Yuli is a qualified volunteer oncology massage therapist at SolarisCare Great Southern and champion of the Albany SolarisCare Dry July Team. Here she shares her journey with SolarisCare and reasons for supporting and representing regional Western Australia in the Dry July Campaign.
In my early years I trained as a remedial massage therapist and it was during this period of study that I first encountered SolarisCare Great Southern, previously known as New Horizon Complementary Unit. It was 2006 and as a student in my final year of training, I was looking for workplace experience. I was able to develop my skills through supervised training at the Albany SolarisCare, and I have been volunteering there ever since. In the meantime, I qualified as a remedial massage therapist and for a number of years have been practising in my own business on a full time basis, attached to a local physiotherapy clinic.
I know that SolarisCare brings real benefit to locals who are dealing with cancer. It is a place where not only patients can relax in between their treatments but also carers can take a short and well-earned break from caring for their loved ones. I have been volunteering here long enough to see, volunteers and patients, coming and going, some are happy good-byes, some are sad.
My aim in participating in the “Dry July” campaign is to help to promote SolarisCare to the wider Albany and Great Southern community. More people need to know about this wonderful place and what we have to offer.
More than that, “Dry July” will also help to set a good example to both my children (and even perhaps my husband!). While I do love the occasional good glass of wine or a locally distilled gin and tonic, we all need to do our bit for organisations like SolarisCare and this seemed to me a good way of helping just a little bit more.
The Chris O'Brien Lifehouse Centre at RPA - Associate Professor Chris Milross
As an Oncologist I love my job. Each day I am blessed to share deeply felt personal moments with my patients. It should not come as a surprise that many of these shared moments are positive powerful and uplifting.
Unfortunately however there are also moments of sadness that have an equally profound impact. And I will admit that some days when I get home I have “no words left” and frankly I need a drink.
One reason I started Dry July a week early because I am also participating in a seven week weight loss and fitness program, I knew from keeping a food diary that my biggest source of luxury calories came through my alcohol intake, and so I thought that by participating in Dry July I could “kill two birds with one stone” as it were. My choice to participate however was also influenced by my realisation that it was possible that I was using alcohol as an emotional crutch. And so I was curious to see if the habit could be easily broken.
It turns out that it is not all that easy to break the habit. While I have definitely lost the weight, I can’t say that I have necessarily slept better or felt better. That being said I am developing an increasing sense of pride in my achievement so far and a level of comfort around the notion that I actually am in control of my alcohol intake. And I have lost some weight too!
For the rest of the month, to manage the struggle and to help me achieve my goal, I am going to concentrate on, and celebrate the wonderful successes of my patients.
