Testicular Cancer Health & Wellbeing Event

Friends of the Cancer Centre were very pleased to support the annual Testicular Cancer Health & Wellbeing Event which took place on Monday 5th November. This event was organised by our Renal & Testicular Cancer Nurse Melanie McNally and is designed to provide men who have been treated for testicular cancer, and their families, with information and support to help them settle back into life post-treatment.

This event takes place each year and allows men to come together to hear from some of the members of the multidisciplinary team and also from representatives of other support services available to them both during and after treatment.

Those in attendance heard firstly from Dr Bode Oladipo, consultant medical oncologist, about the recurrence of testicular cancer. The presentation covered how this can be identified, what treatment is available and hopefully helped to alleviate some fears the men may have had.  Later in the evening, another presentation from Dr Oladipo related to advice on sexual function and fertility post treatment for testicular cancer. Issues related to sex and fertility can be a significant side effect of testicular cancer and Dr Oladipo’s presentation addressed some of these matters.

As well as hearing from the medical team on the treatment side of a cancer diagnosis, those in attendance were also able to hear about some of the wider support available. Simon Darby, Young Person’s Social Worker in the Cancer Centre, presented on financial, practical and emotional support available to the patients following a cancer diagnosis which included advice on everything from travel insurance to support for children.

Another presentation was from the Macmillan Move More coordinator, Claire Murphy, who presented on the programme which is designed to provide the best opportunity for patients with cancer to get active before, during and after treatment. The Move More programme details the benefits of getting active and provides a step-by-step guide to some easy exercise that can aid treatment and recovery.

A key aspect of this health & wellbeing event is to allow men to come together and share their experiences of being diagnosed with cancer. There were two patient story presentations as part of the evening and given the breadth of knowledge available from the multidisciplinary team at this event, there was also an opportunity for the patients to ask any questions they had about their treatment, side effects and support services.

“Great information, enjoyed the night, great work”

“An excellent and worthwhile evening”

“Overall excellent, really helpful and glad the event exists! Keep doing these sessions, they are so informative and interesting”

More information on the support and assistance Friends of the Cancer Centre provides, including details of all our Clinical Nurse Specialists is available at https://www.friendsofthecancercentre.com/how-we-help