Webinar: Body Image
Cancer can affect you in physical and emotional ways. Changes to your body can affect the way you feel about yourself (your self-esteem) and make you feel self-conscious. You may feel less confident about who you are and what you can do after treatment. You may worry about starting a new relationship after cancer treatment, especially if your body has changed. This webinar discusses some practical strategies to help cancer survivors to reclaim their confidence after treatment.
Panellists
Associate Professor Haryana Dhillon
Haryana is an Associate Professor in Cancer Survivorship and Psycho-Oncology at the Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-making (CeMPED) University of Sydney. She is a Director of the Cancer Council NSW Board, and former Member of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (COSA) and Council. Haryana is the chair of the Psycho-Oncology Cooperative Research Group’s Scientific Advisory Committee and has leadership roles in supportive care and quality of life in the Australasian Lung Cancer Trials Group and the ANZ Urogenitary and Prostate Cancer Trials Group. Haryana co-leads a Cancer Survivorship Research Group based in the University of Sydney. The group is supported on peer-reviewed funding, allowing studies in cancer and cognition, physical activity in cancer populations, sleep disturbance and symptom control. She also maintains an active research interest in health literacy, communication in the cancer setting and patient education.
A/Prof Susan Carroll
Susan is a Senior Staff Specialist and Clinical Associate Professor for Sydney University who has 18 years of experience working in major tertiary hospitals in Sydney. Her specialty areas are in the treatment of breast cancers, haematological malignancies and lower gastrointestinal cancers. She is a strong advocate for kindness and compassion and patient focused care, and in ensuring optimal treatment for her patients by embracing innovative technologies within her specialty areas. After completing her Radiation Oncology specialty training in 1999 at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney she gained a Staff Specialist position at that campus where she worked for 8 years. She moved to the Sydney Cancer Centre (Royal Prince Alfred Hospital) in 2005 where she remained for 12 years as a Senior Staff Specialist for the area health service. The last 4 years of this time were at The Chris O’Brien Lifehouse (2014-2017). She returned to NSW health in January 2018 where she took up a position as a Senior Staff Specialist at Royal North Shore Hospital in her sub-specialty areas of breast and haematology. Since 2005 she has also been an integral member of the multidisciplinary breast team at The Strathfield Breast Centre. She is a member of the Breast Trials Group and the International Radiation Oncology Lymphoma Group, and previously a committee member and chair of the Radiation Oncology committee of AGITG (Australasian Gastrointestinal Trials Group). She has been an invited expert for the NSW Cancer Institute Radiation Oncology Guidelines (Evi-Q) for the last decade for Breast Cancer and Lymphoma protocols and is a member of the RANZCR Targeting Cancer Committee. She was an invited international expert at the Institute Curie in Paris in August 2017 where she collaborated and worked with ESTRO/French breast and lymphoma expert – Dr Youlia Kirova. She has a long history of engagement with teaching of both postgraduate and undergraduate students and in supervising advanced trainees in Radiation Oncology. She is currently affiliated with the University of Sydney medical school (Northern). She is continually working towards introducing and implementing new treatment techniques to improve patient outcomes into the clinic and has demonstrated this in her sub-specialty areas (DIBH, IMRT, VMAT). Quality assurance/audit programs have been an integral component in the development of these programs. She has also actively participated in clinical trials both nationally and internationally through TROG, AGITG, and COG.
Maria Voukelatos
Maria was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer at the age of thirty-six. For her, this was a really surreal experience. One day you have a normal day-to-day life, and the next you are fighting to survive. Maria craved the normality she was used to but had to learn to adjust to changes in all aspects of her life. This journey taught her how life can change without warning. She turned her cancer journey into a positive and did not allow cancer to define who she is. It allowed her to find herself again, and to take a new outlook on life. This led Maria on a new career path, she is now a professional Loss and Grief Counsellor and a Lifestyle Coordinator helping people and their families dealing with loss due to illness. Maria has been a Cancer Connect Program volunteer since 2011.