Welcome to our latest e-newsletter!In this Summer newsletter, we pay tribute to one of New Zealand’s most influential gynaecologists, Mike Laney, and look back on his impressive career. We are delighted to announce that Oxford Women’s Health is now a First Choice provider with nib and AA Insurance for surgery and other health services; we introduce the Illumiscreen test; and our dietitian, Sara Widdowson, looks into the often complicated relationship between body image and food. Celebrating the life of Mike Laney We were very sad to recently learn that our colleague and “I’ve had a great career – a lovely time – and I’ve dealt with some marvellous people. It’s been a lot of fun.” – Mike Laney Retiring from his role as one of Canterbury’s few gynae-oncologists wasn’t easy for Mike Laney. He had spent more than 40 years loving the career he had chosen and making an immense difference in the lives of thousands of South Island women. Despite having a large workload, firstly as an obstetrician and gynaecologist, and latterly as a gynae-oncologist, Mike was an innovator and greatly influential in improving services and surgical techniques to benefit women’s health. Along with colleagues Mike East and John Doig he helped pioneer laparoscopic surgery in Canterbury; he set up Canterbury’s first gynae-oncology team; he and John Doig founded Christchurch’s first IVF clinic; he influenced the establishment of the current Christchurch Women’s Hospital; and he was one of the founders of Oxford Clinic – the forerunner to Forté Health and Oxford Women’s Health. He said his career had been a great time to be a gynaecologist. “We went from doing small operations through big holes (open surgery) to big operations through small holes (laparoscopic surgery). We’ve started using robotic surgery – marvellous technology but I’m not sure whether it is the time yet.” He predicted the next advancement in gynae-oncology would be better chemotherapy. “I hope that 10-15 years from now, surgery for gynaecological cancers won’t be required so often.” In his early years, Mike looked like he was heading for a sporting rather than medical career. He was captain of rugby and athletics at Waitaki Boys High School and said he only achieved moderately well academically. Described as ‘sharp as a tack’ by colleague Mike East, he did however gain entrance to Otago Medical School, while representing the University in rugby and rowing. He graduated in 1972 and two years later passed his Diploma of Obstetrics at Auckland University. After spending four years as a Registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, he went to England in 1978, to work at Oxford University’s John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals and sit the specialist MRCOG examination. In 1981, he returned to Christchurch to work as a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Christchurch Women’s Hospital and set up his private practice in Bealey Avenue. He had brought back the ability to do laparoscopic gynaecological surgery from the UK, which he quickly began to pass on to his colleagues. He and long time friends, Mike East and John Doig, further developed these skills to do advanced laparoscopy for pelvic floor surgery and endometriosis resection. This specialty eventually led to the three doctors working with gastroenterologists Richard Perry and Paul Fogarty, and businesswoman Sue Suckling, to start Oxford Clinic in 1996. Mike said, “One of the main reasons for the clinic was He said, “The best of what we did was as a team – me, Mike East and John Doig. We encouraged each other to move forward and helped each other with new approaches to gynae surgery.” Mike East said that while the new clinic was far more costly than running their own rooms, ‘it increased the level of professionalism by several notches’. “When we started Oxford Clinic, it was quite a unique thing for New Zealand to have a surgeon owned and operated hospital. In other private hospitals, you were always lobbying to get the equipment you needed but at Oxford Clinic we had much more control over our environment. It triggered the opening of similar clinics in other parts of the country.” Throughout his career Mike Laney had a special interest in gynae-oncology. Mike East said when Mike began working in the area, there were very few people focusing on it as a specialist area and “he excelled at it”. “In fact Mike had the reputation of being a surgeon’s surgeon,” he said. “He can be credited with setting up Canterbury District Health Board’s gynae-oncology service, which now covers the South Island, and has greatly improved the outcomes for women with gynaecological cancers.” Among the people he mentored were Christchurch Women’s Hospital gynae-oncologists Peter Sykes and Bryony Simcock. The early days of Oxford Clinic. Back (left to right): John Doig, Richard Dover, Michael East, and front row, Mike Laney, Anna Fenton and Simon Jones.
