Gawler Foundation Media

Festival fundraiser for a friend

gawlerfoundationmedia — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:04:27 +0000

Northcote Leader
21st November 2011

Martin Janssen, organised an arts fundraiser for friend Autumn Tansey . Picture: Adam Elwood.

WHEN Reservoir student Martin Jenssen heard his best friend had cancer he vowed to put his creative talents to use.

The RMIT film student has organised a youth film and fine-art festival to help his friend, Autumn Tansey, attend The Gawler Foundation’s Life and Living 10-day cancer healing retreat.

He said the November 22 fundraiser, titled Autumn’s Spring Festival, will be a celebration of youthful creativity and includes Autumn’s own visual art.

“Since coming up with the idea late September we’ve had more than 30 short films and more than 100 pieces of visual art submitted,” Mr Jenssen said.

“A jazz and reggae band, audio/visual technicians, advertising company, venue, volunteer caterers and a graphic designer are already donating their help.”

Autumn, 22, was diagnosed with bowel cancer mid-year, he said.

Through her aunt, who has breast cancer, Autumn discovered The Gawler Foundation, an organisation supporting people with cancer and other serious illnesses.

“She has seen her aunty’s recent improvements with the foundation’s help and is inspired to learn how she can benefit from their services,” Mr Jenssen said.

Funds will go into a bursary account, the Tansey Wishing Well with The Gawler Foundation, assisted through the Everyday Hero website for Autumn and other youngsters fighting cancer.

Autumn’s Spring Festival is at Northern Community Church of Christ Community Centre, 81 High St, Preston, on November 22 from 6.30-10pm. Details: everydayhero .com.au/asfestival

Filed under: Media Coverage, Uncategorized

Scott Stephens makes his own difference

gawlerfoundationmedia — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:09:28 +0000

Scott Stephens makes his own difference

Young cancer survivor inspires others with his story

Scott Stephens will tell his inspiring story of cancer survival at The Gawler Foundation’s Annual Conference Profound Healing – Sustainable Wellbeing, to be held on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November 2011 at Melbourne’s Hilton on the Park.

Scott, who lives in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, is in his early 30s and was first diagnosed with cancer at the age of 23. ‘My first thought was I am too young to die,’ says Scott, ‘my second thought was what do I do now?’

‘My whole life suddenly erupted – I was lost and found myself questioning everything I did, looking for reasons and desperate for answers,’ he says. ‘When I found myself at the door of The Gawler Foundation’s healing retreat, I finally started to make sense of my experience and more importantly how I was going to get through it.’

Scott adopted an integrated approach to his treatment program which combined mainstream and complementary therapies. For a 23 year old man used to going out to the pub with mates, many of the lifestyle changes he chose to make were a surprise – even to him. ‘But it worked,’ he says, ‘ I changed my diet to a natural, plant-based diet and felt better for it; I started meditating daily and went to support groups. Day-by-day, moment-by-moment, I started to heal. There were ups and downs but despite my cancer, I still had hope – that gave me the strength to carry on. Even now I am in remission, I see things like nutrition and meditation as an integral part of my health and wellbeing. I always will.’

‘The understanding that lifestyle can be a major contributor to chronic illness is now broadly accepted amongst health professionals. For decades, The Gawler Foundation has advocated that lifestyle is also the best treatment option and beyond that, a sound preventative strategy as well,’ says Karin Knoester, The Gawler Foundation CEO. ‘Scott is a living example of how people can turn their life around and reclaim optimal health. His survivorship from multiple cancers has been well fought for, and well won. His presentation will be very popular.’

Also at the Conference, ABC Medical Reporter Sophie Scott will moderate an intriguing panel discussion exploring mainstream and integrative healthcare management approaches to illness versus wellness at this year’s Profound Healing – Sustainable Wellbeing Conference. Joining Sophie Scott on the panel is AIMA founder Dr Vicki Kotsirilos, Director of the National Institute of Integrative Medicine Professor Avni Sali, GP and Monash University senior lecturer Dr Craig Hassed, Professor of Medicine, Melbourne University and MS survivor Prof George Jelinek and Therapeutic Director of The Gawler Foundation Mr Siegfried Gutbrod.

Run annually over two days, The Profound Healing – Sustainable Wellbeing Conference brings together 16 recognised world leaders in the field of Mind-body Medicine to share their research and practice through a series of keynote addresses and interactive workshops.

This exciting and enlightening program is ideal for anyone interested in learning about prevention and wellbeing to enhance their own health and for people, their families and carers affected by cancer, multiple sclerosis or other chronic illness.

For more information and to download the conference program and registration forms, visit www.gawler.org/speakers or call 03 5967 1730. For Conference information contact Bronwyn Gillespie, Conference Manager, on 03 9819 1379. Interviews and images are available on request.
For Media information please contact Lindy Schneider, Media and Communications Manager, The Gawler Foundation Media Department on 03 5967 1730. Website www.gawler.org

Biography Keynote speaker:

Scott Stephens

At age 23, Scott was diagnosed with melanoma after a routine removal of a mole. Six months later, he found enlarged lymph nodes in his groin and later routine scans showed a cancerous mass in his chest that spread to his pelvis and bowel. Ten years on, he is celebrating a remission that doctors still can’t comprehend. He is working part-time, has two beautiful children and loves life.

