ISSUE TWO 1998

WELLNESS NEWSLETTER LIBRARY

STAYING ALIVE!
ISSUE TWO 1998

July 1999 Newsletter
Issue Three 1998
Issue One 1998

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!

Dear friends

On 27 July, the Wellness Support Programme officially turned one year old, having launched on that date last year to a small gathering of some 40 interested parties at the Emissaries Foundation in Fourways, Gauteng. The anniversary would be the ideal occasion, we thought, to review the programme's activities to date, and to determine whether we are still on track, or whether perhaps our eye may have strayed somewhat from the ball in the interim.
To do this, we asked our friend and fellow WSP director Clive Simpkins (yes, he of Radio 702) to lend a hand in fine-tuning our well-meant ramblings into clear statements of vision, mission and values, which - at last! - it gives us great pleasure to share with you here. (And yes, folks, we'd love your input: e-mail your comments to info@wellness.org.za or fax them to
us on (011) 728-5678.
Vision:
To offer to people with life-threatening diseases a "Mind/Body Medicine" orientated support, resource and information programme, able to assist them at all stages of the disease process.
Mission:
To offer patients and their families the best support, resources and referrals possible within our means and at our disposal, at whatever stage of their individual challenge, using people, who like themselves, are "there" or "have been there". We are committed to helping you find a process for well-being that best benefits you and addresses your most important needs. We will remain abreast of the latest thinking and processes in mind-body medicine for your advantage.
Values:
We are a non-profit, non-commercial and non-exploitative group. We do not seek to impose any particular "method" or "solution" on you. We acknowledge and respect the uniqueness of your physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological make-up. We may encourage you to explore new options but will not impose any upon you. We acknowledge your right to choose a given response, or none at all.
But what do the members think?
To oil our brainstorming process, we (the founders and directors of the WSP) had invited along a number of members who had joined early and stayed close to the WSP, and asked them to share their views and, most importantly, their expectations of what the WSP should offer. Here, briefly, is a summary of what emerged.
The Wellness Support Programme must be geared to offer assistance at some or all of the following stages:
1 Post-diagnosis: to deal with the initial panic/denial/anger/ confusion/desperation/suicidal/ unresourceful phase.
2 The second stage: ie once the news has sunk in and the patient wants to start working on the problems.
3 Give help reviewing meaning and relevance of life and a "reason for being." ie re-establishing one's "pillars of passion" in the face of the disease.
4 Need for options either for appropriate acute (immediate), or chronic (long-term) response and management, including resources like Life-Line, Hospice, Reach for Recovery, Compassionate Friends, Pain Clinic, etc.
5 Providing further education and understanding - immediate and ongoing - via our resource centre.
6 Bereavement: appropriate support counsellors needed from within.
Our response?
We are now formulating clearly documented, specific responses to each of these issues - some of which are outlined here, and others to be advised in our next issue.
CAN ANYONE HELP?
Urgently needed for our Wellness Support Programme office
A machine ((pedal-operated) to transcribe audio cassette tapes (standard C30, C60 or C90 cassettes)
A reasonable, working photocopy machine (black/white is just fine)
If you have either one of these items to spare, please call our secretary Janet RIGHT NOW on (011) 728-5678!
STRAIGHT SHOOTIN' DR TIM
While on a trip in the USA some time back, WSP director and long-standing friend Carol Cooper had cause to seek an appointment with a chiropractor, who coyly goes under the name of Dr Tim... (Dactahrr Tiim!) Aside from solving Carol's immediate problem, Dr Tim became something of a friend, and keeps Carol posted with his news. As always, his latest letter was thought-provoking and informative.

Hello Friends
Welcome to a new network of health information! I'd call it HealthNet but I think some mangled care (er, I meant managed care) company already stole the name.
My aim is to bring you interesting, breaking health information that you won't get from the mainstream media which is held hostage by its largest advertisers pharmaceutical companies. Not able to offend them, the media will either disregard this news or bury it on the last page between the used car ads and the obituaries.
When you are exposed as I am to this information regularly, you will begin to see through the veil and catch a gruesome peak at the exorbitant costs of today's symptom-based health care philosophy. Costs both in dollars and in human lives and suffering.
Please understand. I am not trying to drive a wedge between you and your personal physician who is no doubt extremely caring and committed to your "health". I am trying to show you the risks involved in following a lot of his/her well-intentioned advice; advice that your doctor may not even follow personally!
As an example, are you aware of the low percentage of oncologists (cancer doctors) who take chemotherapy and radiation when they get cancer? Are you aware of the number of MDs who refuse the hepatitis vaccination that is mandatory for hospital employees? There was a report just last month on the number of heart specialists who take antioxidants, vitamins and other supplements, but do not tell their patients to do the same.
Recently there was also a report on the number of cardiologists who take the recommended daily aspirin for reducing heart attack risks: very, very few! Why? Is it because they know that even if the studies that show the benefits (studies paid for by Bufferin and the like) were accurate, that the increased risks of stroke and bleeding ulcers outweigh the benefits?
Understand that aspirin manufacturers sell more product by marketing it as daily "prevention" than they ever did as pain relief. Another example of the switch to "prevention" as a means of selling more product: Tums as a source of calcium! My wife, a nutritionist, says that it is an extremely poor source of calcium. Be on the lookout for other drugs masquerading as benefactors of "wellness".
Yes, wellness has come of age. A report in the May 20, 1998 Journal of the AMA reports that :
"Over a third of medical doctors polled refer out to alternative providers; nearly as many use alternatives themselves! Even more startling, as many as 20% are now incorporating alternatives into their own practices."
With zeal, Dr Tim

