December 2023 PCSWE Holiday Meeting

Prostate Cancer Support Windsor/Essex (PCSWE)

December Communique

Tuesday 5 December 2023 Christmas Party

Just a gentle reminder that our December meeting will NOT be held on the Second Tuesday of December.  Instead, our Christmas party is planned for a 5:30pm start on Tuesday 5 December 2023 at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 594 located at 5030 Howard Ave.; this coincides with that Legion’s bi-weekly spaghetti dinner.  This dinner costs $10/person and normally runs from 4:30pm to 6:30pm; it includes all-you-can-eat spaghetti, salad and a bun. 

The Legion will segregate part of the hall for our members and they will let us remain and enjoy the hall after the dinner has finished and everyone else has left.  Here are some of the advantages of this venue, which is a nice newer and cheerful building:

·         There will be no cost for the hall rental assuming a sufficient number of members attend the spaghetti dinner;

·         The $10/person cost for the dinner is reasonable;

·         There will be a bar with bartender on duty;

·         The hall will be nicely decorated with Christmas decorations and music; and

·         The Legion will allow our members to bring potluck desserts;

The Steering Committee hopes that you also find this plan to be equally exciting.  In order to assure success, we would like to know the following:

·         Numbers of members and guests who plan to attend;

·         Who will be bringing desserts; and

·         Any suggestions that would make this event memorable.

We prefer to know if you’re coming.  Please e-mail us (winexpcsg@gmail.com) or contact any of our Steering Committee members; their contact information can be found on our website (www.wpcsg.com/steering-committee/).

Future Planned Monthly Meetings

Please remember that we do not meet in January.  For the upcoming 2024 winter meetings (February to May) the following presenters have indicated a desire to meet with us and provide a presentation:

·         Dr. Sorensen (Urologist)

·         Dr. Springer (Radiation Oncologist)

·         Canadian Mental Health Association

·         Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) Foundation

If there are other ideas you have for presentations, please let us know.

Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation Grow-On Campaign

A huge thanks goes out to all of you who either joined our PCSWE Grow-On Team or donated generously to this year’s campaign.  With your support, the Grow-On Windsor 2023 campaign is closing in on their $350,000 goal and donations are still rolling in. Our Team, led by Wayne and Jim, is proud to have contributed a total of over $3,400 to date. Thanks to all!

Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada Latest Newsletter

As discussed at our November meeting, our National Group, Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada (www.prostatecanada.ca), does an amazing job and provides significant valuable support to our group and support groups across the country.   We encourage you to visit their web-site; it is a mint of information and help that directly helps individuals.  The following is a link to their latest monthly newsletter: Your November 2023 Prostate Cancer Support Monthly Debrief⭐ (mailchi.mp) 

Never miss another meeting, update, or opportunity:
Subscribe to Your Monthly Debrief here.

The following link also provides some insight into all the great things they do for us and you:  (https://bit.ly/pcfcsupportquickguide)

Patient Empowerment Program (PC-PEP)

PC-PEP (www.pcpep.org) is a home-based on-line cost-effective intervention that consists of 6 months of daily emails with video links for strength exercises with increased difficulty levels, pelvic floor training, phone text alerts three times a day, to help with urinary incontinence, stress reduction through the use of a biofeedback device, dietary and relationship, social connection with men who are taking the program and mentors who have completed the program, and monthly group video conference for support.

Special Thanx
We would like to thank all that have helped us during the past year such as participating in events such as Play for a Cure, Health/Wellness Fairs, and Motorcycle Ride for Dad, etc.  We would especially like to thank Olav Kitchen and Brian Robinson who have enabled our Hybrid-ZOOM meetings to be a success.  Thank-you Olav and Brian.

Garry

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

e-mail: gwloeper@gmail.com

cell: (613) 913-4799

November 14, 2023 Support Group Meeting

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

October 10, 2023 Support Group Meeting

Happy Thanksgiving

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

September 12, 2023 Support Group Meeting

Subscribe to continue reading

Subscribe to get access to the rest of this post and other subscriber-only content.

Save the Date – Tuesday, September 12th

 “The Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program – What You Need to Know and Do after a Prostate Cancer Diagnosis”

As we return to our Monthly Support Group Meetings after our Summer Break, we’re so pleased to bring you an outstanding program on The Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program www.pcpep.org presented by our guest speakers, Dr. Robert Rutledge, MD and Gabriela Ilie, PhD live via Zoom from Halifax, N.S. and facilitated by Dr. Ronald Sorensen and Dr. Colvin Springer onsite at our monthly meeting.

