Cabrini Foundation - Donor Stories
BREAST CARE NURSE JOINS THE TEAM
Welcome Jenny Macindoe, below, Cabrini’s first breast care nurse coordinator.
Cabrini Institute is looking forward to working with Cabrini’s first
breast care nurse, Jenny Macindoe, as we further develop our focus on women’s
health.
With breast cancer so prevalent in our society – one in 11 Australian women will contract the disease – the Institute and Cabrini are keen to enhance care of these patients, to increase our research and to educate our staff and students.
The good news is that more women are overcoming the disease with a five-year survival rate of 86.6 per cent. Between diagnosis, treatment, recovery and hopefully long-term survival, there is a clear need for continuity of care from a breast care nurse who understands the emotional and physical journey involved.
The role is a special one with Jenny supporting newly diagnosed patients throughout their care and connecting them to other key members of the treatment team. “One important aspect of my role is to clarify information that is provided during the trauma of the first appointment when they are given the diagnosis and treatment is planned,” Jenny says. “I then continue to liaise with the patient and the treatment team and act as a link between other areas of care, helping to ensure a smooth journey for the woman.”
Jenny’s position is part funded by someone who particularly understands the plight of these patients – breast cancer survivor, Kerrie Hunter. Ms Hunter has a long association with Cabrini, having had her two children here. But in 2003 disaster struck at Christmas time when she was diagnosed with an advanced breast tumour.
Ms Hunter underwent six months of treatment by oncologist Dr Romayne Holmes – involving chemotherapy to shrink the tumour – and then a mastectomy by breast surgeon, Miss Jenny Senior.
As she recovered, she was grateful for the excellent care she received from her doctors, those on the wards and in day oncology. Though describing herself as an “ordinary person, not the sort who organises fundraisers”, she knew she wanted to contribute to Cabrini to help other women facing breast cancer.
Cabrini thanks Ms Hunter for her thoughtful contribution to the wellbeing of Victorian women.
FROM AWARD WINNING LINGERIE TO DONOR
A couple’s vision is helping Cabrini’s cardiac patients and medical researchers.
Helena and Joseph Fröhlich West’s generosity will:
- Further our research into cardiovascular disease and care of cardiac patients
- Advance research into bowel cancer
- Help us to study and treat a range of gastrointestinal conditions
- Assist the teaching of surgical and medical undergraduate and graduate students
- Reduce pain through better use of local anaesthetics
- Help fund Australia’s first chair in surgery in a private hospital
Cabrini Institute is now recognised as the first private hospital in Australia to offer a Chair in Surgery, thanks to a generous donation from two remarkable Victorians. Now another philanthropic gesture by this Melbourne couple will ensure cardiac research leaps ahead.
One family’s name is carried through the corridors of Cabrini, Monash University and beyond as a reminder of the contribution made by Helena and Joseph Fröhlich West.
The Fröhlich West Chair of Surgery is well and truly established and is held by Adrian Polglase, the Professor of Surgery and Chairman of the Cabrini Monash University Department of Surgery.
The couple’s most recent donation will help open the way to new, improved cardiac care. Our cardiac researchers in the Department of Medicine can now develop a new stream of cardiac research, thanks to the generosity of Mr and Mrs Fröhlich West.
The impact of their support reaches across several areas including bowel cancer and upper gastrointestinal conditions. And the result? They will help patients of the future live better lives.
Mr and Mrs Fröhlich West’s generosity stems from a desire to give something back to the country that welcomed them after they fled Poland having survived World War II as a young couple.
They arrived in Melbourne in 1950 with few possessions but were armed with their precious sewing machines, hopeful they would provide a living.
And indeed they did. In an attempt to assimilate, the couple changed their name to West and started a lingerie business in Chapel St, Windsor. The business, Dominant Lingerie, took off and the Wests worked hard to supply department stores around the country.
“My wife, Helena, was cared for in a most devoted way by Dr Lipp who has since died. Over the years, we knew Cabrini deserved our support as they continued to care for my wife,” Mr West says.
“We wanted to make a start by donating, to set an example so others might open up their hearts.
“We also wanted to give back to the wonderful Australian people who supported our business for more than 40 years.” Mr and Mrs West’s contribution to the academic life at the Cabrini Institute and Monash will have far-reaching implications, according to Prof Polglase.
“A major focus of my research team has been the causes, prevention and management of bowel cancer and other bowel disorders,” Prof Polglase says. “This latest contribution from the Wests will offer us the opportunity to help so many people living with cardiovascular disease.”
