Monthly Archives April 2020

The Gift of New Life – Amy Ng-Thomson

A bilateral lung transplant in September last year has given a nurse a future she feared she might have lost… 2018 was a year of reminders and learning, as a patient, as a nurse and as a human being. I was reminded of karma, compassion, humility, resilience and patience. Never in my life did I anticipate having to one day rely on someone else, or on so many other people’s decisions to keep me alive. Let alone having to receive a bilateral lung transplant! My transplant journey began in 2006 when only a year after getting married, I was diagnosed
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Heather’s thoughts on Scleroderma.

I’d liked to have titled this article ‘Scleroderma surprises the ordinary girl’, but Kim Tocker has already claimed it in her superb writing. ‘Scleroderma surprises the older woman’ does not quite have quite the right ring I was hoping for. So, I have called it ‘Heather’s thoughts on Scleroderma’. I grew up in Canterbury. My favourite photo of me is just before my 4th birthday, in July, outside with bare feet in the winter. I and my two siblings lived a life in the outdoors in all sorts of weather. I grew up eating Dad’s and Mum’s homegrown veggies. There
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How to cope with Covid19 Lock-down

Focus on What you can control over difficult times. Many of us might be feeling a general lack of control these days—like we’re out of the driver’s seat and just along for the ride. Usually, the more in control we feel over what’s happening in our lives, the more motivated, happier, and less stressed we are. At a time when we’re all reaching to take back the steering wheel, it’s helpful to shift our focus and actions to what we can control and influence. Internal vs. External control We have a strong sense of internal control when we’re in the
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President’s Report April 2020

Hello to you all, I hope that you are all keeping well and staying safe. Firstly a big welcome to our new members over the last few months, it is always nice to see new members being part of our community I hope you all feel welcome. It has been a difficult time for the country since February, when we all got quite concerned about covid19, and as we see New Zealand is showing resilience and with holding together and following the rules we just might pull through and knock this virus on the head, as long as the government
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