Please mark your calendars to join us Tuesday, September 12th at 7:00 p.m. EDT sharp, either in person at Hospice of Windsor, 6038 Empress St., Windsor, Ontario, or via Zoom (link will be provided as we get closer to the meeting date).


Dr. Robert Rutledge, MD, FRCPC

Radiation Oncologist, Nova Scotia Cancer Centre
Associate Professor, Dalhousie University

Gabriela Ilie, PhD

Principal Investigator and Lead of the ProstateCancer-PEP (PC-PEP) Program
Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine Endowed Soillse Scientist in Prostate Cancer Quality of Life Research
Associate Professor Faculty of Medicine | Department of Community Health and Epidemiology | Department of Urology | Department of Radiation Oncology | Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

No Support Group Meeting in July

A reminder that we will not be meeting in July or August, but will gather again Tuesday, September 12th.

We’ll keep you informed of any news or events of interest over the summer. If you need someone to chat with, don’t hesitate to contact us by email at winexpcsg@gmail.com

If you need a summer hat, we have a limited number of ball caps, with our logo, available at $20 each. Just email us if you’d like one.

Also, please take advantage of information and online meetings from Prostate Cancer Support Canada at the following link:

https://mailchi.mp/prostatecancerbc/june2023?e=30e4966d09

Have a great summer!

June 13, 2023 Support Group Meeting

Spring Get-Together at the Legion Branch 594

Our summer break is now upon us. Rather than a traditional Tuesday meeting at the Hospice, we are planning a casual get-together at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 594, 5030 Howard Ave., Oldcastle, ON N9H 0M3 on Tuesday, June 13th @ 5 pm.

The current plan calls for us to join the Legion’s Spaghetti Dinner ($10). The Legion will set aside a seating area for our group. Cash Bar is available. In addition, the Steering Committee (SC) members will be bringing pot-luck desserts to share. If you have a special dessert you would like to bring, please don’t hesitate to bring it along.

We want this event to include members, their families & friends of all ages. If you have suggestions on other friends to invite, please don’t be shy to invite others directly yourselves.

Please mark your calendars and let us know (winexpcsg@gmail.com) how many guests you plan to bring so that we can make sure the Legion is ready for us.

++++++++++++

We had a great turnout, in-house and online, for our May 9th members meeting. Our sincere thanks go out to our guest speaker, local Diagnostic Radiology Specialist, Dr. Igor Gaisinsky who presented an overview of prostate imaging, available locally, and discussed the role of different imaging modalities, showing some examples. Thank you Dr. Gaisinsky!

++++++++++++

Thank you Rotary!

Garry and Jim F. spoke about our group to the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland meeting on May 9th, outlining our efforts to provide support to local prostate cancer patients and their families, and to encourage men over 50 to get checked. We were thrilled to receive a donation of $1,000 from the Club, along with another $500 from a very generous individual Rotarian. As we’re not a fundraising organization, these monies are a huge help to us to cover the cost of print materials and supplies for our local prostate cancer awareness activities. We would be happy to speak to similar groups locally, if you can let us know.

++++++++++++

Thanks to Wayne P., Murray, Garry and Jim F. for volunteering to help out at this year’s Motorcycle Ride for Dad on May 28th. This annual event promoting Prostate Cancer Awareness and Research, brought together over 400 riders on a beautiful sunny day. While Ride for Dad is a Canada-wide event, all monies raised locally are designated for our Windsor/Essex community. We were able to promote our “Get Checked” message through welcoming remarks by Garry as well as a Get Checked flyer in each rider’s registration package.

Our thanks go out to Unifor Local 444 for their generous support this year, and to Shane and Cori Miles for their huge ongoing efforts to organize this annual event.

++++++++++++

Thanks to Wayne and Diane Z., Jim and Mabsy F., Garry and Murray for volunteering to help out at this year’s Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation Charity Golf Tournament in support of the Dr. Richard Boyd Men’s Health Program, held May 24th at Essex Golf & Country Club. It was a perfect day for golf and a perfect opportunity for us to promote our “Get Checked” message with a flyer in each golf cart. Our thanks to WRH Foundation for inviting us to participate.

