Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia
PCFA resources and information
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Treat ED: prostate edition
As part of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, in partnership with Impotence Australia, and with an education grant from Elli Lilly, has produced an updated resource on erectile dysfunction.
While erectile dysfunction is an unfortunate consequence of prostate cancer treatment, erections can be improved - and the best chance of ensuring a future sex life is with early intervention.
‘treatED: Prostate Edition’ provides detailed, specific information on the impact of the main prostate cancer treatments on erections and how best to mitigate this side effect. The booklet is an extension of the original ‘treatED’ resource, which provides up-to-date information on the main, proven treatments for ED. The original resource has proved extremely popular and is itself now available in five additional languages - Greek, Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese and Arabic.
‘treatED: Prostate Edition’ is simply written with medical information specifically addressing this topic, to help men and their partners better understand the impact of cancer treatment on erectile functioning.
File: 
Click here to download the PDF
PCFA promotional materials
PCFA has brochures, posters and other materials that can be used for promoting awareness or fundraising - please call 1800 22 00 99 and ask for more information on what may be suitable for your specific needs.
Publications
The Foundation has several recommended prostate cancer information publications and materials available for distribution. A brief description of each is detailed below. Items marked as being complimentary will be mailed to you without charge.
Ordering & Pricing:
All prices are indicated with each item. Each price includes GST (for sale within Australia) and local Postage. The same price excludes GST (for export from Australia) with International Postage & Delivery included.
Prices are in Australian Dollars (AUD).
Payment can be made by Credit Card through our Secure On-line Form.
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f you prefer to pay by Cheque or Money Order (and Credit Card), please complete the Order Form and post to:
Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia
P.O. Box 1332
Lane Cove NSW 1595
Australia
Product Reviews:
Books:
What Women (and Their Men) Need to Know About Prostate Cancer - $22
Designed to help women join in the fight against prostate cancer, What Women (and Their Men) Need to Know About Prostate Cancer was written by the Foundation Professor of Nursing at Newcastle University, Irena Madjar, in collaboration with Gail Tingle, wife of the former broadcaster and politician, John Tingle. It seeks to inform women about prostate cancer, pointing out that it is usually curable if diagnosed and treated early enough.
Professor Madjar said prostate cancer was one of the Big Three Cancers, along with breast and bowel cancer, and killed around 2,700 Australian men every year. This is in fact around the same as the number of Australian women who die from breast cancer annually. Prostate cancer, unlike the other two, was seldom discussed and most people knew little about it.
"Women do not want to be there just to pick up the pieces when their men are diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. They want to be better informed and, as family health managers, make sure that the men they love are tested regularly", she added.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, prostate cancer is the most common male cancer (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers). There are 12,000 cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in Australia each year and it can be present without any symptoms. It's important that men who have it are diagnosed while the cancer is still in its early stages, so they can be treated successfully. Just like with breast cancer, early detection and treatment of prostate cancer can save lives.
The book is a direct outcome of an earlier research project led by Professor Madjar. The project showed that wives and partners of men diagnosed with prostate cancer wished they had known more and acted sooner. With knowledge they would have ensured that their men were tested regularly and diagnosed earlier, rather than only after their cancer had taken hold and started to spread.
Women and their doctors have been very successful in educating the community about the importance of early detection and treatment for breast cancer. Women are just as keen to play an active role in the fight against prostate cancer, but for that they need information. This book gives them that information, as well as sharing experiences of women who have learnt the hard way what it is to go through the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer with their husbands or partners.
"It's really wonderful that a woman as eminent as Her Excellency has agreed to launch our book", Professor Madjar said. "Women might not have a prostate gland but they are the key to changing community perceptions and making a difference in this vital area of men's health."
The book explains what the prostate gland is, what it does, what can go wrong with it, and what is involved in being tested for prostate conditions. The book also explains what happens when cancer is diagnosed, what treatment options are available, and what men can do to reduce and manage their risks of developing prostate cancer.
More than that, the book also draws on experiences of a number of women, to show how their lives were touched by prostate cancer and why they think other women need to become better informed about this subject.
The writing of the book was funded by the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, as part of a developing campaign of awareness about prostate cancer, and in the belief that this knowledge will help improve early detection rates and better outcomes.
"We chose to launch the book on Valentine's Day" Professor Madjar said "because we believe that a woman helping her man to protect his health is a great Valentine's gift - a true act of love."
The book retails for $22 and copies are available from the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, PO Box 1332, Lane Cove NSW 1595 Tel: 1800 220099.
Email: enquiries@prostate.org.au.
Conquering Incontinence
By Peter Dornan
Published in 2003 by Allen & Unwin - $23
The author of this slim volume is uniquely qualified for the task. Peter Dornan is a sports physiotherapist by profession, an author of two books on Australian military history, founder and leader of the Brisbane Prostate Cancer Support Group - one of Australia's largest - and a survivor left severely incontinent after radical prostatectomy in 1996. This work is a testament to Peter's determination to find a solution to the medical problems he faced after his surgery.
Fearing the possibility his physiotherapy practice might be in jeopardy if he was left permanently incontinent, Peter travelled to the US in search of answers. He found his first clue at a clinic in Cleveland, where it was suggested that damage to the blood flow to organs arising from surgery might be a cause. Using his sports medicine background, Peter began devising a series of exercises to improve blood flow to the bladder area. The benefit was soon apparent. Building on each small improvement, Peter has now devised a comprehensive approach to incontinence that should be helpful to most who are afflicted by this devastating condition.
