“The best time to meet someone is around diagnosis,” she said.
“That is generally a time when they have high levels of distress, because they are unsure of what is happening.
“They don’t fully understand what treatment options are potentially available to them.”
Mrs Morley helps people navigate the hospital system, their diagnosis and provides expert information and support to the whole family.
“We help with their overall state of wellbeing, their confidence, helping them to manage their diagnosis and improve their psychological health and wellbeing,” she said.
“Overall we aim to make people feel less anxious about their treatment and the potential side effects.”
Once a person has completed their treatment and is on surveillance, Mrs Morley keeps in touch with them.
Echuca Regional Health’s Cancer and Wellness Centre was opened recently by Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas.
Photo by
Shannon Colee
She provides ongoing support, assisting patients to be linked in with services they require and ensuring they keep their follow-up appointments with specialists.
“We are that person at the hospital that they can ring up and talk through any questions that they might have,” Mrs Morley said.
Mrs Morley said there were two factors that increased a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer: a family history of the disease and his age.
The symptoms of prostate cancer may include frequent difficulty, pain or discomfort when urinating, blood in urine or semen, or pain in the lower back, upper thighs or hips.
“A lot of urinary symptoms are because of the location of where the prostate sits with the bladder, these symptoms may lead you to go to your doctor, they don’t necessarily mean that you have prostate cancer,” Mrs Morley said.
“But they might be symptoms, which might lead you to go ‘okay, I think I need to go to the GP and have a discussion’.”
Mrs Morley’s advice is that men over the age of 50 should have a chat with their doctor about having a PSA test.
“If you have a family history of prostate cancer, you can have a chat with your GP and start having a PSA at the age of 40,” she said.
“But, if you have symptoms you should go to the GP before that.
“It is about educating men about knowing their own body and when they need to visit the GP and seek advice.”
A simple blood test, a PSA test can help identify any concerns in the prostate but does not mean that you have prostate cancer.
An elevated PSA test result could be an indication of a prostatic hyperplasia, enlarged prostate, an infection, because of a man’s age or recent intimacy with a partner, not necessarily prostate cancer.
There are a number of steps that are medically taken before a diagnosis of prostate cancer is reached, including a referral, by your GP, to a urologist for testing and investigation.
Currently there are 240,000 men living with the impacts of prostate cancer in Australia.
Every 22 minutes a man will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, making it the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia.
For Men’s Health Week the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia is encouraging people to help support the fight against prostate cancer and take part in ‘Perfect Match’.
Perfect Match is asking people to raise funds for prostate cancer research by walking 22km between June 12 and 18.
Perfect Match is asking people to raise funds for prostate cancer research by walking 22km between June 12 and 18.
Every dollar that is donated during Perfect Match will be matched by sponsors to double the impact into prostate cancer research.
To sign up to Perfect Match go to
Prostate cancer specialist nurse Serena Morley can be contacted through the Echuca Regional Health Cancer and Wellness Centre on 5485 5270.