Northern Territory

General contact: 1300 889 566
or capricornia@dragonsabreast.com.au (Regional Representative)
darwin@dragonsabreast.com.au (Darwin)

On Monday 29th August 2005, Dragons Abreast members Susan Tulley, Penny LaSette, Pauline Deslandes, Colleen Haydon, Judy Smith and Michelle Hanton were delighted to attend the hand over by the Rotary Club of Darwin to the Royal Darwin Hospital & the Darwin Private Hospital of a Surgical Gamma Probe.

The probe will provide specialists with an invaluable tool to treat patients with cancer - not only breast cancer but also melanoma, prostate, thyroid, rectum, and colon cancers and wherever there is a lymphatic connection.

Rotary Club of Darwin President, Mr Martin Jolly, said he was delighted to represent his club in presenting the probe to Royal Darwin Hospital knowing that it will substantially help Territorians in the fight against cancer.

Michelle Hanton, National Coordinator of Dragons Abreast, was delighted to have been interviewed by local radio and ABC Television, and took the opportunity to commend the Rotary Club of Darwin for their generous donation saying “the machine did not exist when I was diagnosed almost 7 years ago. Is great news for Territory woman with breast cancer as it will mean that women have better quality of life outcomes following breast surgery as the surgery will no longer be so invasive and risk of lymphoedema will be greatly reduced.”

Associate Professor of Surgery Phillip Carson says the tool will also help patients with a range of cancers including prostate, thyroid and melanoma. "Traditionally with breast cancer we've taken all the lymph nodes out of the armpit of a woman just to know how far the cancer had spread," he said. "With this machine it enables us to target the nodes that are likely to be involved, as so many women will only need one or two nodes out rather than all the nodes in their armpit."

This page last updated: August 4, 2007