Your treatment

Family members, including children are welcome to keep you company during your treatment.

Cold cap therapy

Calvary Central Districts Hospital’s Cancer Centre is the only private treatment centre in the North to offer the revolutionary Cold Cap Therapy System to patients.

The system is designed to reduce hair loss while patients undergo chemotherapy treatment. Cold Cap Therapy can be tailored to meet the needs of individual patients, taking into account their health, hair type and treatment levels.

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Restore program

Massage is offered to patients in the chemotherapy suite, three times a week.

One-day workshops are held by Adelaide Oncology and Haematology throughout the year, covering supportive care services and topics that our patients have highlighted as being vital to managing their disease, treatment, recovery and life with cancer.

The workshops ensure patients and their family access to accurate and appropriate information on the following topics:

  • Psychological Care: Psychology, Relaxation & Meditation, Spirituality

  • Physical Care; Nutrition and Cancer, Importance of exercise, Restorative therapies – massage, reflexology, acupuncture

  • Practical Information; Financial and Estate planning, Navigating Centrelink, Community Resources

In addition, the workshops allow patients an informal opportunity to share their experiences with others over coffee/tea or lunch.

The Restore program is proudly funded by a joint partnership between Calvary Central Districts Hospital, Adelaide Oncology and Haematology, The Mary Potter Foundation and the Barossa Area Fundraisers for Cancer.

Rehabilitation

Recent research on exercise during cancer treatment suggests that physical activity can help to reduce the severity of some treatment side effects including fatigue, anaemia (low red blood cell count), increased body weight and muscle mass deterioration. There is also emerging evidence that exercise during your chemotherapy treatment can assist with chemotherapy completion rates and potentially improve outcomes in regards to the likelihood of cancer returning.

Calvary Adelaide Hospital offers two Oncology Reconditioning programs;

  1. The Breast Cancer Rehabilitation Program is designed to rehabilitate women overcoming breast cancer. The sessions are conducted by a team of health professionals including occupational therapy, nursing, physiotherapy, medical dietetics, psychology and pharmacy. It is a 9 week program.

  2. The Reconditioning Oncology Program is an exercise, behavioural change , social support and medication It is an 8 week program.

Referral to Calvary Adelaide Hospital is by General Practitioner, specialists, health care providers or other hospitals between 8am and 5pm. The physiotherapist will co-ordinate patients’ programs and help with setting achievable goals.

DVA support

A liaison person is available to meet with you and discuss available services and support. Please ask your nurse to give you the contact details.

Counselling/social work

A social worker is available to see oncology patients. Please ask your treating specialist for a referral to this service.

Pastoral care

Pastoral care workers are available onsite to offer emotional and spiritual support, working alongside the clinical team, and focusing on helping patients and their families.

It’s not necessarily about religious belief or practice, but more about having someone to connect with outside of the clinical environment.

Volunteers

We are grateful to our many volunteers who dedicate their time to enhance the care we offer our cancer centre patients, their families and friends.

Cancer Council resources

The Cancer Council offers many useful resources, including ‘What to expect’ info sheets for a variety of cancers.

Further support

If you are going through a tough time, you can coordinate help from family and friends with this free online rostering tool.

Life can be tough sometimes and managing everyday life can be extremely stressful. But you are not alone. There are people in your life who want to help you – they just need to know how.

Gather My Crew

Gather My Crew is a free, easy-to-use, online calendar and task list that lets you coordinate practical help from your own support network. All you have to do is select the help you need, when you need it and send an invite to all of the people in your life who have said ‘let me know what I can do to help’. Then you can just sit back, breathe and know that help is on the way.