++++++++++++

winexpcsg@gmail.com

Please note that we will not be meeting in July or August, but will gather again Tuesday, September 12th.

We’ll keep you informed of any news or events of interest over the summer. If you need someone to chat with, don’t hesitate to contact us by email (above).

If you need a summer hat, we have a limited number of ball caps, with our logo, available at $20 each. Just email us if you’d like one.

Also, please take advantage of information and online meetings from Prostate Cancer Support Canada at the following link:

https://mailchi.mp/prostatecancerbc/june2023?e=30e4966d09

Have a great summer!

Can You Help Our Local Motorcycle Ride for Dad?

We are asking our members to lend a hand for a few hours on Sunday, May 28th to support this year’s local Motorcycle Ride For Dad, which raises funds in support of the local fight against Prostate Cancer.

Please let us know by responding to winexpcsg@gmail.com if you are willing to help out with some light duties on the day of the ride. Or, you can attend a volunteer information session this coming Saturday, May 20th at Noon at Thunder Road Harley Davidson, 2100 Ambassador Drive, Windsor. Let’s help them help us.

Here are a few details from ride organizers, Cori and Shane Miles:

Crunch time!! Ride Day is approaching and I am getting excited! 

We are hoping that anyone that is going to be doing the traffic/parking meet with us at Thunder Road Harley Davidson this Saturday May 20th at 12:00 noon so that  Shane can go over the lay out of the lot and what he is needing from you. We would love it if all of you can show up so we can go over any last minute questions that anyone may have. 

Signs are in and I will be delivering them this Friday to whoever signed up for them. If you are not home, no worries, I will leave them on your front porch or at your door. 

Saturday May 20th @ 12:00 – this time may change a little bit as we are waiting to hear back from CTV News to do our press release and we would love it if everyone was there. They should be confirming a time with us soon. Please wear any Ride for Dad shirts, hats, etc just incase 🙂

Saturday May 27th from 11am-4pm I am doing pre registration and if anyone would like to come and help out that would be much appreciated. Past Pre registrations have been slow days, so don’t expect much, but setting up tables, chairs, tents and souvenirs will be happening as well. You don’t have to come the entire time. 

Sunday May 28th RIDE DAY 6:30-10:30ish- all volunteers are asked to show up no later than 6:30am– we will always have last minute set up help needed, parking volunteers should be in place (we ALWAYS have early riders show up) and it’s a good time to grab a coffee and Timbit before the big rush happens. 

Please remember that it is CRAZY busy between 7am-10am ride day- be patient with the riders, and if there is anything, you can always find me at the camper trailer. Never hesitate to come to me to ask questions for any situation that may arise.

Anyone that is able to come to Wolfhead Distillery after we are done at Thunder Road, please do! I always need help. I also need volunteers to stay right after the riders leave to help take down tents, tables, chairs, and pack up. So if you can stay, thank you!! 

One more thing, please try to carpool- we are not allowing any vehicles into any parking lots. There will be a spot for you to park however you will have to walk to the site.

I can’t say this enough, I really appreciate each and everyone of you. Without your help, I couldn’t do this. Your volunteer work goes a long way into helping with prostate cancer research and awareness.

Well, Let’s get this show on the road! I hope to see everyone this Saturday 🙂

May 2023 Support Group Meeting

Tuesday 9 May Meeting

We plan to have another Hybrid-ZOOM meeting for our upcoming May members meeting at 7pm on Tuesday 9 May at the Hospice (Empress St.).  We are pleased to welcome our guest speaker, local Diagnostic Radiology Specialist, Dr. Igor Gaisinsky who will attend via ZOOM. Dr. Gaisinsky will present an overview of prostate imaging, available locally, and will discuss the role of different imaging modalities, showing some examples.

We hope to again have several newly diagnosed men and their wives/girlfriends to join this meeting; please also invite your sweethearts if possible.  Engaging newly diagnosed and their partners in a positive environment is a primary goal of our group; therefore, we hope to have as much participation as possible to give them a friendly welcome. 

We ask that you bring potluck snacks; these always make the meetings very enjoyable.

