising team, or make your donation, through the following link:

https://www.canadahelps.org/s/6jPGpK

Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada

News from PCFC can be found at this link:

Your October 2023 Prostate Cancer Support Monthly Debrief

Prostate Cancer Support Windsor/Essex Baseball Caps and Shirts

Shirts and Baseball Caps, with our embroidered logo, are available for sale. Special thanks to Dr. Sorensen who has managed to sell over 100 of our baseball caps.  In addition to our Awareness Activities at events, selling our baseball caps is proving to be a great way to “advertise” our existence.  We would welcome any ideas on opportunities to sell our baseball caps.

Garry

Garry W. Loeper, CD, MScEng, PCIP, PMP, PEng

Hello All

Upcoming Hybrid-Zoom meeting Tuesday 10 October 2023

Dr. Ronald Sorensen will be briefing our group; he is one of our local respected Urologists who was instrumental in establishing our Support Group.  He plans to talk about genetics as a risk factor for Prostate Cancer.  This should prove to be an interesting presentation by an enthusiastic medical professional who is passionate about the success of our group.

We would hope you can join us in person on Tuesday, October 10th @ 7:00 p.m. at Hospice, 6038 Empress St., Windsor, ON. If you’re unable to attend, then please join us on Zoom at this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6953623178

The Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program (PC-PEP)

During our previous meeting on Tuesday 12 September, we were fortunate to have a special presentation on the “Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program”.  PC-PEP is a free comprehensive daily home-based 6-month Patient Empowerment Program offered by Dr. Rob Rutledge, MD, Radiation Oncologist and Dr. Gabriela Ilie, PhD, a Psychology Professor and Scientist at Dalhousie University. If you missed the presentation, you can access the recorded version at this YouTube link:

PC PEP What you need to know and do after a Prostate Cancer Diagnosis – YouTube

We encourage our members to learn more about PC-PEP at this link:

pcpep.org – Patient Education and Empowerment Programs for Prostate Cancer Patients

Outreach Events

On Friday 29 September, we manned an awareness booth at the VistaPrint Health and Wellness Fair; this was well received and we were able to get our message, out to over 200 folks, of the benefits of early detection.  We look forward to other opportunities this fall such as:

·       Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation Grow-On Campaign; and

·       Windsor Spitfire Hockey Game

If you are interested in volunteering for any of these, please let us know.  If you are aware of other community awareness opportunities, please also let us know.

Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation Grow-On Campaign

Grow On Windsor is a local fundraising campaign created by the Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation in 2015. The campaign takes place every November in support of cancer awareness, research and treatment for men living in our region. To date, Grow On Windsor has raised more than $1 million and, most importantly, every dollar raised in this region stays local. We have been proud supporters of Grow On Windsor since its inception. We hope you’ll join our team this coming November.

Team Up For Grow On Windsor – YouTube

City of Windsor “Light up in Blue” – 8 to 15 September 2023

As part of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Prostate Cancer Support Canada had over 130 landmarks across Canada lighting up in blue to bring awareness to the number 1 cancer in men.  Our thanks to The City of Windsor, who also participated in this event at our request.

Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada

Prostate Cancer Support Canada and the BC group amalgamated to continue as “Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada.”  There is a national conference, “Support Hub 2023” scheduled for Support Group leaders on Saturday afternoon, 28 October 2023.  Members are also welcome to join in. Garry will be chairing a break-out session during this conference.  We are looking for a volunteer to help Garry by taking notes to help document a record of discussion.  If you are able to volunteer for a few hours during this Zoom meeting, please let us know.

Other news from PCFC can be found at this link:

Your September 2023 Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Debrief

Prostate Cancer Support Windsor/Essex Baseball Caps and Shirts

Shirts and Baseball Caps, with our embroidered logo, are available for sale. Special thanks to Dr. Sorensen who has managed to sell over 100 of our baseball caps.  In addition to our Awareness Activities at events, selling our baseball caps is proving to be a great way to “advertise” our existence.  We would welcome any ideas on opportunities to sell our baseball caps.

Garry

Garry W. Loeper, CD, MScEng, PCIP, PMP, PEng