Dear patients/caregivers,

Brain tumours are on the increase, and sadly, they have become the second leading cause of cancer death in children and young adults. We know that patients with brain tumours and their families have an overwhelming need for emotional support. The Singapore Brain Tumour Patient Care Group is our effort to help such patients and families cope with the many problems associated with such a disease. By encouraging active participation in discussion groups and through meeting others who have had similar experiences, we want you to know that you are not alone in this battle.

There is an international online support group, http://www.braintrust.org/services/support/braintmr/index.html, which is excellent and very active. The 700-odd members are predominantly from the USA but it also has members from other parts of the world. In Australia, there is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OzBrainTumour/ which has about 145 members. Its owner, Dennis Argall, is a member of this Group too.

Offline, our support group meets on the last Friday evening of each month from 6 to 7:30 pm at NNI or NCC. It is our aim that these sessions be highly educational in providing up-to-date information and easy access to specialists on a variety of topics related to brain tumours. More importantly, it is our hope that patients and families will find the psychosocial and emotional support necessary to improve their quality of life.