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Free Public Information Evening on Prostate Cancer, Tuesday, April 9

Looking forward to the free public information evening on prostate cancer at the South Court Hotel were Patricia Finnegan, Staff Nurse, MidWestern Radiation Oncology Centre; Sheila Kiely, candidate Advanced Nurse Practitioner, UHL; Triona Neenan, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Oncology, UHL and Cathleen Osborne, CNM3 Cancer Services, UHL.

Free Public Information Evening on Prostate Cancer, Tuesday, April 9

A FREE public information evening on prostate cancer will take place on Tuesday next, April 9th (5pm) at the South Court Hotel in Raheen, Limerick.

Staff from UL Hospitals Group and the Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre will discuss the cancer and potential treatment options.


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Speakers on the evening are to include:

  • Dr Nemeer Osman, Consultant Medical Oncologist, University Hospital Limerick
  • Dr Mazen El Bassiouni, Consultant Radiation Oncologist, Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre
  • Dr Jody Khan, Specialist Registrar in Urology, UL Hospitals Group

Members of the public who attend the information evening will leave with a better understanding of what to expect in this cancer journey. Patients, along with friends and family, are welcome to attend.

Approximately 300 men currently attend for ongoing care for this type of cancer in the UL Hospitals Group.

The National Cancer Strategy recognises the importance of public engagement. And next week’s event is a sign of UL Hospitals Group’s commitment to informing and educating members of the public on this type of cancer and to helping them recognise the early signs and symptoms to allow for early detection.

Feedback from men from the MidWest who have undergone at least one line of treatment for this cancer has shown that patients would like to be better informed. This finding emerged through the Limerick sessions of the National Prostate Cancer Psychosocial Education Programme, developed by the Irish Cancer Society for prostate cancer survivors. And next week’s public information evening forms part of the response to meeting this demand 

According to Triona Neenan, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Oncology, University Hospital Limerick: “Men said they often did not feel informed about signs and symptoms; about paths into the service and about the treatment choices. This is in spite of Blue November and other men’s health campaigns that have done great work in recent years.”

“So we hope people will come to our night next week, which is for anybody looking for information on prostate cancer. We will explain the services, how to access them, the treatment options. Taboos will be explained, and the medical jargon clarified, so people will feel a lot better if they have to come into us or if they are generally curious about prostate cancer,” Ms Neenan added.

Sheila Kiely, candidate Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Prostate Services, University Hospital Limerick, said: “More and more treatment choices have become available in recent years for prostate cancer, and we hope that by attending on the evening, people will be better able to make the choice that suits them should they ever be faced with that choice. We are trying to support the information needs of men and their loved ones in that decision-making process, whether is it chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery or hormone therapy. And the good news for patients is the choice of therapies is increasing all the time and that the prognosis is good. Prostate cancer, if you are picked up at an early stage of diagnosis, has a survival rate of 80% to 90% after five years and is now considered like a chronic disease.”

  • Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Each year in Ireland about 2,750 men are diagnosed with this cancer. It accounts for 30% of all newly diagnosed cases of cancer in men. The chances of developing prostate cancer increase as you get older. Most cases develop in men aged 70 or older. The causes of prostate cancer are largely unknown.
  • The outlook for this cancer is generally good. This is because, unlike many other cancers, prostate cancer usually progresses very slowly. Depending on the type of cancer, some mens’ life expectancy may not be affected by the cancer. Prostate cancer can usually be cured if it is treated in its early stages. Treatments include removing the prostate, hormone therapy and radiotherapy.
  • If the cancer spreads from the prostate to other parts of the body (metastasis), typically the bones, it cannot be cured, and treatment is focused on prolonging life and relieving symptoms. Approximately 500 men die from prostate cancer every year in Ireland.
  • All the treatment options carry the risk of significant side effects, including loss of sexual desire (libido), the inability to maintain or obtain an erection (sexual dysfunction) and urinary incontinence.

 

For more information on prostate cancer, please visit here and here

For more stories on Cancer support, click here 

 

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.