Cancer art exhibition @ Southmead Hospital

Regular blog readers will be aware of Flourish - a magazine by and for people impacted by cancer. I helped establish this collection of beautiful and powerful artwork and written word pieces when it was a joint collaboration between Yes to Life and Artlift charities. The last issue was a year ago but funding has now been secured by Artlift for a further 4 issues - but just as exciting is our exhibition at Southmead Hospital, Bristol: 

• featuring a diversity of visual arts work by community and professional artists impacted by cancer and/or other health conditions
• available to visit until 23 August 2026
• in the Sanctuary Gallery in the Blue atrium behind the piano in Southmead Hospital’s Brunel Building.
• click here for travel and access information
• the exhibition marks the first opportunity to start celebrating Artlift's forthcoming 20th Anniversary as one of the first Arts on Prescription providers in the UK.

The Flourish exhibits are enriched by inspiring collaborative artwork and poem from North Bristol Trust's 'Fresh Arts'  and creativeShift's Arts on Referral participants.The exhibition partners are pioneers in Creative Health. Their NHS and public health supported programmes have been academically proven to impact positively on the health and wellbeing of adults living with a diversity of health challenges including mental health, chronic pain, cancer, and neuromuscular conditions.

Read Flourish at: https://artlift.org/artlift-programmes/flourish/flourish-magazine/

And below a screenshot with more about Flourish:

Reduce nightly visits to loo

One of the challenges of prostate problems plus taking hormones can be the many trips to urinate at night. Indeed it is accepted by many that once over 60 you need to wake in the night. In fact we should be taking this seriously - advice is definitely to talk to your medical team. However I found this video useful as it is not just how much water you drink, but when, how, and what type of water you consume throughout the day that determines your sleep quality.

In this video the research quoted is based on clinical studies and looks at how kidney function, bladder sensitivity, hormone rhythms, and hydration habits all interact to affect your sleep.

See this video from Urologist Dr William Li on the Eat to Heal TV YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/s72I8RPTP7I?si=D98AtmNEX6FBChrL

Of course this is not the whole picture - pelvic floor exercises are also key. Another useful article on this issue is at: https://www.verywellhealth.com/managing-urinary-changes-after-prostate-cancer-treatment-11901857