September 2015 Newsletter

News for September 2015

From Deb Hurt ALA NZ Representative 

We have exciting developments to report in New Zealand!
 
National Training Courses coming to New Zealand
News from our Therapists
Wellington News 
Auckland News


Yvonne Ferguson is in the process of setting up to run national courses in 'The Treatment and Management of Lymphoedema', both level 1 and level 2 in New Zealand. She is going to the USA in early December to do further training with Klose, and will be using their materials and online training as part of the course. She is at present working through the requirements of ALA and NLPR so the courses meet these requirements and can be endorsed prior to running her first course.  Courses will be run as needed in NZ, requiring a minimum of 10 and maximum of 16. It is her hope to have the first course in the first half of next year and we look forward to this and wish her well.
 
News from our therapists ....
The therapists at Counties Manukau Health in Auckland have also been busy. Peggy Williams went with Dr Meredith Simcock to Sydney to look at liposuction surgery for lymphoedema with the plan being to set up this service here. Unfortunately as is the way of hospital boards they have decided not to fund this at this time, but the group will continue to push for this to be added to the services that they provide.
 
On a happier note Jodie Reynolds poster on Paediatric Lymphoedema has been accepted by the APAC conference (3 day) which is to be held in Auckland in September on 24/09/2015. She has won entrance to the conference valued at $1700 and the poster has been entered for international judging! Here's hoping for a win!!!  Jodie and Peggy have been asked to present at the Melanoma (MelNet) Conference which is a 2 day international conference to be held in Auckland in November this year, and have also been approached and asked to provide a lecture for the Nursing Post Graduate Wound Care paper at Auckland University in September, so knowledge is being shared with many.
 
News from Wellington
The Wellington Region Lymphoedema Support Group continues to meet on a monthly basis. In August the speaker was a cell biologist. She produced a wonderful power point presentation of the anatomy and physiology of the lymphatic system to a group of 12 people. Her presentation was very well received as she put the information into very easy to understand language. The passion for her work really shone through and she has offered to come back and speak further on the topic if the group wants this which I'm sure will be taken up next year.
 
The 3 Healthy-steps classes in Wellington and Upper Hutt continue to attract new and long-standing participants. The joy the participants gain from the music and movement also extends to the support they receive from the respective groups. The Healthy-steps classes also continue in Auckland with regulars and some new participants.
 
News from Auckland
The Lymphoedema Support Network in Auckland continues to have regular meetings. At the first meeting in March, 60 members, friends and health professionals attended to hear Brenda Frearson speak of her experiences as the first person in NZ to receive “life changing” surgery for her leg lymphoedema at Macquarie University Hospital in Sydney. Brenda’s presentation was courageous, inspiring and thought-provoking for all who were present. No-one present could guess which was her affected leg!

At the May meeting Sue Callander, Lymphoedema Nurse Team Leader for the GLCC Lymphoedema Clinic, gave a power point presentation on skin conditions, new products, creams and dressings and hints on keeping the skin in good condition.  Once again a well-attended meeting.

The July meeting featured Sharon Erdrich who presented a Workshop ‘BLENDING FOR A BETTER BODY” in which she demonstrated the benefits of making and consuming smoothies. Those present were able to taste some of the delicious smoothies made with many different ingredients. Sharon lectures at a natural therapies college in Auckland and also works in her own private practice.

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