Cardiff Members’ Conference Report January 2020

Our first conference of 2020 was held in Cardiff had a big turnout from members and we were delighted to welcome Prof Chris Fegan as our keynote speaker. The theme of the conference was ‘Psychological Support and Mental Wellbeing’, and this will be the focus of our conferences for this year.

In a wide-ranging talk, Prof Fegan spoke on ‘What does a diagnosis of CLL actually mean for patients and what are the essential steps for patients to take’. The presentation was informative, engaging and humorous and Prof Fegan kindly gave up more time to answer lots of questions afterwards.

In addition, we had talks from a patient, Olga Janssen, and from a retired doctor and CLL patient, Dr John Perkins whose use of props to illustrate his CLL journey amused everyone.  In a very full programme there were also presentations on emotional wellbeing from Janice Reece, a Macmillan Consultant Clinical Psychologist and the importance of good nutrition by Sarah Draper, a Specialist Oncology dietician.

The ‘Under 60’s’ table has grown and grown and they always add their own brand of welcome enthusiasm.