Biographies of Panel Discussion participants:

Sophie Scott

As ABC’s medical reporter Sophie’s stories appear on Lateline, Stateline, the ABC’s 7.00pm news and The 7.30 Report. She has received many awards including the Australian Museum’s Eureka Award for medical reporting, Research Australia’s Thank You day Award for raising awareness of medical research, and several reporting awards from the Cancer Council. Sophie is the author of Live a Longer Life and Roadtesting Happiness.

Professor Avni Sali MBSS PhD FRACS FACS FACNEM

Director of the National Institute of Integrative Medicine, former Head of Graduate School of Integrative Medicine Swinburne University and University of Melbourne; Department of Surgery Heidelberg Hospital; President International Council of Integrative Medicine; International Advisory Board or American Academy Anti-Ageing Medicine; Board Member The Gawler Foundation. His areas of expertise include the cause of disease, cancer and difficult clinical problems.

Dr Craig Hassed MBBS FRACGP:

A GP and Senior Lecturer at Monash University, Dept of General Practice, Craig’s teaching, research and clinical interests involve mindfulness-based stress management, mind-body medicine, meditation, holistic healthcare, Integrative Medicine and medical ethics. He is a regular media commentator on these issue and author of New Frontiers in Medicine, Know Thyself and The Essence of Health. Craig recently released a new book General Practice: The Integrative Approach co-authored with Prof Kerryn Phelps.

Siegfried Gutbrod MCounsHS BBA

Therapeutic Director of The Gawler Foundation, Siegfried holds a Masters degree in Counselling and Human Services and is also a Meditation Instructor. His particular interests are in empowering people to take charge of their own healing journey, the healing potential of laughter and providing emotional and spiritual support for end-of-life situations.

Dr Vicki Kotsirilos MBBS FACNEM

A General Practitioner who combines the best of orthodox and evidence-based complementary medicine, such as acupuncture, hypnosis and nutritional medicine. Vicki is the founder of Australasian Integrative Medicine Association and is recognised as an authority in Australia on alternative health care matters. She chairs the RACGP-AIMA joint working party and has served on a number of Federal Government Committees. Vicki is co-author of A Guide to Evidence-based Integrative and Complementary Medicine (Publisher Elsevier).

Professor George Jelinek MBBS MD DipDHM FACEM

Professorial Fellow, Dept of Medicine, University of Melbourne (St Vincents Hospital), Former President of Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine, Emeritus Editor of the journal Emergency Medicine Australasia, author of several textbooks in Emergency Medicine. An MS survivor and author of Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis, he offers a unique perspective based upon scientific research, clinical experience and insight.

Written comments from delegate feedback forms last year

What a wonderful event. I found the speakers inspirational and certainly came away greatly stimulated and determined

As usual the conference has been a bombshell of inspiration and information

Very informative, an eye opener on a new era of medical practices

The professionalism and incredible quality of the speakers – amazing breadth of knowledge shared

I appreciate the great range of speakers who empower me with information to remain healthy, happy and having a meaningful life

Every presentation has been informative and relevant, with important take home messages

Informative, powerful, motivational and inspirational. A pleasure and privilege to be there

WOW – Enlightening and empowering weekend!

Highly qualified and motivated professionals with very structured and informative presentations – all had take away messages useful in my clinical work

Absolutely loved every bit of it – look forward to next year

I felt I had my money’s worth by morning tea!

Our history:

The Gawler Foundation is a non-profit, non-denominational organisation, registered in Victoria since 1983. We actively support people, their carers and families who are challenged by cancer, multiple sclerosis and other serious illness and teach them to help themselves through our range of lifestyle programs. Pioneers in mind-body medicine, we work in effective partnerships with healthcare professionals to assist people in their quest for health, healing and wellness. We offer a comprehensive range of programs designed to prevent illness and enhance the health and wellbeing of the whole community.

The Gawler Foundation is a symbol of hope, healing and inspiration for others. Read more www.gawler.org

Integrative medicine is the practice of medicine that reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing. (Consortium of Academic Health Centres for Integrative Medicine, 2005).

Health professionals who attend the conference can also qualify for Royal Australian College of General Practitioners CPD points for professional development.

Filed under: Press releases 2011, Uncategorized

Food as medicine is Janella Purcell’s recipe for good health

gawlerfoundationmedia — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:08:34 +0000

Food as medicine is Janella Purcell’s recipe for good health

Your pantry can be your medicine chest!

Janella Purcell will present a keynote speech and workshop on food as medicine at The Gawler Foundation’s Profound Healing – Sustainable Wellbeing Annual Conference, to be held on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November 2011 at Melbourne’s Hilton on the Park.

‘Imagine having a pantry full of vital life-giving foods that can heal and protect from all sorts of modern day health challenges,’ says Janella. ‘There are many common foods that we can prepare for ourselves and our families that give us much of what the body needs to be in optimal health. And there are some great foods we can source from global cuisines that are of terrific benefit once you understand what they are and how to prepare them.’

‘It is my life passion to bring these wonderful foods into everyday kitchens and help people feel good, eat well and thrive in life,’ Janella says. ‘Food as medicine is not new – our forbearers understood the link between food and its medicinal qualities long ago – but the modern diet has lost focus on food and its healing potency, and it has never been more important to relearn and relive this wisdom. Many of the health problems experienced today can be transformed by this simple awareness.’

‘The understanding that lifestyle and nutrition can be major contributors to chronic illness is now broadly accepted amongst health professionals. For decades, The Gawler Foundation has advocated that lifestyle factors (such as nutrition and meditation) are also the best treatment option and beyond that, a sound preventative strategy as well,’ says Karin Knoester, The Gawler Foundation CEO. ‘Janella’s work is particularly relevant to people with chronic illness and is accessible and achievable in the here and now. Her presentation will be very popular.’