Mike said, “We had to raise $500,000 through picnics, concerts and other charity events. We found ways to make it happen and the IVF clinic opened in 1991.” The Clinic’s first fertility specialists were Gerald Duff, who has since died, and Pete Benny who has recently been appointed Medical Director at Genea Oxford Fertility. Mike’s involvement with Christchurch Women’s Hospital continued from his first appointment to his retirement from work in the public system in 2018. He was Clinical Director at the Hospital from 1995 until 2006 and influential in the building of a dedicated women’s hospital next to Christchurch Hospital. One of the highlights of his career was being one of the first obstetricians in New Zealand to use prostaglandins to induce labour. “I had seen it being used in Oxford and brought it back with me.” Prostaglandins are now used routinely throughout New Zealand. Geraldine Condon, who was Mike’s Personal Assistant for 20 years, said he was extremely methodical and very efficient in the way he managed his workload. “I liked working with him and had great respect for him. I think very fondly of him.” Mike East said he was going to miss him greatly. “As a colleague he was always very supportive. If you ever called him for help he would always be there – no questions asked – be it someone to cover for you, do a big case with you or even just give advice. He would drop everything to help.” In his retirement, Mike had hoped to enjoy his many hobbies, including classic motorcar racing, but most importantly he wanted to spend more time with his “lovely family” including his “three gorgeous daughters and five gorgeous grandchildren”. Oxford Women’s Health now a First Choice provider with nib and AA We are delighted to announce that Oxford Women’s Health is now a First Choice provider with nib and AA Insurance for surgery and other health services. Being a First Choice provider means that all eligible treatment costs at Oxford Women’s Health are covered (within the policy or up to benefit limits) and there is no need to worry about having to pay any difference in the balance. More information can be found at www.nibfirstchoice.co.nz What hunger are you feeding? In a world where people are bombarded with celebrity diets and images of photoshopped bodies, disordered eating has become the new normal while our body’s natural hunger cues are being ignored. Oxford Women’s Health Dietitian Sara Widdowson is encouraging people Sara says humans are born intuitive eaters, meaning they listen to their body’s hunger and fullness cues. For example, a baby may cry when they are hungry and stop when they are full. Although body shapes are incredibly diverse, when people begin to develop a sense of self-image around ages 5-7, the body’s natural hunger cues can become blurred as weight related stigma pressures people to
think their body needs to be a certain size. complex emotions comes a tendency to eat for comfort or over-eat when full. Paying attention to what we eat and why we are eating it is important to ensure our bodies are getting the nutrients they need to be healthy,” she says. “It’s important for people to acknowledge that food and the experience of eating is complicated. We live in a world that celebrates dieting but dieting fights those cues your body is giving you about hunger, so you develop distrust.” She says it is important to celebrate non- weight related outcomes such as sticking to a regular fitness plan rather than being concerned by the number showing on the scales. Having a healthy relationship with food and ensuring your body is getting the nutrients that it needs is paramount. “People can be healthy at all sizes, so we need to focus on health related goals rather than weight related goals. We know that diets don’t work because when the body experiences a major calorie deficit it protects itself as if there’s a famine and does everything it can to preserve itself.” A good way to reconnect with your body’s intuitive cues is to practice being mindful of the experience of eating, such as recognising how you feel before, during and after a meal. Doing this can also help to identify emotional triggers, when you consider what you are eating and why you are eating it, Sara says. “People will eat food as a socially acceptable way to self-soothe. If you come home from work and you’re stressed and reach for the wine or chocolate, it’s the stress doing that. Try to find something else that makes you feel just as relaxed.” As published in Metropol Magazine, 12 December 2019 GeneSyte no longer available through Oxford Women’s Health Oxford Women’s Health is no longer offering the GeneSyte test, however, anyone wanting non-invasive pre-natal screening, can now ask for a referral from their obstetrician or midwife for Illumiscreen. The Illumiscreen test also involves a simple blood test that allows a baby’s DNA to be checked for common chromosomal abnormalities, and sex chromosome abnormalities to be detected in single pregnancies. Merry Christmas from the Oxford Women's Health Team We will be taking a break over the Christmas period, but the team will be back on Monday 6 January, refreshed and ready to go. For any urgent issues during this time, please phone 03 379 0555. Your call will go through to an answering service. We'd like to wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We hope you have a safe and happy summer holiday and look forward to seeing you in 2020.
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