SOUNDING BOARDS
Taking a load off; lending an ear; having a heart-to-heart...
CALL IT WHAT YOU WILL, there's nothing like a good, emotional, "spit it all out" chat with a kindred spirit or two to get yourself back on track when you've fallen into a hole or had a set-back in your struggle to beat or at least manage your disease. This, in fact, was how the Wellness Support Programme was founded, with three of us meeting for an unpretentious restaurant dinner every couple of weeks, away from spouses and kids, just to sound off, share experiences (and our solutions to them) and laugh and cry a little together.
Trouble is, unless those you talk to have been in a fairly similar situation to your own (as Robyn, Melyssa and I were), it may be virtually impossible to find any common ground or meaningful help in your search for fresh enthusiasm and encouragement to re-fire your engines and spur you on.
The solution? Find yourself some worthy "sounding boards" - people in a similar boat to your own, living not too far off, who would be keen to get together from time to time at someone's home or at a convenient nearby coffee shop or other venue to chat, compare notes and generally boost one another's spirits.
How to get your group started?
Simply call our secretary, Janet, on 728-5678 (or if you're in Cape Town, call Joan Pickford on (021) 45-3491) and tell her that you would like to start a small get-together group or join an existing one in your area. Our Wellness Support Programme database has contact details for people all over Gauteng who would like to be put in touch with others belonging to the WSP, and Janet will do her best to match you with the right ones. Another good place to find others in your situation is at your local medical or treatment centre. These places usually have notice boards where you could put up an invitation to other patients to join your informal get-togethers. Your local knock ‘n' drop newspaper may also be willing to help you with some editorial to promote your group.
Once you have something of a plan in place, call Janet again and she will arrange that, if at all possible, one of us will attend your launch meeting to help you get the ball rolling.

SUPPORT GROUPS
More than just chewing the breeze
Landmark studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Stanford University psychiatrist Dr David Speigel revealed that women with breast cancer who participated in weekly support groups had doubled their survival times. In fact, according to a current report in the New York Times, it was found that the support groups added an average of eighteen months to the women's lives - appreciably longer than any of the chemotherapy medications they were also taking could have been expected to offer, given the advanced stage of their cancer.

Why wait? Get your own Sounding Board Support Group up and running this month!

The Wannabe Classifieds: Give 'em a try!
Keen and needy but ridiculously green at hanging together a "classifieds" column, your editorial panel (the Bald and the Tumourful, the Young and the Breastless!) is none the less adamant to give it our best shot! Phone or fax your submissions through to Janet on (011) 728-5678. Cost is R25 per entry and Janet will advise you on how to pay.

15% OFF ALL BOOKS When you buy from Facts & Fiction, Balfour Park
EXCLUSIVE OFFER FOR WELLNESS SUPPORT PROGRAMME MEMBERS
When next you shop for paperbacks, hardbacks or other books at the Balfour Park branch of Facts & Fiction (on the upper level, next to the movie complex), have your WSP membership number handy (you'll find it on the front of this newsletter) and ask for Tina, who will ensure that you receive your special
15% WSP DISCOUNT!
Already well known for its excellent prices and exciting range, Facts & Fiction Balfour Park will surely entrench itself once and for all as the bookseller of choice for the Wellness Support Programme, thanks to this generous offer.
The discounted subscription offer is valid until Friday 30 October 1998. To qualify, simply complete the coupon here and mail Freepost as directed.

CONDOLENCES
* It is with sadness that we report the passing of our friend and WSP member Luiz de Barros, who died peacefully at home surrounded by the love and support of his family during July. Luiz was a gentle, dear man whose kindness touched us all when he joined us on a training course earlier this year. Our love and condolences to Luiz's daughter Isobel and other loved ones.
* Helmut Richter was a wonderful no-nonsense operator who didn't suffer fools gladly, and we were saddened to hear of his recent death, having developed a great liking for him during a shared course a few months ago. Our thoughts are with you and your family, Beverley.
* The passion and determination that Andrew Ross brought to bear in making the very best of his condition, if not ultimately being able to conquer it, was extraordinary, and he was a personal inspiration to me from the first time I met him (with wife Michelle, Dad Angus and one or two other family members) at one of our early St Stithians meetings last year. Andrew was in his mid thirties when he died in July, and his children and family are in our prayers at this sad time.
* Our condolences to the family of Anna-Mari Honiball, whose death we learned of in July.

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