Also at the Conference, ABC Medical Reporter Sophie Scott will moderate an intriguing panel discussion exploring mainstream and integrative healthcare management approaches to illness versus wellness. Joining Sophie Scott on the panel is AIMA founder Dr Vicki Kotsirilos, Director of the National Institute of Integrative Medicine Professor Avni Sali, GP and Monash University senior lecturer Dr Craig Hassed, Professor of Medicine, Melbourne University and MS survivor Prof George Jelinek and Therapeutic Director of The Gawler Foundation Mr Siegfried Gutbrod.

For more information and to download the conference program and registration forms, visit www.gawler.org/speakers or contact Bronwyn Gillespie, Conference Manager, on 03 9819 1379.
For Media information please contact Lindy Schneider, Media and Communications Manager, The Gawler Foundation Media Department on 03 5967 1730. Website www.gawler.org
Interviews with Janella Purcell, Karin Knoester and panel members can be arranged on request.
Images and recipes available on request.

Biography Keynote speaker:

Janella Purcell

Wholefoods Nutritionist, Naturopath, Herbalist and ambassador for the Cancer Council. Janella is passionately dedicated to a philosophy of food as medicine and works from her Sydney practice treating people with various health issues from cancer to autoimmune diseases and eating disorders. She makes regular TV appearances including co-hosting Good Chef, Bad Chef. Janella is the author of Elixir: How to use Food as Medicine and Eating for the Seasons: Cooking for Health and Happiness.

Biographies of Panel Discussion participants:

Sophie Scott

Professor Avni Sali MBSS PhD FRACS FACS FACNEM

Dr Craig Hassed MBBS FRACGP:

Siegfried Gutbrod MCounsHS BBA

Dr Vicki Kotsirilos MBBS FACNEM

Professor George Jelinek MBBS MD DipDHM FACEM

Written comments from delegate feedback forms last year

What a wonderful event. I found the speakers inspirational and certainly came away greatly stimulated and determined

As usual the conference has been a bombshell of inspiration and information

Very informative, an eye opener on a new era of medical practices

The professionalism and incredible quality of the speakers – amazing breadth of knowledge shared

I appreciate the great range of speakers who empower me with information to remain healthy, happy and having a meaningful life

Every presentation has been informative and relevant, with important take home messages

Informative, powerful, motivational and inspirational. A pleasure and privilege to be there

WOW – Enlightening and empowering weekend!

Highly qualified and motivated professionals with very structured and informative presentations – all had take away messages useful in my clinical work

Absolutely loved every bit of it – look forward to next year

I felt I had my money’s worth by morning tea!

Our history:

The Gawler Foundation is a symbol of hope, healing and inspiration for others. Read more www.gawler.org

Health professionals who attend the conference can also qualify for Royal Australian College of General Practitioners CPD points for professional development.

Filed under: Press releases 2011, Uncategorized

Integrative Health Care leaders ask ‘Is the illness versus wellness model right?’

gawlerfoundationmedia — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:05:43 +0000

Integrative Health Care leaders ask ‘Is the illness versus wellness model right?’

ABC Medical Reporter Sophie Scott will moderate an intriguing panel discussion exploring mainstream and integrative healthcare management approaches to illness versus wellness at this year’s Profound Healing – Sustainable Wellbeing Conference.

This significant panel discussion is just one event on this informative and inspirational program at The Gawler Foundation’s Annual Conference, to be held on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November 2011 at Melbourne’s Hilton on the Park.

Joining Sophie Scott on the panel is AIMA founder Dr Vicki Kotsirilos, Director of the National Institute of Integrative Medicine Professor Avni Sali, GP and Monash University senior lecturer Dr Craig Hassed, Professor of Medicine, Melbourne University and MS survivor Prof George Jelinek and Therapeutic Director of The Gawler Foundation Mr Siegfried Gutbrod.

‘Society is entering a new era in healthcare where “prevention is better than cure” is taking on a new significance,’ says Karin Knoester, The Gawler Foundation CEO, ‘but there is still a way to go and conferences such as this bring renewed vigour to the integrative healthcare discussion.’

‘The understanding that lifestyle can be a major contributor to chronic illness is now broadly accepted amongst health professionals. For decades, The Gawler Foundation has advocated that lifestyle is also the best treatment option and beyond that, a sound preventative strategy as well. Nutrition, meditation and empowerment are effective ways to achieve and maintain wellness,’ she says.

‘Is the current focus on treating disease and illness at the expense of providing real and effective strategies for wellness? The panel discussion will consider a broad range of responses to this critical question and provide insights into how integrative healthcare, the combination of mainstream and complementary approaches, can provide people today with a “best possible” outcome, and improved quality of life.’

For more information and to download the conference program and registration forms, visit www.gawler.org/speakers or call 03 5967 1730. For Conference information contact Bronwyn Gillespie, Conference Manager, on 03 9819 1379. Interviews and images are available on request.
For Media information please contact Lindy Schneider, Media and Communications Manager, The Gawler Foundation Media Department on 03 5967 1730. Website www.gawler.org

Biographies:

Sophie Scott

Professor Avni Sali MBSS PhD FRACS FACS FACNEM

Dr Craig Hassed MBBS FRACGP:

Siegfried Gutbrod MCounsHS BBA

Dr Vicki Kotsirilos MBBS FACNEM

Professor George Jelinek MBBS MD DipDHM FACEM

Written comments from delegate feedback forms last year

What a wonderful event. I found the speakers inspirational and certainly came away greatly stimulated and determined

As usual the conference has been a bombshell of inspiration and information

Very informative, an eye opener on a new era of medical practices

The professionalism and incredible quality of the speakers – amazing breadth of knowledge shared

I appreciate the great range of speakers who empower me with information to remain healthy, happy and having a meaningful life

Every presentation has been informative and relevant, with important take home messages

Informative, powerful, motivational and inspirational. A pleasure and privilege to be there

WOW – Enlightening and empowering weekend!

