OUR NEXT MEETING IS AT 7:00 P.M., TUESDAY MAY 11, 2004
We invite all members and their spouses to a relaxing and interactive evening on: "Stress Management" with Arlene Dalton.
Arlene's presentation will discuss Stress – what it is from a physical perspective, how it manifests itself in daily life and what we can do to help counteract its effects. "Dealing with cancer was easy. Dealing with stress is ongoing!"
The objectives of her presentation are to:
* Examine definitions of stress
* Explore how stress effects health (anatomy of stress)
* Recognize the cycle of stress
* Determine the causes of stress
* Identify how one currently copes with stress
* Experience the Relaxation Response
As it was last year, Arlene's session this year will be interactive. She expects to conduct a relaxation exercise for the group featuring music and possibly video background.
If you have any questions for Arlene please send them to Fred Norris, Chairman, (905) 877-8092 or e-mail fred.norris@ustoo-brampton.com.
We will be meeting in Room #2, The Terry Miller Recreation Center, 1295 Williams Parkway at the southwest corner of Williams Parkway & Bramalea Road. Parking is free.
 

APRIL 13, 2004 "TALK ABOUT EMOTIONS AND SEX" WITH ALEX ISBISTER, M.S.W.
Another very successful evening conducted and sensitively managed by the master himself. Alex's talk could well have been labeled, as he himself suggested with humor: "Sex for Us too"! As last year, Alex's presentation was highly interactive. Alex led the group respectfully through some very sensitive issues.
Members actively participated in a "Mork and Mindy" type role play, explaining, questioning and writing down on paper their thoughts, ideas, and concerns on sex and relationships and the difficult emotions and perceptions brought about by prostate cancer. Members submitted the latter to Alex, who then elaborated and suggested ways to interpret, deal and cope with both the emotional aspects and physical conditions.
Alex provided a handout to the group which contains excellent and useful information on the available remedies and treatments for erectile dysfunction. Download Alex's Handout Notes as a Secure Acrobat (.pdf) file at http://www.ustoo-brampton.com/Cancer and Sex - Word.pdf. Audio downloads of this session will be available by the end of May.
The following web sites of interest were suggested by Alex: www.senior-site.com, www.agepage.com/sex.htm, www.wellbeg.com/impotent/chris/sexual.htm, www.umkc.edu/sites/hsw/age/index.html, www. mediconsult.com/senior
 

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
The Free PSA clinic held on Saturday April the 24th was a huge success and my personal thanks go to all the volunteers that contributed their time, some even staying all day. This of course could have been avoided if more of you had given an hour or so and thus lightened the load.
Arrangements for the Golf Tournament on June 21st are well under way. Be sure and pick up your form to register a foursome at the General Meeting next Tuesday. Peter Barhydt could do with a little more help in reeling in the prizes for the day.
Doug Hancock is resting comfortably in hospital after suffering a heart attack. Our thoughts are with you both, Doug and Shirley, and we are hoping for a speedy recovery.
Would like to see all of you at next Tuesdays meeting. Till then, Fred Norris, Chairman, at (905) 877-8092, e-mail fred.norris@ustoo-brampton.com.  

2003-2004 GUEST SPEAKERS
Our speakers for the remaining meetings of the 2003 - 2004 season are:
Tuesday, June 8th, 2004 - Season's closing Pot Luck & Social Event. We expect live entertainment on this evening with guitars and vocals from local professional talents Bruce & Josh.
Friday, June 25th, 2004 - The 2004 Relay for Life will be held at The Brampton Fairgrounds on Heart Lake Road. The event will start Friday evening, June 25th and end on Saturday morning, June 26th.
We do not hold meetings in July and August.
Tuesday, September 14th, 2004 - Michelle Flax, a Clinical Psychologist with a private practice in Toronto will present: "What now? Coping with the Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer." Michelle has extensive experience in dealing with couples and individuals who have had to face such life-altering crises.
We are actively seeking interesting speakers to fill the 2004 portion of our next year. Suggestions are always welcome.
Don Grant, Speaker Committee, e-mail don.grant@ustoo-brampton.com

NEW MEMBER MEETINGS
New Member meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of each month at Suite 304, 57 Mill Street. The next scheduled meeting will be held between 6:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 25. Even though the general meetings are suspended for July and August, the new client meetings do continue.
Please be sure to phone ahead to confirm your attendance and receive directions to the meeting. Please contact: Sean Butterly, Special Consultant at (905) 454-4237 or Chairman, Fred Norris, at (905) 877-8092 e-mail fred.norris@ustoo-brampton.com.

