WHEN PATIENTS HAVE 'MUSIC EMERGENCIES'

 
Brian Jantz, a music therapist at Boston Children's Hospital,
plays with a patient, Yaneishka Trujillo.
Jantz uses music to engage with children.

By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

updated 1:55 PM EDT, Fri August 23, 2013

Carlos H. Costa and Joana Christina Brito de Azevedo perform at the Interdisciplinary Society for Quantitative Research in Music and Medicine meeting in Athens, Georgia. Researchers looking at the effects of music on the body and mind presented at the conference. Music therapist Eric Miller performs with David Akombo, assistant professor of music education at Jackson State University, at the conference. Miller also demonstrated how biofeedback can be used in music therapy sessions.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• There are about 5,000 board-certified music therapists in the United States
• They help many different populations, from children in hospitals to Alzheimer's patients
• Scientific research has shown that music has healing properties

(CNN) -- Brian Jantz marched down the hallway of the hospital with his guitar, accompanying a 4-year-old oncology patient with a maraca and a drum. He remembers they were singing their own creative version of "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

The girl had been anxious about an upcoming X-ray, he said, and resisted going to the procedure. Hospital staff paged Jantz to help. He kept the music going even on the elevator; the girl's parents, a nurse and a child-life specialist sang, too.

 

"I'm not completely sure that she realized when it was happening ... because before you knew it, we were back on the elevator, back in the room, and the music just continued straight through," Jantz said.

 

Jantz is one of two music therapists at Boston Children's Hospital, where the idea of using music to help patients as young as premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit has taken off in the last decade. Jantz and his colleague have scheduled visits with patients in almost every unit but will come to a melodic rescue in urgent situations.

 

"We kind of joke around, 'It's like a music emergency,' but it really is," Jantz said. "It really can be like, 'This patient needs music therapy right now.' "

 

Music therapy formally began in the 20th century, after musicians went to play for World War I and World War II veterans at hospitals across the United States. Today, there are about 5,000 board-certified music therapists in the United States, according to the American Music Therapy Association. Over the last decade, the group's membership has expanded, particularly among students.

Music therapy has many uses, from treating individuals in private practice to elderly care settings.

"We're not huge, but are slow growing -- but a mighty -- group," said Barbara Else, senior adviser for policy and research at the American Music Therapy Association.

 

Why it works

There is scientific research to back up the idea that music has healing properties. A 2013 analysis by Daniel Levitin, a prominent psychologist who studies the neuroscience of music at McGill University in Montreal, and his colleagues highlighted a variety of evidence: for instance, one study showed music's anti-anxiety properties, another found music was associated with higher levels of immunoglobin A, an antibody linked to immunity.

 

The brain's reward center responds to music -- a brain structure called the striatum releases the chemical dopamine, associated with pleasure. Food and sex also have this effect. The dopamine rush could even be comparable to methamphetamines, Robert Zatorre, professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Montreal Neurological Institute, told CNN last year.

Beyond that, music presents a nonthreatening tool for interventions that is already attractive to patients, Jantz said.

 

"On the surface it works because, in some way, everyone relates to music," Jantz said. "Music really is universal."

 

Music therapists often work nonverbally, which is why the method is particularly effective for individuals with verbal expression difficulties, such as children with autism, Else said. The profession helps people at every age, from babies to Alzheimer's patients.

 

For individuals with autism in particular, music therapy has shown to be a positive reinforcement of appropriate behaviors and a motivator to reduce negative ones, according to the American Music Therapy Association. Music can also help with the development of language skills, and the identification and expression of emotions, which are characteristic challenges in autism. Some children with autism have superb musical abilities, and music therapy can help them focus on their strengths.

 

Alzheimer's patients, who have memory and thinking impairment, may still recognize songs of their youth or respond emotionally to music. Music can also be used in elderly care settings to calm or stimulate residents.

Music: It's in your head, changing your brain

 

Music as a tool

Singing with someone when you feel anxious, or expressing emotions through songwriting, are more than just casual activities in music therapy. Therapists always have specific goals in mind, such as helping patients overcome a fear.

 

One fundamental of music therapy is called the "Iso principle," the idea that the therapist takes cues from the client when choosing what music to play. This can inform the improvised music that therapists and clients play together. If the client feels hyped up, the therapist and client might play vigorous drum beats together, but if the goal is to relax, they might begin energetically and then tone down.

 

Therapists are conscious of rhythm, tempo, texture and melody of the music as clients express themselves. In a hospital setting such as Jantz's, such components of music can also distract a patient who is in pain.

 

In Else's private practice, she has been helping a college student with an anxiety disorder called agoraphobia; the young woman, who was homeschooled, has been fearful of leaving her house.