Highly qualified and motivated professionals with very structured and informative presentations – all had take away messages useful in my clinical work

Absolutely loved every bit of it – look forward to next year

I felt I had my money’s worth by morning tea!

Our history:

The Gawler Foundation is a symbol of hope, healing and inspiration for others. Read more www.gawler.org

Health professionals who attend the conference can also qualify for Royal Australian College of General Practitioners CPD points for professional development.

Filed under: Press releases 2011

Qi Gong helps Cessnock woman’s cancer battle

gawlerfoundationmedia — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 00:51:59 +0000

The Advertiser
KRYSTAL SELLARS
29 Jun, 2011 11:53 AM

Told she had an average of two to three years to live, Sam Aulton has turned her life around and hopes to help others in the same way.

Diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in February, the cancer had spread to her spine and possibly her lungs, and doctors had little hope for her survival.

Determined not to give up, the Cessnock woman decided to make some changes in her lifestyle, and hopes to beat the odds.

“Averages don’t have to relate to everyone and the law of averages does not mean that everyone will be condemned to that outcome…but this gave me the impetus that I needed to change my habits and change my potential outcome,” Sam said.

With plenty to live for, including daughters Maggie (six) and Ruby (three), Sam has turned to alternative therapies, with promising results.

One of these therapies is Qi Gong (pronounced chi gung), the Chinese exercise form that uses breathing and meditation to improve and treat disease.

“I’m doing a few different things, but this one (Qi Gong) feels really good, and I want to share it with people,” Sam said.

Sam took up Qi Gong in March and a lung scan in May revealed no signs of cancer. The cancer also appears to have stopped spreading around her bones.

While doctors would not confirm whether the cancer had actually spread to her lungs, Sam caught pneumonia twice around Christmas time last year and cancer could have been the cause.

Sam said she feels “lucky” to have had the pneumonia, or the doctors may not have discovered the cancer.

It is Sam’s second battle with the disease – she was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, just two weeks after her 30th birthday.

But she was shocked all the same to have cancer again.

“After five years, they usually say ‘congratulations’,” she said.

Sam underwent chemotherapy, radiation and hormone treatment 11 years ago. She was offered hormone treatment this time around, but declined.

“Knowing that it had not cured me 11 years ago why would it cure me now?” she said.

“I had already had two years of hormone treatment Zoladex at age 31 which put me into menopause and caused osteopeonia.

“They also stated radiation could be of assistance but would only shrink the tumour not cure the root cause, so I thought again ‘no’ – I need a cure.”

Following her scan in May, which came after more than two months of daily Qi Gong sessions, doctors said Sam’s body seemed to be “moving in the right direction” without the use of these hormone treatments that cause damaging side effects.

“And I was stoked,” she said.

Sam discovered Qi Gong through cancer retreat centre The Gawler Foundation and has also been visiting Sydney-based Chinese medicine specialist, Dr. Qixin Chen, who she said has many “miracle stories”.

Sam is looking to conduct free classes in a local park for anyone with cancer, degenerative diseases, allergies or other ailments that may be helped by Qi Gong.

“There are masters of Qi Gong, who teach people how to teach…I’m just a student who wants to share what I’ve accumulated,” she said.

Sam has practices Qi Gong for half an hour every morning, but it’s just part of her healing plan. She also meditates two or three times a day, has visited a “mind coach” who has helped her create a positive outlook, and has rid her diet of sugar, which cancer cells can feed upon.

“I used to be really negative towards eating fanatically, but when it’s your life, it’s worth it,” she said.

Anyone interested in learning about Qi Gong is asked to contact Sam on 0414 741 429 for more information.

Filed under: Media Coverage

Penning a new chapter of life

gawlerfoundationmedia — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:41:35 +0000

The Australian Jewish News
June 20, 2011

WHEN David Bardas was forced into early retirement 15 years ago, the former Sportsgirl/Sportscraft chief executive confronted the age-old dilemma of what to do next.

So he took up the pursuit of writing poetry in his backyard shed. It was something his late father-in-law, Victor Smorgon, one of the country’s greatest industrialists, didn’t quite understand.

“It’s one of the family jokes,” recalls Bardas. “[Victor] said, ‘What are you doing?’ and I said, ‘I’m writing’. And he said, ‘Yes, but what are you doing?’ … [To him], writing wasn’t doing something.”

That didn’t deter Bardas. He carried on with his newfound passion and now at age 73, his first play, Home for Lunch, written with Rebecca Lister, premiered at Chapel Off Chapel in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran last week.

With a cast led by Dennis Coard and Margot Knight, the play is a blend of comedy and drama as it explores one man’s struggle with adapting to his new retired lifestyle where identity is lost, relationships are strained and people struggle with the questions around getting older and the unknown.

Asked if the play is autobiographical, Bardas is coy. “I can’t say it’s exactly autobiographical, but writers have to be influenced by what they have experienced.”