For those joining in remotely, the ZOOM Login details are as follows:

Topic: May 2023 PCSWE Support Group Meeting
Time: May 9, 2023 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87651260174?pwd=Qjh0SFRXREtwdFFrQ1VEUVVYMDdKZz09

Meeting ID: 876 5126 0174
Passcode: 578662


We again participated in this year’s Play for a Cure (www.playforacure.ca) fundraising event at the Vollmer Centre on Friday 14 April.  We participated with several volunteers from our group who put in a full day, but had an enjoyable time; our sincere thank-you to all of those who helped out.  This is an amazing annual event that offers our group lots of exposure, and our involvement is also sincerely appreciated by the event coordinators. Play for a Cure has now raised over $1 million for local cancer research in their three events. Special thanks to Jim F. for taking the lead.

Hospice Dove Pin Campaign

We also again participated in this year’s Hospice Dove Pin fundraising campaign (www.thehospice.ca/event/dovepin) which was held from 28 to 30 April.  Again, special thanks to the volunteers who helped out.  Our participation is very important since the Hospice provides the venue for our monthly meetings for free.  We appreciate all the help that the Hospice does for us and this is our way of giving back.  Special thanks to Murray for taking the lead.

Upcoming Awareness Events

On May 9th, Garry and Jim will speak to the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland luncheon.

We also plan on manning our awareness booth at the following function:

·         Wed 7 June – Canadian Association of Retired People (CARP) AGM

If you have any ideas on other events (e.g. sports, organizations, etc.) for us to speak to, or man our awareness booth, please let us know.

Upcoming Events Requiring Volunteers

We are currently committed to providing volunteers to the following fundraising events.

·         Wednesday 24 May – Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation Charity Golf Tournament (www.wrh.on.ca/golf) at the Essex Golf & Country Club supporting the Dr. Richard Boyd Men’s Health Program at WRH; and

Sunday 28 May – Motorcycle Ride for Dad (www.ridefordad.ca/chapter/windsor).

Ride for Dad is back in a big way this year, after the challenges of the past few years. This is a cause that’s near and dear to our hearts and every dollar raised from the Windsor/Essex ride is available to support our area. The organizers absolutely want us to participate again, as we have in the past, to help with staging the riders at the start (Thunder Road Harley Davidson) and controlling traffic at the end (Wolfhead Distillery). Our attendance at Ride for Dad reinforces our message that Prostate Cancer can be beaten if discovered early…..”Get Checked”. Hear the roar as hundreds of motorcycles ride throughout Windsor/Essex to support Prostate Cancer awareness and prevention. We need all our members to support Ride for Dad!

If you are interested in volunteering, please let us know.  In addition to manning our awareness booth at functions, volunteering at fundraising events is critical to our outreach program.  Please do not be shy, a few hours of your time goes a long way to achieving our goals of community awareness (e.g. early testing) and engaging the newly diagnosed.

Presentations to Companies and Organizations

We have given several well-received awareness presentations to companies and organizations; in several cases we also set up our awareness booth at Health/Wellness Fairs.  We are keen to approach the following companies with a view to providing awareness briefings and/or participating Health/Wellness Fairs.  Please let us know if you have any connection within your network to the following organizations or ideas on how best to approach them or others:

  • University of Windsor
  • St. Clair College
  • Stellantis
  • Ford Motor Company
  • Sutherland Group Canada
  • AP Plasman Corp
  • Integram
  • Valiant TMS
  • TRQSS Inc.
  • Anchor Danly
  • Green Shield Canada
  • NARMCO Group
  • Highline Mushrooms
  • Catalent Inc.
  • Windsor Salt

June Social Gathering

Our Christmas party at Legion 594 (Howard Ave.) was a success whereby we piggy-backed on that Legion’s bi-weekly all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner.  Like last year, we would like to have another social function to kick-off summer fun.  Legion 594 has a spaghetti night again on Tuesday 13 June which is coincident with our normally planned monthly meeting.  We plan to replicate this $10 spaghetti venue, which has considerable advantages.  Once again, the Legion will cordon off an area for our group.

We will provide more details next month, but please pencil in your calendars for now to arrive at the Legion around 5 pm; please also remember to bring pot-luck desserts.

National Group Latest Communiqué

The latest National Group communique has excellent presentations (e.g. Artificial Intelligence) and information on special support groups (e.g. Advanced, Active Surveillance, Partners, etc.).  Please take note of all the great resources that are available and don’t hesitate to take advantage at this link:

https://mailchi.mp/prostatecancerbc/may2023?e=30e4966d09

Garry

April 2023 Support Group Meeting

Tuesday 11 April Meeting

For our upcoming April Members meeting at 7pm on Tuesday 11 April at the Hospice (Empress St.), we plan to have another Hybrid-ZOOM meeting with a taped video presentation rather than a live speaker.  This is deemed necessary to trial the concept of video presentations; most support groups across the country are also having difficulty finding speakers and most have advocated the value of these very high quality presentations.  We need to embrace this new paradigm in order to remain relevant and ensure high quality support to our existing and new members.

