Kia ora tatou,

this week our Network News includes an opportunity for you to share your views for the government's Health and Disability Sector Review. Click here to give your thoughts. We give you the details of the approved plan for the development of the Auckland/Northland Head and Neck Service. We share news from the Auckland Support Group, and introduce our new developments to support Patients. We are giving you the opportunity to ask questions about the Network or anything else that is on

This week our weekly news looks at the term we  consider the term “Cancer Survivor”, we think about making healthcare more like Amazon, consider how suicide and head and neck cancer, and meet a boy driven by his father’s legacy.

How to make healthcare more like Amazon? It comes down to data and payer-provider collaboration

Anyone who has used an e-commerce site like Amazon knows how easy it is to get what you want—sometimes within hours—with the click of a button.

With its phone calls, long wa

Happy Waitangi Day! Here is the latest head and neck cancer news from New Zealand and around the world.

The Man who's Time is Up

It started with a thumping, irregular pain on the right side of his head. The pain would pulsate in brief, intense waves, then fall silent. It became more regular, more fierce. Then he found a hard lump, the size of a pea, and then he went to see his doctor.

Some 171 days later, when they finally operated on Peter Kroon, the cancer on his right eyebrow had grown. No

Japanese team plans to use iPS cells in clinical trial for cancer patients

A Japanese team is preparing a clinical trial to inject immune cells made from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into patients with head and neck cancer, it has been learned.

The team of Riken and Chiba University researchers will file for state approval of the trial as early as autumn and start as soon as approval is given, informed sources said Thursday. The trial would become the first in Japan to use iPS cells as

Brian Sheppard, is a member of the Head and Neck Cancer Support Network committee. He attended the recent Cancer at the Crossroads conference. Following the conference shares this message with you. If you would like to work with us to advocate for higher standards of cancer care, we would love to hear from you. Please email headandnecknetwork@gmail.com

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I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the organisers

In the hurly burly of major reconstructive surgery a neck dissection seems like the least of your worries but for some, these common surgical procedures can have long term consequences writes Maureen Jansen. Read more here...

This group is Wellington based and supports women with experience of depression. There is more information available at the website http://www.throughblue.org.nz

Here are some of the media releases from this amazing conference.

If Someone in Your Life Just Survived Cancer, Here’s How You Can Support Them Now

The cancer journey doesn’t end after treatment

If your friend, colleague, partner or family member has completed cancer treatment, you probably feel relieved that their treatment is over and was successful. And you probably imagine they’re feeling relieved, too.

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic produc

Kia ora tatou,

this week our Network News celebrates a new year.  As always, our website is the place to go for all your news, resources, and support information. Be sure to check it out, and if you not yet a member, now is a good time! http://headandneck.org.nz/

Network News

Auckland Support Group Meetings 2019

Here at the Network we seek to respond to head and neckers needs. One thing that has become apparent in Auckland is the need for a support group to meet outside work hours. This year w

Boston — The 96-year-old patient with pneumonia in Bed 11 was angry. “Do you really need to check my vital signs every four hours?” he asked.

Checking things like temperature, blood pressure and respiratory rate every four hours on hospitalized patients has been the standard of care since the 1890s, yet scant data indicates that it helps. In fact, data shows that close to half of patients are unnecessarily awakened for such checks, perhaps to the detriment of their recovery. My patient wanted t

Here are three new articles from the latest Head and Neck Cancer News.

Firstly, a clear explanation of the roles of various doctors in your treatment, care and support.  An article on the problem of conflicts of interest for medical professionals. Finally, a important video about the need to listen in a crisis.

I’m having surgery in a public hospital. Will a junior doctor operate on me?

If you’re about to, or have had, surgery in a public hospital, you may have wondered which doctor was actuall

Heath Navigator is a website for New Zealanders. It is crammed full of resources, and support on health related matters. https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/

One of the resources is a link to an app for people who cannot speak but can read. It will do the talking for you. The app is available for both iOs and Android systems. There is a modest fee. 

https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/app-library/s/speech-assistant-aac-app/

References - Care planning

Kia ora tatou, 

this week our Network News .....celebrates a year of connecting, with a great new tool on our website to Chat with others. We update you on our Auckland Support Group December meeting, and invite everyone to join our Auckland evening meetings in 2019. We have an invitation for all head and neckers to participate in Awakening the Giants, Auckland, 2019. We share some new resources on adverse events, lung nodules, some ideas on changing ACC to cover head and neck cancer, and 6 wond

In response to our mission to connect and support people affected by head and neck ccancer we are providing chat.  This creates real-time, fun and easy communication possibilities. The Chat feature allows you to participate in a live chatroom and private chats. The Chat provides you with additional options:

• Customizable notifications
• Message counter
• Ability to create and manage your groups
• Ability to send files

By default, your Chat will be enabled, and displayed in the collapsed view in the

In Sickness and in Health - episode 1

You would think everyone would be eager to talk about it. After all, it kills more New Zealanders than anything else. One out of every three of us develop some form of it during our lifetime. Sixty people a day in this country are told “You have cancer.” And it costs over $800 million of our taxes every year to try and manage it.

But for all that, cancer remains the elephant in the room, despite all the efforts to get people screened and tested and educated

Readmission Rates for Head and Neck Cancer Patients following free or pedicled flap reconstruction

Alexander N. Goel, from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles, and colleagues assessed the rate, risk factors, and causes of 30-day readmission in 9,487 patients (median age, 63 years) with head and neck cancer following free or pedicled flap reconstruction.

The researchers found that the 30-day readmission rate was 19.4 percent, with a mean cost per r