Story continues below video

What he will say is that the play is “funny and serious” and about “personal space”.

“When I tell contemporary women, in particular, what it’s about, they just nod their head and say ‘yes’”, elaborates Bardas, who was married to Sandra Smorgan for 46 years until her death in 2007.

“You come into your wife’s space and you have to be careful not to crowd the person. First, you have to realise that your life has changed. You’ve changed; she’s changed; and all of a sudden, you are thrown back together again. So that takes a bit of working out. I figured out a routine of keeping out of the house.

“On the positive side, you come home for lunch, and you’ve got freedom. You don’t have to front up for work or have that responsibility. But it’s what you do with that time and space. You don’t want to go into a vacuum.”

Bardas is quick to stress, however, that it’s not meant to be a parable. “I’m not trying to tell people what to do.”

For Bardas, it has been an interesting journey to get to this point. At the age of 22, he joined the family business after the sudden death of his father, Morris, in 1956 and quickly proved to have a deft touch in retail fashion.

He built Sportsgirl into an iconic chain with 144 retail outlets and 3000 staff and brands including Aywon, Crestknit, David Lawrence and Elle B.

Then in the 1990s, the economic climate turned sour. He was forced to step down and the company was sold off. Not one to be idle, Bardas kept himself busy writing and dedicating himself to various worthy causes.

He served as president of the Gawler Foundation, a non-denominational charity that provides support for people suffering from illnesses such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, and had a stint as a City of Melbourne councillor in 1996-97.

As part of the United Israel Appeal of Victoria, he personally funded $100,000 towards Net@Project in Lod and Ramle, which helps Israeli youth from high-risk backgrounds.

Most recently, he funded the operating costs of an inner-city home in Melbourne that hosts vulnerable young people as part of the Lighthouse Foundation.

Reflecting on his retirement thus far, Bardas says he feels he has taken advantage of his time, “counts his blessings” and continues to write every day.

Did he ever convince his father-in-law about his writing pursuits?

“I ended up writing a book about him. It was called Insight Victor,” he muses. “I gave it to him as a birthday present. It was a lot of his sayings over the years.

“The only feedback I got from him was, ‘That’s only your opinion.’ He was bullet proof.”

Home for Lunch is at Chapel Off Chapell, 12 Little Chapel Street, Prahran until Sunday, July 3. Bookings: (03) 8290 7000 and www.chapeloffchapel.com.au.

REPORT: Chantal Abitbol

PHOTO: Playwright David Bardas

Filed under: Uncategorized

Beating cancer – beyond chemotherapy

gawlerfoundationmedia — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 01:18:32 +0000

The New Zealand Listener
By Ruth Laugesen | Published on June 13, 2011 | Issue 3710

Some believe the right mental attitude, a healthy diet, exercise and meditation can help beat cancer, but how do these claims stack up?

Getty Images

No one knows better than investment banker Rob Cameron how quickly a life can flip. Last October, Cameron, 61, began the day apparently fit and healthy apart from a very sore thumb.

But the routine medical appointment at 10.00am to look at his thumb had by day’s end escalated into an x-ray, then another x-ray, then a full body CAT scan. By 4.00pm, Cameron was staring at a scan showing a lesion on his left lung. The inference was clear: cancer had travelled from his lungs to the bone in his thumb, and was now circulating throughout his body.

Five days later at Auckland’s MercyAscot Hospital, Cameron went through a full PET scan, which produces a grey and black image of the body, with active tumours glowing in yellow and red. “It lit up like a Christmas tree,” says his oncologist, Dr Richard Sullivan. “He had spots of tumours all through his bones like lights. They were everywhere. More than you could probably count.” Without treatment, he could expect to live perhaps five months. He had metastatic lung cancer, despite never smoking, or living in a smoky environment.

By late March, Cameron had won an important battle in what may well be a long campaign. Not only had he survived to enjoy his daughter Emma’s wedding, but he was in complete remission with no detectable cancer in his body. The results, says Sullivan, are “unusual … He has done remarkably well.” But, Sullivan says, Cameron knows “that sometime in the future, hopefully a long, long way away, the lights will come back on again”.

Cameron is attributing his remission not just to three rounds of chemotherapy and Sullivan’s care in the private health system, but to an intensive regime of diet, meditation, visualisation and exercise to help his healing. The support of family and friends has also been crucial. When we meet at his home in Wellington’s Wadestown, Cameron, fresh from a meditation session, is drinking green tea. It’s no exaggeration to say he looks radiant. Cameron says his new regime left him feeling profoundly well – even before he got news he was in remission.

“It wasn’t until I got my CAT scan that I could say what I really wanted to say, which is I feel the best that I’ve felt in 30 years. I was feeling fantastic, as well as I could ever remember.”
Is Cameron on to something? Could cancer patients boost their chances by a regime that emphasises healthy eating, a calm mind and a fighting spirit? How much of it is about the healing power of hope? Or is cancer just an awful, mysterious lottery in which only the doctors can improve the odds?

Cameron was never going to take a diagnosis of metastatic cancer lying down. He is one of the country’s top tier of business leaders, the founder of investment banking firm Cameron Partners who was tapped by Labour and later National to take part in powerful working groups. He headed the Capital Market Development Taskforce, which reported in December 2009, and was a member of the Tax Working Group, which reported a month later.

For all the accolades that came Cameron’s way after the work, the load was part of an approach to life he thinks gave him cancer. “In the two or three years up to my diagnosis I put myself through a lot of pressure. Frankly, I knew I was fatigued. The Capital Market Taskforce was a huge commitment, and I did it because I thought it would make a difference. But it isn’t just one event or two events – it was the way I was living my life.”