AWARENESS
Us Too! Brampton held its first free PSA clinic at Bramalea City Center on Saturday, 24th April 2004.
The clinic attracted 80 men ranging in age from 30 to over 90. Staff from Canadian Medical Laboratories (CML) performed the sampling.
As we know, prostate cancer kills about 4,000 Canadian men every year. While the PSA test does not diagnose prostate cancer by itself, an elevated PSA level is considered to indicate that further tests are needed.
Us Too! Brampton gratefully acknowledges Dr. Stanley Flax's invaluable support and contribution towards the free clinic. Dr. Flax will review the PSA results as they become available. (Preliminary findings are that ten of the 80 men tested will be advised that they need follow-up. These ten men ranged in age from 50 to 79.)
The clinic was possible due to the efforts of 15 Us Too! member volunteers who were ably coordinated by Ian Smith. These individuals' efforts are much appreciated.
Us Too! Brampton also gratefully acknowledges and thanks the following sponsors and supporters: The Rotary Club of Brampton, Astra Zeneca, the management of The Brampton City Centre, VON / Peel and Canadian Medical Laboratories. The City Centre branch of Tim Hortons kindly supplied coffee and other refreshments. Photos of the event will of course be posted on the web site when they are available.
For more information about our first PSA clinic and to volunteer for future clinics, please contact Ian Smith, Awareness Coordinator, (905) 454-3880, e-mail ian.smith@ustoo-brampton.com.

FINANCE
As it turns out, our first free PSA clinic was not the financial burden it might or should have been. Despite the advertising given to us by the Brampton Guardian and the Toronto Sun, many men still seem to turn their heads the other away, foregoing this opportunity, believing I suspect, that by ignoring this potential problem, it will go away. You may have heard already that fully 12.5% of the men checked at our clinic will be advised to seek further medical checks and advice from their family doctors.
I find it impossible to understand some of the attitudes that one comes across in the course of an exercise such as this. For example, one man said to me "If they find something wrong, my insurance might go up". Wrong of course, which ever way you look at it. "This is strictly private patient information between you and your doctor," I told him. Never the less, he walked away saying he would think about it.
Anyway, the donations we received in advance for this venture, from the ROTARY CLUB, ASTRAZENECA and private individuals, covered the costs, which is good....or is it? Eighty men were tested. If it had been 160, then 20 men would likely have been advised to seek follow-up. If it had been 240 then likely 30 would have been so advised...and so on. With our population...80 tests? Give me a break. What this tells us in no uncertain terms is that educating the masses about this insidious, treacherous and guileful disease must have top priority.
Grateful thanks to all who helped, and to Bramalea City Centre who had the foresight to allow us to use their premises to present a very professional clinic operation!
- Gerry Brunjes, Finance, (905) 791-3043, e-mail gerry.brunjes@ustoo-brampton.com.

RELAY FOR LIFE - 2004
2004 marks Brampton/Caledon/Georgetown/Dufferin County Unit's fifth annual Relay For Life, a 12-hour, noncompetitive relay that celebrates cancer survivors and pays tribute to the lives and courage of loved ones. Teams of coworkers, families and friends take turns walking or running around a track throughout the night.
Each team is allocated a campsite and prizes are awarded to the best-decorated campsites. Our campsite will feature Mukul Luthra's new palace on wheels plus assorted tents and lean-to's. It will be an evening of tears, laughter, entertainment, friendship and fundraising to beat cancer. To top it off, there is great food and drink and entertainment available throughout the night.
Once again, Us Too! Brampton is entering a team of ten to twelve walkers in this 2004 edition of Relay For Life. Each member is expected to raise at least $100 in pledges. (Last year's "half team" raised over $2,000!)
This year's Relay will be held at a new location, the Brampton Fairgrounds on Heart Lake Road, starting after dinner on Friday, June 25th and finishing on Saturday morning.
Even if you don't fancy a night out on the track, you are still welcome to sign up for the Survivor Reception and / or the "Survivors' Victory Lap" on the Friday evening. In past years, many of our members have participated and have always enjoyed themselves immensely.
Check the Canadian Cancer Society's web site at http://www.cancer.ca for further details.
To join this year's Us Too! Relay for Life Team, call the Team Captain: Jim Dorsey at (905) 453-3038 or e-mail jim.dorsey@ustoo-brampton.com or see me at the May or June monthly meeting.

OUR WEB SITE CONTINUES TO EVOLVE - www.ustoo-brampton.com
It is virtually impossible to keep up with the changes and additions that Mukul Luthra, our Multimedia Specialist, continues to make to our web site, even while he is hard at work in Southeast Asia training high-tech manufacturers.
You will find numerous audio downloads of past presentations as well as Adobe Acrobat versions of various past speakers' slide presentations. Photos of events of interest to the group are constantly updated. We can be extremely proud of this web site. Thanks, Mukul!
Contact Mukul Luthra, Multimedia, (905) 873-8367, e-mail mukul.luthra@ustoo-brampton.com.