What a great day on Saturday 1^st August, where we held a combined adult/paediatric/adolescent education day, with doctors and nurses from Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Princess Margaret Children’s Hospital.

Adult Session:  number of patients and nurses attended the morning session which was great.  The topics included information on the adrenal and thyroid glands, explaining their function in the healthy body, what can go wrong and how to manage the situation. Thank you once again to Dr David Henley and Dr Ee Munn Lim who have presented for us on a number of occasions. I was particularly chuffed to have my own doctor, Dr Joey Kay present on Prolactinoma management which proved to be very interesting.  Thanks to all the nurses who attended.

Dr David Henley, nurse Alicia Linn & Peter Marsh	Dr Ee Munn Lim and Dr Joey Kay

Paediatric Session: Nurse Maree Grant, who some of you would be familiar with, assisted us to connect with doctors at Princess Margaret Children’s Hospital which transpired into a great afternoon.  A small number of parents attended, a few nurses and a visiting Endocrinologist.  Dr Catherine Choong gave an insight into puberty and Dr Aris Siafarikas spoke about bone health. These presentations go hand in hand in the understanding of growth.

The "usual mob" plus a few new faces...

Dr Kiranjit Joshi and Dr Tarini Chetty, Endocrine fellows, lectured on Adrenal Crisis & Hydrocortisone injection practice. Some very relevant questions were answered on conclusion of the afternoon.

Dr Kiranjit Joshi and Dr Tarini Chetty	Nurse Maree Grant, Dr Catherine Choong and Dr Aris Siafarikas

We’re pleased to say that a wonderful donation from Mrs. Garis afforded us to film the events and we hope to have them uploaded to the members area of the website soon.

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It was a great morning with all sorts of topics to entice. Approx. 40 people attended and we certainly learnt a lot. 

There are a number of Acromegaly patients in WA (some of who feature in the photo left) who took the opportunity to listen to Dr. David Henley, learning more about their condition now they have passed the initial stages of diagnosis and treatment.

 

It was also a delight to have our "Daniel" come across to help with the seminar and meet other members who have Acromegaly. To compliment David Henley's talk, Alicia Lin, gave us an indepth discussion and workshop on the injection some people with ongoing excess growth hormone take. Assoc. Prof. Bronwyn Stuckey spoke on sex hormones and fertility. APF would like to thank Dr. Stuckey who has continually supported us by presenting on most occassions.

Prof. David Joseph's presentation on the evolving changes through the years for radiation techniques was very interesting. 

 WA has not had a radiation therapy talk for some time. Our good friend and member, Brett McCann (CEO of Impotence Australia) helped us out with some relationship and intimacy tips while managing a chronic condition.

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What a great turnout of parents and children. We were so excited to have doctors and nurses from Princess Margaret Hospital present for our members and also their patients.


The parents appreciated the opportunity to network. The topics were so relevent to everyone and in particular the discussion on Growth Hormone into Adolescence with Dr. Shetty. Dr. Ly spoke of pubertal induction. I would imagine this is a very critical time for parents and children to understand just what is happening to the growing body. It is great to have the availability of a seminar to attend and look at these issues in length.

Transition to adult services by Dr. Siafarikas stirred quite a response from the audience. One Mum wanted to know how she can keep her son on track after the age of 18 when the age of consent kicks in - will he agree to have her discuss his case with his doctors?  Dr. Price did a great job at speaking about adrenal crisis which became an interactive discussion. Nurses, then followed with a practical workshop which everyone enjoyed - even the kids got into it!

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In the absence of a state coordinator, APF Directors, Eric & Sue traveled across to beautiful WA to host the “Pituitary Conditions & Treatments” seminar at Fremantle Hospital. We must thank Elizabeth Howell and Lana Kelly who helped us out tremendously. Elizabeth did her annual appearance on Curtain radio prior to the seminar.

It was a pleasure to meet the doctors and I would like to thank them for their warmness. In particular thanks must go to Prof. Gunesh Rajan who approached us last year to do a session there at Fremantle and Prof. Bu Yeap who has now done two consecutive seminars with us!

Dr.Brett Sillars gave an overview of hormone replacements and medical treatments for over production of hormones. Mention was also made of two treatments not readily available in Australia presently. Pegvisomant, used to treat Acromegaly,is not approved for use in Australia but is being used in clinical trials and Growth Hormone for adults which presently is not listed for subsidy on the PBS (BUT lets hope we change that!). Member Gary Hall later spoke of his incidental finding of a large macroadenoma, subsequent urgent surgical treatment and the way he feels today thanks to hormone replacement.

Prof. Yeap spoke on two subjects – the usual introduction to pituitary function and disease which is most important for newcomers, and head injuries as a cause of hypopituitarism, which is the first time to my knowledge that the Foundation has received this topic. It was most appropriate to have it in WA, as past WA volunteer Lana lost her pituitary function due a closed head injury in a car accident. Lana gave a very detailed report on her trauma and subsequent recovery. This topic also raised interest with Headwest which is the brain injury association in WA and we were pleased to invite Robyn Fitzgerald, Disability First Stop Advocate at Headwest, to give a quick rundown about the services they provide. Ph: 0893306370 or 1800 626 370.

Prof.Gunesh Rajan and Mr. Gabriel Lee spoke of the history of neurosurgery and some of the different techniques. They then spoke of modern day surgery and in particular Endoscopic Surgery - its minimally invasive technique, and interdisciplinary team approach. A short video of the surgery was viewed which was of great interest. Alwyne Parker later spoke of her surgery (which was an older approach through the forehead and top of the skull) for Acromegaly and her positive outcome.

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Perth certainly turned on the beautiful weather for the “Pituitary in the West” Seminar which sought to provide information, resources, and support to those suffering from pituitary illnesses and disorders, their families and friends as well as interested health professionals.  We had a great representation from the health professional field attend, which is fantastic as it will further assist to provide awareness across the WA community.

Prof. Neville Knuckey & Prof. Bronwyn Stuckey	Prof. Bu Yeap, Elizabeth Howell, EmilyMcKenzie, Lana Kelly,  Dr. Melissa Tanner, Dr. Ee Mun Lim, Sue Kozi	Assoc. Prof. Timothy Jones

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The seminar at Royal Perth Hospital titled “Blame It on the Hormones” was a great success and generated a strong response.  Some attendees were familiar faces that regularly support our functions. 

Others were names that have appeared on our mailing list for a number of years and we can now put faces to these names.  Another group was recently diagnosed  patients who were attending for the first time and the final group consisted of interested members of the public.   

Jenny John thanking Maxine Drake  from Consumers' Health Council	Lana thanking Dr. David Hurley	Dr. Andrea Cussons

We were very thankful and appreciative of the informative presentations given by Drs Hurley and Cussons.  Special thanks too, must go to Maxine Drake from the Consumers’ Health Council.  Her presentation on the role of the council was both enlightening and inspiring.

Kevin, Elizabeth, Lana,Emily	Social networking during lunch

                        

 

2001 APF Seminar

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