Latest news with #PincandSteel
Otago Daily Times
03-07-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Dry July a way to give back
While Anne Fenwick is not much of a drinker, she was quick to sign up for Dry July. Mrs Fenwick said while it was not going to be the toughest challenge for her, she hoped it would raise money for a cause that was close to her heart. "If people can give up drinking — and I'm not going to preach to anybody — but it is one way of raising funds. "Any money we can make to keep these things going." "I can't really say I'm giving up drinking because I don't drink really." One of the organisations the money from Dry July goes to is Pinc and Steel New Zealand. Mrs Fenwick said Pinc and Steel used the funds to provide free physiotherapy programmes for people who have had cancer and said the organisation had been a godsend for her. Almost three years ago, Mrs Fenwick went to the doctor after finding a small spot of blood. The doctor sent her to the gynaecologist and she had a D&C (dilation and curettage). She was then diagnosed with endometrial cancer. She had to go to Christchurch to have an operation the same week her husband was dying. "I came back the night before he died. "He knew I was sick, but I didn't tell him. Like I said, I have to go. When I left him on the Monday, I gave him a kiss. "I said, 'I have to go to Christchurch for a wee operation, but I'll be back'. He was unconscious when I got back." "I had to be strong for my kids and my grandchildren." Her husband George was buried a fortnight before their 49th wedding anniversary. Another blow followed when she went in for chemotherapy and discovered she was allergic to it. She spent a year shutting out the world, until her doctor suggested the Pinc and Steel cancer rehabilitation programme. "You're a bit scared, you think, should I do this or not? "I was quite happy to sit here with the curtain shut." She said it really introduced her to getting back into her community. As part of a small group of four they were guided through mini circuits. "It was just gentle and we were all recovering from different stages of cancer. And so it was just all about getting moving again in a safe environment and just pushing yourself a wee bit more each time. "The physiotherapy programme put me on that kind of road to wellness again. "I have to make the most of everything because really, I've been given like a second chance. "I think that's what I felt. I thought, well, I have to do my bit now. These doctors have helped to save my life. I need to do my bit to make it easier. If it (the cancer) should come back, then hopefully they can help me again. "I think that exercise started that, that going to the physiotherapist and doing those wee exercises." Dry July challenges New Zealanders to go alcohol-free for 31 days in July to raise funds for people affected by cancer. Support services such as counselling, rehabilitation and personal care rely on public donations. Participants can sign up individually or in teams or workplace. There is also the option to purchase a golden ticket to enjoy a night off for special occasions.
NZ Herald
26-05-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
Multiple myeloma: Pāpāmoa father diagnosed with cancer after bad back pain
Harrison is participating in the Dry July campaign this year – an annual challenge where participants give up alcohol for a month while raising funds for non-medical services for Kiwi cancer patients, including physiotherapy rehabilitation service Pinc and Steel, which Harrison has used. Dry July raised more than $900,000 last year for cancer patients. Registrations are open for this year's initiative. Eighteen months before his diagnosis, Harrison said he started avoiding things that were 'jarring' his back, such as jogging. Harrison said he kept seeing his GP who kept prescribing 'harder pain relief'. A physiotherapist saw he was in 'so much pain' and referred Harrison for an X-ray. 'The X-ray revealed that I had a couple of fractures in my lower back.' Blood tests at Tauranga Hospital showed his kidneys were about to fail, and further tests revealed the 'completely unexpected' multiple myeloma. 'I remember … taking a taxi home from the hospital and thinking, well that's quite big news.' He thought of his four children and the impact the diagnosis could have on them. 'It was a very odd time …' He understood the fractures were linked to cancerous cells building up and weakening his bones. He initially had three fractures in his vertebrae in his lower back. Now he had five. As a result, Harrison said he had 'an odd curvature' in his spine and was 5cm shorter. After his diagnosis, he immediately started chemotherapy and an unfunded immunotherapy drug called daratumumab, which his health insurance covered. The first relief for his back pain came with radiation therapy in October. 'It got very bad - I could hardly walk. I couldn't really get out of bed.' Harrison had a stem cell transplant in November. Subsequent blood tests showed there were still 'traces' of myeloma 'but they were too small to measure'. He continued with chemotherapy and daratumumab and had an 'extremely good response' to treatment. 'Whether I would have had that had it not been for daratumumab, it's too hard to say ... ' Harrison said he took a maintenance drug 'because the chances of it coming back are 100%'. His recovery also involved getting back into a regular routine, including walking and playing with his children. He returned to work fulltime in February, working from home. Harrison was referred to Pinc and Steel Cancer Rehabilitation Foundation, where he did stand-up paddleboarding. Due to fatigue and being 'a strange shape', he said the last place he wanted to be was in the gym with 'much fitter' people. 'It was quite comforting being able to go to a group with other cancer patients where no explanation was really required.' It also helped him meet new people as he had been stuck in hospital and at home. He said charitable support was 'enormously helpful' and 'crucial' to his recovery, and he encouraged people to do Dry July and support organisations that helped cancer patients. A Dry July press release said funds raised would go towards Look Good Feel Better, Prostate Cancer Foundation New Zealand, and Pinc and Steel Cancer Rehabilitation Foundation. The organisations provided free personal care sessions, rehabilitation classes, counselling, and community support that helped people rebuild their confidence after a diagnosis. Dry July campaign director Veronica Shale said the emotional and mental toll of cancer often went unseen, 'despite most New Zealanders being directly or indirectly impacted'. Shale said prizes were up for grabs for participants. People can register on the Dry July website.
