Cancer Doesn't Care - Pelorous

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Message from the Chairman Contents Louise Hager Welcome to a bumper issue of ‘Together’ in what is a very special year for Chai Cancer Care. Twenty years ago Chai was founded by two remarkable women, Susan Shipman and my dear mother Frances Winegarten z”l. Whilst they always knew of the need in the community, they could not have foreseen how Chai would develop in such a relatively short space of time. We continue to hold firm to our commitment to provide a high quality, accessible, confidential and professional service – always delivered with empathy and warmth. This year has been significant for Chai for so many reasons. We have opened four further satellite services (Glasgow, South Manchester, Hackney and Southend) to add to those successfully established in Redbridge, South London and North Manchester. Our Hendon Centre continues to be our largest service provider, as well as our Head Office. To enable us to meet our clients’ needs and to expand our services, we recently opened the purpose built Wohl Wing in early summer. Our Home Support Service is vital to our clients who cannot get to any of our centres. This service ensures that they can benefit from our one-to-one therapies, counselling and advice sessions in their own homes. On Pages 16 & 17 we demonstrate how much demand has grown in all areas of our work. I hope that you will enjoy the diversity of our articles and I am grateful to all contributors. We are, as always, indebted to our Medical Patrons who keep us up to date with the latest developments in the cancer world. Our heartfelt thanks go to our many loyal friends and supporters. As we do not receive any statutory funding, your generosity has enabled us to keep pace and meet the ever growing demand of all those who turn to us. From all of us at Chai we hope you enjoy reading ‘Together’. My Personal Relections over the past 20 years: Susan Shipman 4 - 8 Major Milestones 9 Immune Boosting Foods: Lana Pinshaw 10 - 11 Breast Cancer: Prof. Michael Baum & Mr Michael Douek 12 - 13 Spa Day 14 - 15 Growth of our Services 16 - 17 Group Activities 18 One Family’s Story 19 Colorectal Cancer: Mr Daren Francis 20 - 21 Opening of the Wohl Wing 22 - 23 Q&A with Sir Ralph Kohn FRS and Lady Zahava Kohn 24 - 26 A Charity that’s my Cup of Chai: Tracy-Ann Oberman 27 Cancer Genetics – The Jewish Perspective: Dr Ian Ellis 28 - 31 Chai Promise 32 - 33 Dina’s Story: Vicky Brown 34 Lady Jakobovits z’l 35 Lighten the Load – One Stress you can relieve! Vicky Brown 36 - 38 Advice and Advocay at Chai 39 President The Rt. Hon. Lord Young of Graffham Founder Presidents Susan Shipman Frances Winegarten z”l Chairman Louise Hager Trustees Louise Hager Lady Kalms MBE Simon Kanter Susan Shipman Philip Weinstein Lord Young Honorary Patrons Lord Janner of Braunstone QC Medical Patrons Prof Michael Baum Prof Michael Brada Mr Michael Douek Prof Andrew Eder Prof Rosalind Eeles Mr Daren Francis Mr Jerry Gilmore Prof Anthony Goldstone CBE Prof Daniel Hochhauser Mr Amir Kaisary Prof Jonathan Ledermann Prof Gordon McVie Dr Jeremy Nathan Dr Jane Neerkin Prof Gordon Rustin Prof Karol Sikora Prof Albert Singer Prof Stephen Spiro Prof Irving Taylor A Year in the Life of Chai 40 - 41 The Effects of Cancer on Relationship & Intimacy 42 The Natalie Shipman Memorial Lectures 43 Appealing to the Appetite: Healthy Eating Recipes 44 - 45 Year in Fundraising – 2010 46 - 47 Maureen Lipman CBE Prof Ian Jacobs Dr Adrian Tookman Chief Executive Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks Prof Gordon Jayson Elaine Kerr This edition of ogether is generously sponsored by The Dorset Foundation Cover image: Tracy-Ann Oberman in the Garden Room at Chai photographed by Jeremy Coleman.
