I Can Cope & Survivorship E-Newsletter

We held our biannual “I Can Cope” program on Saturday, April 17th and were pleased with the number of patients and families that attended such a program for the first time. It is always interesting to me who shows up for these programs. “I Can Cope” is a free program, which is offered to all but is especially geared to patients, who are newly diagnosed with cancer. Yes, the day is long and packed with wonderful speakers and I always worry that patients may not be able to sit through such a long period. The other side of the coin, though, is having the sessions over a number of weeks, which can also be challenging to the patients who want to attend all the sessions but cannot guarantee that they will be feeling well enough to do so over time. We had over 30 participants in attendance and our speakers, which included Drs. David Drew and Lav Goyal, were exceptional in their discussions about cancer and its treatment ranging from surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal and radiation. Dr. Alexander Kushch, Licensed Psychologist, held the audience’s attention as he elaborated on how the mind handles complex aspects of life while helping us to cope with life’s challenges. Other speakers addressed issues such as nutrition, acupuncture, estate and health care planning and sexuality and cancer.

There are always some wonderful activities going on at the Bienes Comprehensive Cancer Center as evident in these blogs and we still have much more to offer. Our next major activity involving our survivors will be the third annual “Hope Relay for Life” event, which we do in partnership with the American Cancer Society. The date is May 21st to May 22nd and it will be held at Christ Church in Fort Lauderdale. Our survivorship newsletter, which we will be sending to our readers via email, is now available so we are inviting you to send us your email addresses so you can get a copy of this and upcoming enewsletters every quarter. We would like to highlight survivors’ stories, poems, quotations and words of wisdom so be sure to write to me. I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Did you know that in the month of May we focus on: Women’s Health/Cancer Awareness (May 9th, Mother’s Day), National Women’s Health (May 9th to 15th), Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention, Cancer Research, as well as the World No Tobacco Day (May 31st)?

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Tags: american cancer society, cancer survivorship, hope relay for life, i can cope, survivorship
Posted in Cancer Support |

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Pearls Of Wisdom

In my first blog in 2010, I am once again turning my attention to the very important topic of survivorship. Although I did not get any survivorship stories from my bloggers out there in “blog land,” I went on my own search for them because I know there is great strength in the telling of one’s story and the effect it has on another survivor could be profound and enlightening. Survivorship remains an important concept in cancer care because after all it is the aim of early diagnosis and treatment – improved prognosis for survival. I wanted to know 1) the survivor’s diagnosis and date of diagnosis; 2) what important lesson was learned along the journey; and 3) what pearls of wisdom would you share with patients, who are newly-diagnosed with cancer. Here are a couple of stories from survivors I interviewed:

Maria said, “I was diagnosed in 1998 with Stage One Breast cancer and chose to have mastectomy to be sure of clear margins. Along the way, I learnt that when you are hit with challenges in your health, you can find strength in everyone around you. My pearls of wisdom are that one must sort through one’s life and the things that are important and to overcome those hurdles of fear, denial, anger, depression, acceptance in order to move forward. Make everyday of your life count because life is too short not to enjoy it.”

Vickey indicated she was diagnosed with two different cancers, in 1981 with squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva and in 1992 with breast cancer. She went on to say that along the way she learnt the value of having close family and friends to accompany her to the doctors and take notes. “I gathered the information and opinions from professionals, not rumors, and then decided for myself about what was best for me. My pearls of wisdom are to take time to make your own decisions about your treatment and survivorship – the cancer did not occur overnight.”

I thank the survivors for their stories because often we hear the word “cancer” and we don’t always equate it with survivorship. So as we begin the 2010, I want to challenge you to think about life and how we can make the most of our lives as Maria said. I hope you all had a wonderful Hanukkah or Christmas and for those of you still celebrating Kwanzaa, have a wonderful Kwanzaa celebration. I wish you all a Happy New Year. Be safe and come back with more stories to celebrate life.

Tags: cancer survivors, cancer survivorship, survivorship
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Cancer Survivorship

Cancer survivorship is one of the most talked about aspect in oncology care today.

Why, one would ask? Who are these survivors and how do we define who a cancer survivor is? Recent reports indicate that today there are over 12 million cancer survivors in the United States and approximately 20 million cancer survivors across the globe. This increase in the numbers of people surviving cancer today as well as how vocal our cancer survivors have been about their unmet needs makes a huge difference in our perceptions about this population.

We must also admit that having some really famous people such as Lance Armstrong and other prominent figures talking openly about their experience with cancer either personally or someone they know and love has created more awareness about this issue. We have become acutely aware that cancer survivors are not only living longer with the advances in medicine and early detection measures discovering cancer earlier, but are still actively pursuing their lives once they have completed their treatment.

Some people have indicated that one can be called a survivor from the day of diagnosis, while others feel that the patient should have completed their course of treatment or have survived five years or more beyond their diagnosis. The National Coalition for Cancer Survivors (NCCS) defined a cancer survivor as “anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer through the balance of his or her life.”

There is more to come on this series but I would like to hear your thoughts about cancer survivorship, what it means to you, what do you hope for in your survivorship journey? Please share your thoughts with me. The Bienes Cancer Center offers several cancer support groups to meet the needs of our patients and families/caregivers. We also offer weekly and seasonal bereavement support groups. Remember when seeking online support groups, please make sure it is from a trusted individual or organization, such as Breast Cancer Network of Strength, which offers a men’s support line or Cancer Care, Inc.  On-line support groups have their role but I still encourage face-to-face contact whenever possible or desired. I am still soliciting thoughts on support groups or any other aspect of cancer support. What role has cancer support played in your cancer treatment experience?

Tags: cancer support groups, cancer survivors, cancer survivorship, online cancer support groups, survivorship
Posted in Cancer Support |

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