He loved his work, but he habitually “pushed through” fatigue, and lived on adrenalin. Working in a highly competitive industry, Cameron had learnt pressured habits that kept his nervous system on continual alert. He used to feel tense even when he went to the supermarket. Exercise was another way to test himself – he would exercise “to the point of pain”. “My idea was you could be bulletproof as long as you exercise like a madman.”

Cameron ignored the warning signs of his cancer, like the tingles in his bones that he mistook for the aches and pains of ageing, but which were in fact metastases at work in the bones of his spine, ribs and shoulder.

Even though Cameron comes from the orthodox world of business and banking, the grim prognosis for his disease meant that after diagnosis he began looking outside the medical establishment for extra help in battling cancer. In addition to conventional medical treatment consisting of chemotherapy, Cameron and wife Maureen headed across the Tasman to a leading centre for complementary therapies for cancer, the Gawler Foundation. The foundation stresses a healthy diet, high in fruit and vegetables and wholegrains, relaxation and mediation, and well-being for “the body, emotions, mind and spirit”.

For the first time in his life, Cameron discovered what it was to relax. “No longer do I spend most of my time tense here,” he says, pointing to his stomach, “tense, ready to act.”

Cameron’s diet had already been healthy, but under his new regime he eats no refined foods (such as white flour, white rice or white sugar), no salt, plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and wholegrains, a little fish for omega-3, very little red meat, no processed meats, some dairy products (such as probiotic yoghurt), and plenty of soy products such as soy milk and tofu. Most nights he has a glass of red wine.

Breakfast might be rolled oats, fresh fruit and yoghurt. He makes two or three vegetable juices a day, which always include fresh garlic, a teaspoon of turmeric and pepper. Cameron’s particular food regime reflects a growing interest in the role of inflammation in cancer, and foods like green tea and turmeric show promise for their anti-inflammatory properties.

Cameron also favours garlic, leeks, onions and vegetables from the cruciform family (cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower) for their potential role as anti-cancer agents. There are a host of others favourites, too – including darker-coloured berries, such as raspberries and blackberries. Cameron says his extensive reading suggests variety is crucial.

Cameron’s oncologist has encouraged his search for more answers outside conventional medicine. As well as maintaining a rigorous diet, Cameron meditates daily, using mindfulness techniques that focus on intense awareness of the body.

He has a daily walk or gym session. But now his workouts are kinder. And after exercise he spends time visualising his body healing, “telling my body that my immune system is going to work better”.
A man used to a sense of control over his life, Cameron is seeking to find that sense of control with cancer. He remembers seeing other patients, receiving their chemotherapy who “were victims, lying on their backs … You could see they were hoping desperately it would work. Whereas to me it was an engagement process.”

He decided to look forward to chemotherapy, seeing the toxic brews as his friend, and would sit in a chair. Each visit, he would spend more than an hour visualising the drugs making his body inhospitable to cancer.

We know, though, that cancer is a powerful foe. Is there a danger of hubris, of pretending greater control than he really has? Cameron pauses. “Yeah, there is. My oncologist was concerned about that when I got the result, and he’s very concerned that there’s a danger here that people can feel bulletproof again, and then they’ll fall off the bus. I’ve got to stay in control. I know absolutely that if I’m not disciplined around the things I do, whatever good outcomes I’m achieving will be worse.

“I haven’t beaten lung cancer. I know it’s there, I know it’s likely to show again. I’m not being unrealistic about that. But I know I’ve got a lot more options to manage it, and I’ve learnt something about myself and I’ve learnt a lot about my choices for managing it. That’s the insight I’ve got to stick with, not that I’ve developed a killer app.”

He speaks of having put fear and anxiety to one side. He certainly looks robustly confident, like a man who’s dodged a bullet. But when his wife comes in, she looks drawn and anxious. “It’s hard to stop worrying. It’s easier being the patient,” Maureen says. She must keep the fridges stocked with the bags of vegetables for the ever-hungry juicer, and work out appetising things to do with brown rice

As most of us know, there is now a mountain of evidence that a Mediterranean-style diet heavy in fruit, vegetables and grains and low in saturated fats lowers the risk of getting cancer, as does regular exercise. But is there any evidence that diet, exercise and other non-medical measures can improve the odds of recovery from cancer?

Rob Cameron in 2006, before his cancer diagnosis

Professor Lynnette Ferguson, head of nutrition at the University of Auckland’s medical school and an expert on cancer and nutrition, says good diet is “absolutely vital” in recovery from cancer, both to boost the immune system and help wound healing.

“There is evidence that certain foods may have benefits, but the strong evidence is that you want a mixture of things. So I do worry about these superfoods and people who are convinced that if broccoli is good for them they ought to be eating it morning, noon and night. And displacing other items of the diet.”

Although population studies have shown a Mediterrean-style diet lowers the risk of cancer and heart disease, the exact mechanisms are not known. Whereas vitamins and minerals were once thought to be the key to health, now a host of other food elements are being recognised as working together, including plant pigments, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents and omega-3.

Ferguson recommends those recovering from cancer rigorously follow a conventional healthy diet. But she says the evidence that this will change the course of the disease “is slightly less direct than I would like” at this point. “The evidence is indirect at the moment that it may be beneficial in some types of cancer, [that] it may be helping slow things down.” The most promising research so far is in prostate cancer, where a range of studies suggest a very healthy diet slows progression of the cancer.

