The Brisbane Prostate Cancer Support Network

(The experience of Peter Dornan)

In 1996, at the age of 52, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. To add to the shock of diagnosis, I found that virtually any invasive treatment I could undertake had the potential to be nasty. To me, at the time, I considered surgery (radical prostatectomy) to offer the best chance of survival. However, the procedure left me severely incontinent, to the extent that it seriously impacted on my lifestyle as well as my professional career, emotional health, exercise activity and sex life. I became fairly despondent, indeed depressed, a new and frightening emotion for me.

The frustration, anger - and indeed, often rage - led me to achieve two important outcomes. Firstly, over time, I developed a program to treat incontinence. This involved, basically, designing a strong exercise program for the pelvic floor muscles which were progressively overloaded by integrating the abdominal muscles, as well as developing a super-fit neuromuscular reflex circuitry. My experience led me to write a book outlining the program - "Conquering Incontinence" (see "books" on my website). A brief summary is included below.

Triumph: After seven years of battling to regain my health, in 2003, at 60 years, I needed a sense of closure, so I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Six years later, in December 2009, at 66, as a continual celebration of life and the ongoing need to create awareness for men to be mindful of their health, particularly prostate cancer, I tackled Mt. Aconcagua in the Andes (23,000 feet). After eight days of atrocious conditions, high winds, minus 30 degree temperatures and blizzards at the summit, our expedition was finally turned around about 1,500 metres from the summit.

Five years later, in August 2014, at age 71, I was again feeling the need for another physical challenge. I ventured to the rugged wilderness of the Caucasus Mountains in outback Russia. Here I tackled Mt Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe (5,642 meters).

After seven days of intense climbing, I managed to approach within 300 meters of the summit – about an hour away. I was experiencing hallucinations, a sign of high altitude cerebral oedema (HACE) so it was considered prudent that this was going to be ‘close enough’. The victory was in the attempt.

For a full account, look at my blog address: http://storiesfromthemountain.wordpress.com

In June 2018, I ventured to the Italian Alps and climbed around Gran Paradiso Mountain and National Park. The mountain is not known so much for its height (4,061 metres – the highest mountain in Italy), as for its wild rugged beauty, as its name suggests. At 75, it was a tremendous liberating experience.

The second legacy from my situation led me to form the Brisbane Prostate Cancer Support Group (now Network). From this, I hoped to find some answers to assist me and the many others I soon found were fellow sufferers. The Brisbane Group is now one of the largest in the country, with well over 1,000 men and their partners on the mailing list.

The main aims were to fulfil the unmet needs of men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer. This involved primarily educating men and their partners to be better informed on all aspects of managing prostate cancer. This brief also included advocacy when dealing with diagnosis, treatment options, sharing information, understand the impact of side effects of treatment and lending support to each other. As we consider prostate cancer to be a family disease, we encourage partners to be involved at all levels. As there are now many outlets for information, the group does not actually meet anymore, but we keep in contact by email or phone.
(For information contact the Prostate Cancer Helpline on 131120 ).

We have now formed the Queensland Chapter and have affiliated nationally to form the Peak Consumer body for Prostate Cancer in Australia, the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

We are supported strongly by the Cancer Council Queensland who assists with lecture resources, when needed, and counselling backup of all types.

I have just completed nine years as a Director of the Board of Cancer Council Queensland.

For further information, telephone myself, the convenor, on 33719155, or Ian Smith 38317371

Following are important websites concerning our group and prostate cancer.

• Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia - www.prostate.org.au
• Queensland Chapter - www.pcfa.org.au
• The Cancer Council Queensland - www.cancerqld.org.au

An important phone number is the Cancer Council helpline - 131120
(8.00am - 8pm. Mon-Fri)