In his book, Peter uses his skills as an author and medical professional to provide a thorough description of the structures of organs, muscle and tissue requiring retaining in his system to overcome incontinence. Not unexpectedly, it involves considerable personal commitment to exercise and mental concentration. But the results are worth it. In his own case, he has earlier this year, he was able to climb the snow-covered Mt Kilimanjaro, a 20,000 foot high volcano which rises from the equatorial plains of Tanzania. And not a nappy in the jockeys at any stage!
My own experience of incontinence after radical prostatectomy was mercifully minor and brief, but it certainly opened my eyes to the awful experience of those with more severe symptoms. Peter navigates the broad spectrum of issues involved with the consummate ease of an experienced author, presenting the essential facts and garnishing them with medical terminology for those eager to absorb the detail. He offers useful encouragement and personal insights into broader issues such as erectile dysfunction, depression and many others that are familiar problems to most people who have suffered treatment for prostate cancer - a nice touch.
This is a highly recommended work, designed primarily for those with continence problems, but containing thoughts and ideas that most cancer patients will find helpful. The story of Peter's own epic cancer journey in the thirteen-page introduction is worth the price of the book in itself. And there is always the reassuring thought that he is available for personal consultation, if needed. The last item in the book is a table showing results achieved by 13 patients Peter has treated successfully for severe incontinence at his Brisbane practice, which is most reassuring.
The book is available from this website or by calling The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia on 1800 22 00 99 (toll free).
Reviewed by Max Gardner 2004, (Past Chairman, Support & Advocacy Committee)
"NEW Updated Version" available
your guide to PROSTATE CANCER the disease, treatment options & outcomes - 2nd Edition 2006.
By Dr Prem Rashid, Consultant Urologist
Published by Uronorth Group, Port Macquarie - $35
A review by Dr Michael Izard April 2006
This book has recently been released in its second edition, three years after the first edition. It is a detailed and comprehensive view of the problem of a particular but common men's health problem. Dr Rashid offered his work for comment and review to many of his Australian colleagues with over 50 eminent specialists involved before it was published. As a consequence it is well rounded and is well positioned for its Australasian audience.
The book is neatly set out, and presented in a font style and size that make it easy to read. The chapters are appropriate and clearly labelled so that the reader can ‘dip in' to find out about particular aspects as and when the need arises. At the same time, the topics follow appropriately to permit reading the book in its entirety if so wished. Scattered through the book are little aphorisms and poems that help anchor (and perhaps relieve) the emotions as well as break up the different sections.
The information is delivered in a language that is designed to be understood by non-medical people, and provides explanation of medical terms when they are unavoidable.
Dr Rashid has made a good effort to present information in an unbiased manner allowing readers to make their own choices, but he always encourages his readers to seek further information from their own treating doctors so that they can reach the point where they can make an appropriate decision based on their own individual situation.
Because of the breadth of the subject, Dr Rashid is obliged to be a little brief about some topics, and perhaps because of this some of the less mainstream treatment techniques are not explained quite as well as they could be. He has not entered into the debate about the complementary and alternative treatments that exist which is a pity, and might well be worth correcting for his third edition.
As a topic for discussion and public knowledge and awareness, prostate cancer has appropriately emerged from the silence of ‘secret men's business' and having come out of the woodwork a book such as this is an extremely useful and valuable tool for both the individual diagnosed with the disease and also for his family and loved ones.
It is well recognised that knowledge is power, and so being given the opportunity to understand one's disease is an extremely potent and useful way of coming to terms and coping with it, and indeed coping with all the emotional highs and lows that must accompany such a journey. I commend it to anyone interested in learning more about prostate cancer.
Localised Prostate Cancer - A Guide For Men And Their Families - $Free
The much awaited book, Localised Prostate Cancer - A guide for men and their families, was launched in Canberra at the Living With Cancer Conference by Senator John Herron on the 4 February.
The book may be helpful to any men affected by prostate cancer and his family. However it is particularly designed for men who have localised prostate cancer (cancer which has not spread beyond the prostate gland) and who need to make treatment decisions.
A steering committee convened by the Australia Prostate Cancer Collaboration worked for 13 months under the leadership of Dr Carole Pinnock to produce the book.
The committee included a urologist, a radiation oncologist, a journalist, health professionals from all state cancer organisations and consumer representatives from PCFA support groups (Don Baumber, Max Gardner & Con Casey). Teleconferencing, e-mail and the occasional phone call were the only means of contact between steering committee members during the development of the book.
Sixty copies of the final draft of the book were distributed by the Foundation to all support groups located throughout Australian, for their comments. Response was extraordinarily high and their feed back is reflected in the finished product.
The effort to produce the book was a truly collaborative one and has resulted in the availability of a valuable educational resource to those affected by prostate cancer.
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Some Events
Mates on the Road
Children’s Face painting and Temporary Tattooing
Melbourne to London Overland
Simon Buckley will undertake an overland motorbike trip from Melbourne to Melbourne.
"Assassins"
Short 8 show run of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical theatre piece Assassins.
Gala Dinner
A spectacular black-tie Gala Dinner will kick off PCFA WA’s inaugural, signature fundraising event, Saturday 6 September 2008
Long Ride 2008
Sponsored motor bike riders from each state will get together to ride to Perth over approximately 8 to 10 days.