My Personal Reflections over the past 20 years: Susan Shipman – Founder President It’s hard to believe that it is twenty one years ago since I received the phone call from Frances Winegarten z’l that was to be the beginning of the cancer support organisation that is known today as Chai Lifeline Cancer Care. Frances at this time was in remission from two bouts of a rare type of cancer that had been very difficult to treat. She had endured high doses of radiotherapy and chemotherapy that was experimental to her problem, as there were no known proven drugs to treat her particular form of cancer. Susan Shipman & Frances Winegarten z’l Frances was a lady blessed with a strong character and positive attitude; she was determined to survive and so, in addition to the conventional treatments prescribed by her physicians, she took her health into her own hands by changing her diet and her lifestyle. Hearing of her recovery, many cancer patients sought Frances’s advice on diet and benefitted from her empathetic support. In contrast, I was the mother of a child who had been diagnosed with cancer when she was two years old. At this time Natalie z’l was six and a half and had had in the four years since diagnosis, three separate rare forms of cancer. She had survived three major operations and meningitis and endured gruelling radiotherapy and chemotherapy. At that time I was in the process of starting a support group at Great Ormond Street Hospital for the parents of children with cancer. On my many visits with Natalie over the years, I had been touched by the number of parents in the Oncology Department who were unable to cope emotionally. “Amelie... insisted that Frances meet me – and the rest is history!” It was fortuitous that Lady Amelie Jakobovits z’l was visiting Frances when she received a call from a friend of mine. Through this friend I had heard of the work Frances was doing with cancer patients. I had asked her to tell Frances that if ever she needed any help with children who had cancer she should call me. On hearing my name, Amelie who had been a close friend since 1986 when we had first met in GOSH when Natalie had her second operation, insisted that Frances meet me – and the rest is history! We first met in Frances’s flat on a very hot evening in June 1989. Despite the difference in our ages it was a meeting of two kindred spirits who had both been touched, albeit differently, by a terrible disease and who had recognised the importance of emotional support in the healing process. At this time the treatment for cancer was to cut it out, burn it, or poison it – the emotional effects of being diagnosed with a life threatening illness for both the patient and their family were not considered. That night Frances convinced me of the importance of starting a support group for Jewish cancer patients. She had felt completely isolated when attending a non- Jewish support group when she was ill, due to the many and diverse cultural difference between Jews and non- Jews. It is also well documented that in moments of crisis, regardless of levels of observance, people have a need to go back to their roots where they feel comfortable and secure. And so, our intention that night was to start a telephone support helpline. Neither of us could have imagined then that twenty years later, that helpline would have become one of the foremost Cancer Support Organisations in the United Kingdom. By December of 1989 we had formed a committee and in March 1990, Chai Lifeline was granted charitable status and Frances and I were able to set up a telephone helpline that was run from both our homes. The first thing we did was to write a letter to the Jewish Chronicle and the Jewish Tribune to advise the community of the service we were offering – but no one called! It wasn’t until May that year, when one of the members of the original committee managed to get the JC to print an article about us, that the phone started to ring - not with clients seeking support, but from recovered cancer patients and their family members, volunteering to help. Sadly, the same weekend that we were interviewed by the JC, Natalie relapsed and we were told by Great Ormond Street that although they couldn’t identify the problem, she probably only had three months to live. I vividly remember sitting in my garden the following week with Frances and her daughter Louise Hager, discussing Chai Lifeline’s future and why people were not phoning for help and what we could do about it. “At that time... the word cancer was rarely uttered in the Jewish community.” Natalie Shipman z’l March 1990 At that time cancer was a taboo subject that was never discussed. Indeed the word cancer was rarely uttered in the Jewish community to describe the disease; instead expressions like “the big C”, “the illness”, “you know what” or “yenna machala – that disease” were used. We realised that if we were to be able to help the community’s cancer patients, we first had to take away their fear of cancer. Aaron & Frances Winegarten z’l & Susan Shipman, Philip Shipman z’l In 1990 there was very little information about cancer available to the general public. The subject was rarely in the media and there was no internet. Frances and I decided that the best way to take away the fear was through education and so we decided to hold a public lecture. At that time the charity had no money, and so my husband Philip z’l and I, together with Frances and her husband Aaron z’l, jointly gave £1000 pounds to pay for the advertisements for the lecture and hire of the hall – it was the best £500 we ever invested! We held our first public lecture on 11th September 1990 in Norrice Lea Synagogue Hall. It was the first time that a lecture about cancer was to be given by eminent cancer specialists to a lay audience and Frances and I were petrified that nobody would turn up. The hall had room for 400 chairs theatre style and we didn’t want it to look empty. We were very tempted to hire “rent a crowd” but instead decided to put out 200 chairs with a further 200 stacked at the back just in case. To our amazement, 400 people crowded into the hall that night and a further 100 were turned away at the door! The lecture was a huge success and the feedback was very positive. At last we started to get phone calls from people wanting help as well as from those wanting to volunteer. That same week Natalie, who seemed to have recovered from her relapse in May, was diagnosed with the return of her brain tumour. Great Ormond Street’s prediction in May was sadly correct and Natalie lost her brave fight against cancer in October 1990, one month before her eighth birthday. I was bereft, but at the same time determined that Natalie’s short life was not to have been in vain. It was her wish during the last few months of her life to help me and “Aunty” Frances with Chai Lifeline when she got 4 20 years of cancer support in the community 20 years of cancer support in the community 5
Page 1: Cancer doesn’t care 2010 Issue 5
Page 5 and 6: increasing demand. We also have sat
Page 7 and 8: Breast Cancer: Prof. Michael Baum &
Page 9 and 10: Growth of our Services: Elaine Kerr
Page 11 and 12: Colorectal Cancer: Mr Daren Francis
Page 13 and 14: Q&A with Sir Ralph Kohn FRS and Lad
Page 15 and 16: Cancer Genetics - The Jewish Perspe
Page 17 and 18: Chai Promise Chai Promise, launched
Page 19 and 20: Lighten the load - One stress you c
Page 21 and 22: All proceeds to Chai Cancer Care ww
Page 23 and 24: Appealing to the Appetite: Healthy

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