Patient Information Day A Huge Success

A blog by Hazel Jackson – Kidney Cancer UK Health Care Professional Nurse

On Monday 8th July, 2024, I had the pleasure of leading our first Living with Kidney Cancer Information Day since COVID-19. It was wonderful to see and speak with all who attended.

Our event took place at the Yorkshire Maggie’s Centre, next to St. James’s Hospital in Leeds, and we are very grateful for the warm welcome and support we received from the centre manager, Amanda Proctor and her fabulous team. Thank you.

Amanda said about the day;
“It’s really important for us at Maggie’s to work collaboratively with organisations supporting people with cancer and their family and friends. Our partnership with Kidney Cancer UK is so important to make sure people with kidney cancer have the right support and information from a specialist health professional, alongside the emotional and practical support we provide.”

We were pleased to be able to present an agenda full of eminent speakers giving informative presentations about treatments and care for kidney cancer patients:

Our first speaker was Dr Christy Ralph an Associate Professor of Medical Oncology at Leeds Teaching Hospital, who spoke about drug treatment options for kidney cancer, what is currently available and highlighted how treatments work along with interesting scan pictures to illustrate. She also spoke about upcoming treatments, such as Belzutifan being explored in combination studies and a brand-new immunotherapy Dostarlimab, highlighting how the face of kidney cancer treatment is ever-changing.

Dr Ralph was followed by a presentation from Mr Micheal Kumili, MBChB, FRCS (Urol), PhD, who spoke about his surgical expertise and its place in the treatment of kidney cancer. He explained why someone would have a radical instead of a partial nephrectomy, and how robotic surgery plays an important part in the patient experience as well as the surgeon’s health.

Following a short break in which we all had a chance to mingle, chat, share experiences and talk to the experts, Jo Simpson CNS (clinical nurse specialist) who is also the team leader of advanced oncology at Leeds Teaching Hospital gave a very informative talk about the CNS role in a patients cancer journey and how important it is for patients to use them. Jo highlighted how patients should never feel like they can’t contact CNS; they are there for you.

Since the event we have received excellent feedback;

Jo said
“The LWKD was a great, informative day! Patients were able to hear from professionals about treatments and support available. Having a patient present at the end is such a great idea and I was moved by his story, really put things into context for me. Patients have told me they found it beneficial and it was good for me to be able to be there for extra support and guidance for them.”

We finished the day with an informative and moving talk from Gary Lovelace who talked about his lived experience from the patient’s perspective, from before his diagnosis to now which opened up to a broader conversation about other people’s experiences.

Gary and his wife, Fiona, said about the day:

“I found it really helpful, in particular where it clarified the extra lines of treatment available and the benefits of technological advances in surgery techniques.
It gave me hope. It gave us a feeling of optimism and of first class support being available to us.”

The return of our Living with Kidney Cancer Information Day was a great success and everyone who attended reflected it was a very informative day.
I’ll leave you with a few comments from attendees. Look out for the announcement or our next Living with Kidney Cancer Information Day, soon.

Patient, David Booth said:
“Very well looked after by caring and very competent staff. Speakers from various expertise providing a good combination of knowledge…very informative presentations.”

Our return to our trademark Living With Kidney Cancer Information Days was fabulous and full of insightful conversation.

I am looking forward to doing more in the future and looking forward to welcoming you all along too. Keep an eye on our website and social media pages for the announcement of our next Living with Kidney Cancer Information Day. I look forward to seeing you there.