Dear ,

How lucky we are here in New Zealand that we have been able to return to some sort of normality. For us, that means getting stuck into planning our visits to you and our member meetings. Member meetings will be back on from July - we know you’ve missed them, and so have we!

We are busy planning the meetings as we speak and we will be announcing details on the dates and venues very shortly. Watch this space!!

We look forward to seeing you very soon.

National Volunteer Week

This week is National Volunteer Week, a chance to celebrate the wonderful volunteers around New Zealand who do so much for our Sweet Louise community. We're featuring four of our lovely volunteers on our website and Facebook this week.

Here's a snapshot of two of our special volunteers:

Online Presentation: Managing Anxiety

Unfortunately, we have had to postpone our online presentation on managing anxiety. Thank you to all who have registered already. We are looking at a new date and will let you know as soon as possible. If you haven't registered yet, there will be another chance to register when we announce the new date.

Here's a reminder of what we are planning to cover:

We know that anxiety is something you live with as part of your cancer diagnosis. Add in the roller coaster ride of uncertainty, fear and change that many of us have experienced as we have lived through the Covid-19 pandemic of the last few months and we’re thinking let’s talk about this.

Dr Rebecca Storey, Senior Clinical Psychologist for Cancer Services at Waitemata DHB will give a short presentation about anxiety and how techniques such as reframing thoughts can be used. Louise Bobbit, Integrative Nurse Coach and mindfulness practitioner will talk about mindfulness as a tool for managing anxiety and lead you through a couple of simple mindfulness exercises. There will be an opportunity to submit questions for Louise and Rebecca on our registration form. 

Sweet Louise e-Cookbook Competition!

All you need to do is submit your favourite recipe and tell us the story behind why this recipe is special to you. Entries close end of June.

Understanding the treatment journey of
patients on Ibrance

One Picture, on behalf of Pfizer, are looking to gain a better understanding of patients’ needs through their metastatic breast cancer journey, and their journey through treatment on Ibrance. They would like to understand what information and support patients require once started on Ibrance and the best ways to provide this.  

To better understand their needs, One Picture are looking for women taking Ibrance to participate in a confidential, one-on-one interview. Participants will be paid for their time, or a donation made to a charity of their choice.

They would like to speak to women aged between 35 and 65 years who are currently using Ibrance as a part of their treatment. They would like to talk to a mix of first line and second line patients, as well as caregivers or support persons of patients who meet the above criteria.

If you would like to take part, please contact annr@onepicture.com before 30 June 2020, with your phone number and mention that you are a Sweet Louise member.

Look Good Feel Better for Men

Look Good Feel Better are running classes for men with any type of cancer at any stage. They cover simple techniques to look after your skin, hair, body and mind so that you can face cancer with confidence. Visit their website for more information.

Thank you to Trish Camden for sharing this in our Member's Facebook Group.

Member's Facebook group

The Sweet Louise member Facebook group is a private group just for you and Support Coordinators. Anything posted in this group is only visible to other members and it is therefore a safe place to share photos, stories, comments, advice and questions. If you haven't joined us yet, we'd love to see you there!

We will be in touch with more news and updates soon.