“And in terms of meditation, if you can clear your mind of panicking – stress is certainly a factor in the development and progression of cancer.”

With food, increasingly researchers are realising that extracting individual elements from a healthy diet and taking them as supplements doesn’t prevent cancer or help recovery from it, and may even be harmful. Another expert on cancer and nutrition, University of Otago head of nutrition Professor Murray Skeaff, says a decade ago excitement was high about the potential for antioxidants to fight cancer. It was thought perhaps antioxidants were the active ingredient in fruit and vegetables that produced lower cancer rates for those with healthy diets.

Research money gushed into a huge number of trials using high-dose antioxidant supplements. But once the results from all the trials had been number-crunched, the overall picture was worse than disappointing. The results suggested high doses of antioxidant supplements can actually increase the risk of some cancers. Unsurprisingly, antioxidants are no longer “hot” as an area of research.

“It’s really caused people to rethink, that maybe it’s not the antioxidants, maybe it’s the fruit and vegetables themselves,” says Skeaff. “They contain a range of compounds and bioactive ingredients. There are a range of compounds that help the body to detoxify carcinogens, get rid of carcinogens.”

The failed promises of supplements aren’t limited to antioxidants. High doses of beta-carotene have been proven to increase the risk of lung cancer in smokers.

Weighing up all the claims is not easy. Internationally, the World Cancer Research Fund provides the most rigorous assessment of the evidence on healthy food and lifestyle and their effect on cancer. In its most recent report, it concludes that for cancer survivors, the research is still sketchy on what difference diet might make. “It is of variable quality; it is difficult to interpret; and it has not yet produced impressive results.” However, the fund does say there is “growing evidence” that physical activity and other measures that control weight may help to prevent cancer recurrence, particularly breast cancer.

The research fund recommends that cancer survivors follow the same healthy diet and lifestyle recommended for cancer prevention. That is: be lean; be physically active; limit consumption of energy-dense foods and sugary drinks; eat mostly foods of plant origin; limit intake of red meat and processed meats; limit alcoholic drinks; limit consumption of salt; don’t take dietary supplements; and mothers should breastfeed.

In the arena of support groups and psychological treatment, Dr Elizabeth Broadbent, senior lecturer in psychological medicine at the University of Auckland, says “the jury is out”. Although such interventions improve the quality of life, “there’s not a lot of evidence that they can improve outcomes from cancer, like survival”. Hopes were raised in 1989 when the Lancet published a study by American psychiatrist David Spiegel that showed women with metastatic breast cancer who took part in support groups lived 18 months longer than those who did not take part in the groups. However, says Broadbent, subsequent studies have failed to reproduce his results.

But despite the patchy findings on complementary approaches, Cancer Society medical director Dr Chris Atkinson, says patients are not helpless in all this. “There’s a huge body of evidence to suggest the things you do for yourself help you cope with the cancer journey. They improve your quality of life and, if you do survive your cancer, probably prevent you getting other chronic illnesses.”

Visualisation, meditation, exercise “is all good stuff … People who are able to visualise and meditate often do get rid of a huge amount of stress, they feel better for it, they’re able to exercise more and they’re able to better accept the changes in their nutrition, so they often live better.”

However, the unfortunate reality, says Atkinson, is that cancer cannot always be vanquished. “The sad thing is you can have many patients who do everything right – they are positive, they accept all the orthodox therapies, they do things for themselves, complementary therapies – and they still die of a rotten cancer.” And too often, in these days where people are expected to not just endure cancer, but have the “right” attitude to it, those who succumb are quietly blamed for not fighting hard enough.

Rob Cameron in remission

What patients do have control over, says Atkinson, is the maintenance of hope and meaning on their journey. How? “I think you mainly maintain hope by honesty. I think you can maintain hope until almost your last breath if you talk about the fact that you’re still making a difference to your community and your family. You maintain hope and meaning until you die.”

University of Otago associate professor David Perez is an oncologist known for his understanding of quality of life issues in cancer care. He says research suggests hope and a positive attitude improve the quality of life and psychological well-being, but do not actually, on average, extend life expectancy. “However, a sense of helplessness appears to be capable of shortening life.”

Rob Cameron’s oncologist, Richard Sullivan, says he believes it is critical for cancer sufferers to build their hope for the future.

“It’s a bit like building a wheel. The person is the hub, and they’re collecting spokes to make sure their wheel is strong to take them on their journey, wherever it’s going to take them to. Some of those spokes are obviously their chemotherapy, and their clinician, but other spokes are their family, their whanau, their diet, whatever else it may be.” Sullivan specialises in lung cancer, one of the most deadly forms, with only 10% surviving five years.

Does having a fighting attitude help? “I think it helps a lot. I feel very lucky to do what I do. I get to see people as they work out what matters to them and how they want to fight. But you don’t see that many miracles, sadly.”
Of the patients who do particularly well, is there anything they have in common? Biology comes into play, but so do attitude and determination. “This is just a personal view, but when people come and see you and are determined to maintain well-being, they still might live for only six months, but they may have only lived for two. The ones who come along and say, ‘I’m going to die from this, aren’t I, Doc’, then generally speaking they do.”

What about those who are not fortunate enough to be optimists? “My role is to stop you from giving up. One of the roles of the oncology team I believe is to try and find value for that individual on why you don’t give up. But if you’re giving up because that’s the right and rational thing to do, then support that and make that work.”