We plan to choose a video from the National Group or Toronto Group video libraries.  Links are as follows:

https://www.prostatecancersupport.ca/resources/#video-library

Prostate Cancer Support Toronto Videos

We would ask that you peruse these two (2) sites and let us know what videos might be of most interest to you.  There are many excellent presentations that most of you might also find interesting to watch on your own.

We are expecting several newly diagnosed men and their wives/girlfriends to join this meeting for the first time; please also invite your sweethearts if possible.  Engaging newly diagnosed and their partners in a positive environment is a primary goal of our group; therefore, we hope to have as much participation as possible to give them a friendly welcome. 

We ask that you bring potluck snacks; these make the meetings very enjoyable and we can’t expect Noel to feed the horde with banana bread alone.

Remembering Guy Jolin

As we previously announced, Guy Jolin recently passed away. He was a valued member of your Steering Committee for many years and a true friend to many of us.  There will be a Celebration of Life at 1100 on Saturday 22 April 2023 at the Salvation Army South Windsor Citadel (1201 Grand Marais Rd West).

March Hybrid-ZOOM Meeting Feedback

We recently trialed the Hybrid-ZOOM meeting concept at the March meeting.  There were a few initial hiccups due to Garry’s ineptness with the interweb, but once underway it went very well with several out-of-town and at-home folks able to join those who attended live at the Hospice.  Hybrid-ZOOM meetings have become the standard across the country for most support groups in order to accommodate those who cannot attend but also to attract speakers who prefer to present from home.  It also allows us to access high quality taped presentations from the National group and other non-Windsor support groups, most of which we could not duplicate here in Windsor/Essex.

Ontario ZOOM Meeting Feedback

As discussed at the April meeting, Garry and Jim F attended a ZOOM meeting with other Ontario based support groups to discuss common issues such as lower memberships, the need to share resources including presentations, and to exploit Hybrid-ZOOM meetings, etc.  These issues worsened before COVID; unfortunately, COVID exacerbated them requiring a need to embrace new ideas.  We will provide some feedback during the upcoming 11 April meeting.

Upcoming Awareness Booth Events

We currently plan on manning our awareness booth at the following functions:

·         Wed 12 April – National Association of Federal Retirees AGM

·         Wed 7 June – Canadian Association of Retired People AGM

If you have any ideas on other events (e.g. sports, organizations, etc.) for us to man our awareness booth, please let us know.

Upcoming Events Requiring Volunteers

We are currently committed to providing volunteers to the following fundraising events.

Friday 14 April – Play for a Cure (Jim Fair lead)

28 to 30 April – Hospice Annual Dove Pin Campaign (Murray lead)

Sunday 28 May – Motorcycle Ride for Dad (Garry lead).  Note: there will also be a volunteer briefing meeting on Sunday 30 April.

If you are interested in volunteering, please let us know.  In addition to manning our awareness booth at functions, volunteering at fundraising events is critical to our outreach program.  Please do not be shy, a few hours of your time goes a long way to achieving our goals of community awareness (e.g. early testing) and engaging the newly diagnosed.  Within the past several weeks several newly diagnosed have approached us; these are a direct result of our proactive outreach measures over the past year.

June Social Gathering

Our Christmas party at Legion 594 was a success whereby we piggy-backed on that Legion’s bi-weekly spaghetti dinner.  Like last year, we would like to have another social function to kick-off summer fun.  Legion 594 has a spaghetti night again on Tuesday 13 June which is coincident with our normally planned monthly meeting.  We could replicate this spaghetti venue, which has considerable advantages, or consider other options such as:

·         Having a get-together another day at Legion 594 to access the normal caterers’ menu; or

·         Consider another venue.

Please let us know your thoughts as your Steering Committee would prefer your input.

I would appreciate any comments that you might have.

Cheers,

Garry

News and Events from Prostate Cancer Support Canada

Please take advantage of current news and information from PCSC at this link

https://mailchi.mp/prostatecancerbc/april2023-15659325?e=30e4966d09

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox

Join other followers: