NEXT US TOO GENERAL MEETING - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2002
CAMPUS AUDITORIUM, WILLIAM OSLER HEALTH CENTRE, 7:00 - 9:00 P.M.
BRAMPTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, 20 LYNCH STREET, BRAMPTON, ONTARIO.

OCTOBER 8 - DR. STANLEY FLAX, BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
Dr.Flax is one of the top urologists in Canada and spearheaded the use of laparoscopic surgery at Brampton Memorial Hospital. He will discuss laparoscopic surgery and what's new in Brampton. Dr. Flax is always an entertaining and informative speaker, and is a long-time supporter of Us Too!
 

SEPTEMBER 10 - WALLY SEELEY, C.P.C.N. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
At the first event of the season, Wally told about 70 members, wives and guests of the origins of "Living Proof". It began over a year ago in Newfoundland when survivors from each area of the province were photographed together to emphasize the fact that early detection is essential to successfully treating prostate cancer.
The basic message was "See your doctor - get the test" and these men were presented as living proof that it worked. Now the C.P.C.N. will present this idea across the country in the first national Prostate Cancer awareness campaign. About one third of the total cost has already been raised. Hopefully by the January 2003 kickoff date, it will be fully funded. Donations made by our members will be tax deductible and 20% will be returned to our Chapter. Us Too! Brampton presented a cheque for $1,500 to Wally as our Chapter's contribution to this vital effort.
C.P.C.N.'s Ontario Coordinator, Derek Lawrence, explained that a number of Greater Toronto PC support groups will meet in November to address our common problems in attempting to increase PC awareness.
For more information on the C.P.C.N. and on "Living Proof", check the web site at http://www.cpcn.org.
Don Grant completed a very successful first meeting by demonstrating our newly acquired digital projector, obtained through donations from the Kiwanis Club of Brampton and AstraZeneca. The projector will be used for awareness presentations within the community and to enhance the quality of audiovisual presentations at our meetings.

UPCOMING MEETINGS
On November 12, Dr. Juanita Crook from Princess Margaret Hospital will discuss Brachytherapy. Check her web site, http://www.brachy4u.ca for the latest on this promising treatment alternative.
On December 10, we hope to spend an entertaining evening with Sandy Hawley. Details are being finalized and we will keep you posted.
The Honourable Tony Clement, the M.P.P. for Brampton West - Mississauga and the Minister of Health and Long-term Care for Ontario is considering our request that he make an appearance at our January 14 meeting.
Dr. Alex Isbister, a local Psychologist who was highly recommended to us by other support groups, will speak on Cancer and Emotion at our meeting on February 11.
Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim from Brampton Memorial Hospital will host an Open Forum on March 11 to field your questions about Prostate Cancer.
The April, May and June meetings are under construction, but we hope to present top speakers on the topics of cryosurgery, radiation and hormonal therapy.
 

"US TOO" PROMOTIONAL SHIRTS & HATS
We will be purchasing more Us Too - Brampton shirts and hats shortly. These top-quality items are available to members at subsidized prices of $30 and $5 respectively. To order a shirt or a hat, contact Don Grant at (905) 793-7376, or e-mail dongrantmon@sympatico.ca.
 

NEW MEMBERS
The October New Member meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22 in the auditorium. The following people joined our group during September: Malcolm & Jean Grant, Ken & Rita Guernsey, Tom & Jennifer Jones, Mohan Parihar, David Semple, Lloyd & Barbara Urquhart and Jack & Lucy van der Schilden.
- Morris Rambout, New Member Coordinator, (905) 793-8843, mrambout@idirect.com

FINANCES
Since the September newsletter was published, we have carried on with the projects mentioned then:
(1) Us Too! Brampton contributed $1,500 to the Canadian Prostate Cancer Network's "Living Proof " campaign.
(2) We purchased a computer projector thanks to the Kiwanis Club of Brampton and from AstraZeneca.
(3) When Ian Smith returns from walking across England, Us Too! will donate $1,000 to the William Osler Hospital Foundation in honour of Ian's walk and to express our appreciation for the Hospital's support of Us Too!
(4) We are continuing the effort to register Us Too! as a Charity for income tax purposes.
(5) We continue to work toward opening a Prostate Cancer information room in Brampton.
(6) Bramalea Live Theatre is again considering Us Too - Brampton as one of their primary donation targets, but this project has gotten a little confusing. Instead of donating the entire main theater seating to us on March 19th, 2003, BLT has offered us 200 tickets to a performance of Noel Coward's "Blyth Spirit" at Cyril Clarke School on the same date. Ticket proceeds net of the cost of printing would go to Us Too! We are seeking details of other potential play dates and arrangements. Whatever form the project takes, we will need volunteers for a committee to handle it.
- Gerry Brunjes, Finance, (905) 793-3043, brunjes@idirect.com
 

AWARENESS REPORT
Ian Smith has not yet returned from walking across England to increase awareness of Prostate Cancer in both Canada and England. Ian has a number of Awareness events planned for the next few months; details on his return.
As always, he needs volunteers to assist with each of these events. You will meet some very interesting people by helping out here. For more information, contact
- Ian Smith, Awareness Coordinator (905) 454-3880, iclacewood@globalserve.net
 

VISITATION COMMITTEE
Recently, Sandie Seaman, of the Surgical Patient Care Team at William Osler Health Centre extended an invitation:
"Historically, at this site, we have not heard the voice of the "consumer" - our patients / families in a consistent form. We would like someone who is not a health care professional to participate in our meetings to make sure that we do not lose our focus i.e., to give a voice to the patients.
"As the prostate support group is very active and have expressed an interest in maintaining a link with the hospital / acute care facility, our team suggested that one of your members would be an ideal candidate to fill the 'consumer' role."
We feel that this invitation resulted from the tireless efforts of Doug Hancock and Morris Rambout of the Hospital Visitation Committee and of all the others who continuously push to get our materials and services in front of both patients and health care professionals in Brampton. At our Steering Committee meeting on Wednesday, September 25th, both Doug and Morris volunteered to join this Team.
As Us Too!'s front-line support representatives and as survivors themselves, Doug and Morris meet most often with patients who have undergone surgery and they both understand the patients' and their family's needs from personal experience. We appreciate this unique opportunity for our members to join the Surgical Patient Care Team as representatives of Prostate Cancer patients and their families.
For more information - Doug Hancock, Visitation, (905) 451-3979, thehancockfamily@sympatico.ca

THE US TOO! PROSTATE CANCER COLLECTION
Through the efforts of our new Librarian, George Deshpande, Us Too!'s collection of books, pamphlets, audio tapes and video tapes will be presented to the Brampton Public Library at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 8th at a ceremony to be held on the 2nd Floor of the Chinguacousy Branch on City Centre Drive.
After October 8th, these materials will be readily available to anybody who needs them. If any desired item is not on hand at the most convenient Public Library branch, it will be located and brought to that location. Until now, our collection was housed in several different locations and there seemd to be no practical way to keep track of it.
After becoming our librarian, George soon came up with this innovative method of ensuring that our collection is always available to those who need it. Our library problems appear to be over!
- George Deshpande, Librarian, (905) 793-7561, 15898@ican.net

THE US TOO! BRAMPTON 2003 CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT
It's never too early to start thinking about the NEXT Us Too! Charity Golf Tournament, to be some time held in June, 2003. To become part of a very dynamic committee, please contact the Coordinator:
- Morris Rambout, Golf Committee Coordinator, (905) 793-8843, mrambout@idirect.com

CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE
Fred Norris is enjoying a well-deserved vacation in England with family members. He will no doubt return refreshed and ready to lead us through another successful year.
- Fred Norris, Chairman, (905) 877-8092, fred.norris@sympatico.ca

"PARTNERS" - WE NEED "PARTNERS"
We still propose to form a ladies' group called "Partners" within Us Too - Brampton to share the many duties that have been handled by a very few of our partners until now.
Some ways to help: Join the New Member Committee and support the spouses of the recently diagnosed. Send flowers / plants to sick members. Share the refreshment duties at monthly meetings. Help organize social nights. Volunteer at our awareness, theatre and golf events. And most importantly, help during the sickness of a member.
We have tried to set this up before and failed, but now we have the strongest group of partners that we have ever had. I would like to help establish the "Partners" group by chairing the first meeting. Marg Butterly has offered her home for the first meeting. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
- Don Grant, Member Relations, (905) 793-7376, dongrantmon@sympatico.ca

OUR NEW WEB SITE IS ON-LINE - www.ustoo-brampton.com
Mukul Luthra registered the new name and converted the old site. Mukul and Don Grant will maintain and update the web site's contents, and they welcome suggestions and contributions from you.
The original designer and web master of the site, Peter Dutch of Essex, England, will continue to act as a consultant. We enjoyed an all too brief visit with Peter when he came to Brampton to visit relatives in early September.
Contact Mukul Luthra, Multimedia, (905) 873-8367, wftech@pacific.net.sg.

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Don Grant, with webdesigner Peter Dutch (2nd from left), Jim Dorsey, and Gerry Brunjes (right) during Peter's recent visit.

WE HAVE TO CUT OUR COSTS TO MAINTAIN OUR SERVICES
The Steering Committee recently decided that any member who has neither attended a meeting nor remitted the $10 annual subscription fee for 2001-2002 will no longer receive the Newsletter or be telephoned monthly, commencing in October. This fee does not even cover the cost to distribute the Newsletter.
This action is being taken not out of greed but out of realism. If these individuals no longer need our services because they are now free of cancer, then our scarce resources can be reallocated to members who are in need.
Of course, any member who ends up being "struck" from our rolls or anybody who needs our assistance is welcome to call upon us at any time. We are always here to serve those who need us.
Note: at the request of Stewart Cornell and his hardworking Telephone Committee, the deadline for payment of subscription arrears has been extended by one month. They will remind "truants" of their arrears when they call to remind you of the October 8th meeting and to see if you have suffered any major setbacks or are otherwise in need of support. So if you are one of those being reminded, please take it in the proper spirit. If you no longer need us, we are only too pleased to hear it! But if you DO need us, don't be shy; we'll do our best to help.

FEEL FREE TO CONTRIBUTE
We invite you to submit articles, letters, beefs, bouquets, humour or any other thought-starter to the Newsletter. Just so that everybody knows what passes for humour around here, consider the following:
Point of Reference:
A blind man was out walking with his Seeing Eye dog when suddenly the animal paused and wet the man's leg.
Bending down, the blind man stretched out his hand and patted the dog's head.
Having watched what happened, a passerby said, "Say, why are you patting him? That dog just peed on your leg!"
"I know," said the blind man, "but I gotta find his head before I can kick his butt."

WITH A LOT OF HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS
In the true spirit of giving, Jim Longfield, the owner of Mail Boxes Etc. has consistently refused to allow us to promote his business in the Newsletter. But his unceasing generosity deserves to be recognized: Jim and his staff copy, collate and staple the newsletter every month at minimal or zero cost to Us Too! So if you need anything copied or shipped or need to rent a mail box, be sure to see Jim at #6, 295 Queen Street East or telephone (905) 453-4789.