Cameron says he doesn’t have the luxury of waiting for the evidence to come in, for the double-blind randomised control trials to tell him whether his morning vegetable smoothies with turmeric and garlic really will work. He has read widely the research there is, and feels well under his new regime.

“I live in a world where people make judgments in capital markets, where they get information from all over, and then they back themselves on it. Give me information and I’ll make judgments on it.”

But he is under no illusions. “This is a serious disease. A lot of things have gone my way. But all you can do is influence it at the margins, with a very big influence on the quality of life. But this disease can be cruel.”
Cameron’s words turned out to be all too true. As the Listener was going to print, Cameron told us the latest scan showed his cancer had returned, “mildly”. He is taking the next step in his treatment. He is among the 10-15% of lung cancer patients with a mutation that responds to a new chemotherapy drug called Tarceva, funded by Pharmac, which blocks the cancer for a year or longer.
The expectation, says his doctor, is Tarceva “will turn the lights off again”.

Filed under: Uncategorized

On a walk and a prayer for Lilyfield man raising money for the Gawler Foundation

gawlerfoundationmedia — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 02:46:03 +0000

By Ben Pike
Inner West Courier, 5th April 2011

CANCER survivor and Lilyfield resident John Bettens began an epic 3000km walk across Europe on Friday, in an effort to raise $1million for the Gawler Foundation.

The former criminal lawyer is following a pilgrim’s path – the Camino de Santiago – from St Peter’s Basilica in Rome to St James’ Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

The 63-year-old, whose blog can be read at innerwest courier.com.au, will trek 25km per day despite still suffering from prostate cancer (diagnosed 2003) and follicular lymphoma (diagnosed 2007).

“When you’re faced with the prospect of death, the gift of life and what it has to offer is put quickly in perspective,” Mr Bettens said.

“Every day I am reminded of my strengths and my weaknesses,” he said. ” Walking can be a very humbling experience. It is a wonderful opportunity to let go of ego.

“Life becomes simple when your worldly possessions are carried on your back and accommodation is nothing more than a small tent, sleeping bag and mat.”

After first being diagnosed in 2003, Mr Bettens started a 42-day liquid fast, began yoga and stopped drinking coffee and alcohol. He also meditated to ease his body and mind, and has made it part of his daily routine.

“The journey will be a highlight,” he said. “You observe life at a walking pace through a wide lens; you see, you hear, you feel and you smell things.

“But the ultimate highlight will be reaching St James Cathedral in Santiago. There will be sadness that the journey has come to an end, mixed with the joy of having experienced something monumental in my life.”

Filed under: Media Coverage

The road less travelled

gawlerfoundationmedia — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:49:40 +0000

LAW SOCIETY JOURNAL, April 2011

A cancer diagnosis in 2003 led former criminal defence lawyer John Bettens to give up practising law. Now he’s on a 3,000km journey from Rome to Santiago de Compostela (north-west Spain) to raise funds and awareness of how an integrative approach to healing can help fight cancer.

“In March 2003, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and decided to stop work – it was a most significant decision,” Bettens told LSJ. “I decided 18 months before ceasing to practise in 2006 that it was a path I wanted to go down.”
Bettens had been a sole practitioner with a busy criminal law practice in the city before he started winding it down and finally sold his office.

“Selling up was definitely a break with what had been my life for 25 years,” he said. “In the end, there was not a great deal of work left, so by the time I had to leave in December 2006, I was ready.”

Bettens says he had to move himself away from a chronically stressful situation, pointing out the stress would have compromised his immune system, which he needed in optimum shape to fight the disease.

At the same time, he decided to decline conventional medicine in his battle against cancer, seeking instead to use natural therapies and making lifestyle changes such as giving up alcohol and coffee, taking up yoga, becoming vegan and developing a daily meditation practice.

“I would not allow work to dominate my life. It is a servant to me – I would have to be the one in control.”

Bettens now lives with two kinds of cancer – prostate and follicular lymphoma – both of which are under control. His spirits remain high and he continues to take on new challenges. These include finishing a Masters in International Law, which he undertook “purely out of interest”. “I needed some intellectual stimulation. You can only read so many medical articles before you get exhausted.”

While Bettens says he hopes to one day return to practice, with a possibility of going into international criminal law, his priority continues to be his health.

“If I go back, I will approach it in a very different way,” he said. “I would not allow work to dominate my life. It is a servant to me – I would have to be the one in control.”

That is also the advice Bettens gives to other practitioners: “From time to time you need to stop and take a look at where your life is. Ask yourself: ‘Is it all really worthwhile? Do I need to work with the same intensity? Can I cut back? Can I have a bit of joy in my life?’”
He says it’s about taking time to have a look at life and not wait till a disease strikes before taking action. “Had I stopped and looked at my life, I might have taken a different approach. Cancer forces you to have a look.”

The journey

Bettens will start his walk from Rome to Santiago de Compostela on 1 April. While he has been on the trail three times before, this time his trek will take him along a less common route through the west coast of Italy into France, adding more than 2,200km to the usual 800km walk.

He wants to do the longer hike as “part of the healing process”, as it is about the “physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual” healing journey he is on.

This will also be Bettens’s first fundraiser, with money raised going to the Gawler Foundation, which provides cancer retreats and programs that take an integrated, holistic approach to healing and health, and which continues, he says, to help him deal with his cancers.

Bettens will be blogging while walking, and his journey can be followed on www.rome tosantiagoproject.com.au, with a link to make donations.

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On a walk and a prayer for Lilyfield man raising money for the Gawler Foundation

The road less travelled

The journey

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