The student writes song lyrics when she meets with Else, and also learns guitar from the therapist in the process. By discussing the lyrics and other elements of the music that the student generates through improvisation, the client and therapist uncover clues about what is fueling the woman's anxieties.

 

"We are using music as a mechanism. One, for motivation, but also as a mechanism so she can express herself and we can figure out what are some of these things that are driving her fears," Else said. "We've made a lot of progress."

 

Having worked through her issues with music, the young woman became more open to going out in public, Else said. She accompanied Else to a rehearsal for an opera, and then to an actual opera performance.

 

She has now started junior college and is doing well, Else said. The young woman still sees Else for follow-up maintenance.

 

"Part of that therapeutic process working with her ... was building a high level of trust," Else said. "Developing trust with someone so she could understand that the world isn't quite so scary out there, to get to the root cause."

 

Music as a lifesaver

Going through music therapy isn't always relaxing, fun or easy.

 

Cpl. Demi Bullock, 25, a former Marine, experienced post-traumatic stress disorder after her second deployment in Afghanistan. In summer 2011, music therapy was part of her treatment program.

At first, Bullock, who had played the guitar since she was 15, hated music therapy. Her therapist, Rebecca Vaudreuil, would organize activities such as a drum circle, lyric analysis, listening exercises or instrumental playing for service members in the program.

 

Impatience, and a desire to withdraw from emotion, quickly overtook Bullock. She refused to participate.

 

"I did not like playing music, having something make me feel that pain and that sadness, that can be completely overwhelming," she said.

 

Such resistance isn't unusual among returning military, Vaudreuil said. Some people can connect with music more than others, but in some cases it takes time and "soul-searching" for music to become a beneficial part of recovery.

 

Bullock rediscovered music therapy more than a year after her initial encounter with it. In January, Vaudreuil invited her to join the Semper Sound Band, a musical program through the nonprofit Resounding Joy Inc. that helps service members reintegrate into the community and promotes group cohesion. Vaudreuil was the band director at that time.

 

The invitation came at a particularly dark moment. Bullock was in the process of getting evicted and continued to struggle with PTSD and depression. She had also recently attempted suicide.

Bullock came to discover that jamming on a guitar, keyboard or drum set helped her cope with stress or intrusive thoughts. The band also provides a social support system and an outlet for self-expression.

"The songs that come out of it, and the process they go through, is so genuine," Vaudreuil said. "The songs are a direct reflection of their emotions, their trials, what they've been through, their experiences, and it's completely cathartic for them."

 

Bullock continues to play with the band, and works as an intern at Resounding Joy. Her job allows her to be on the facilitator side of music therapy, and connect with other veterans.

"If I hadn't gotten into it (music therapy), I'd literally be dead or still be homeless," Bullock said. "It literally did save my life."

 

Measuring calm

Other therapists are exploring technologies that allow them to see what effect music has on the human body, and use that information to guide clients. This is called biofeedback.

Eric B. Miller, a music therapist in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, uses real-time data about patients' physiological responses to inform how he runs sessions. He recently discussed a biofeedback method at the Interdisciplinary Society for Quantitative Research in Music and Medicine conference in Athens, Georgia.

 

"The idea is that this information is informing me as a music therapist how I want to be playing my guitar, what tempo I'm going for," he said at the conference.

 

Conference attendees took turns listening to music while wearing a finger sensor. Through a computer program, a graph appeared on a projector screen showing relative heart rate, heart rate variance and skin conductivity in real time. The computer program then translated the readings from the sensor into tones, which could be heard overlayed with music.

 

Independent researcher Elijah Easton listened to another conference attendee (full disclosure: it was the author of this article) improvise on the piano. Easton said he found the activity relaxing; Miller noted that Easton's heart rate had decreased after the music stopped.

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In a real session, Miller would create a physiological profile of a client by looking at his or her responses to sitting naturally, doing a cognitive task, relaxing and envisioning something emotional. After more relaxation, he would set up the biofeedback system of tones, and challenge the client to lower the tone, an indication of relaxation. Different tones can be assigned to different variables such as heart rate.

 

The point is helping clients learn the art of self-regulation, of adjusting their own bodies, Miller said.

"The music and the data are both co-therapists," Miller said.

Biofeedback-oriented music therapy can be used in a variety of conditions, including high blood pressure and seizures -- not necessarily instead of mainstream medicine, but in concert with it, Miller said.

 

"Western doctors may recommend it to complement existing treatment or as a trial in cases of adverse reaction to typical pharmacological remedies," he said.

 

In a more subtle way, Jantz also uses biofeedback with patients who are already hooked up to monitors at Boston Children's Hospital for medical reasons. When he plays music in the neonatal intensive care unit, he can see what impact strumming his guitar has by observing the heart rate graph.

 

Fun is part of it

Jantz sees music itself as having an intrinsic therapeutic value, in addition to the positive experience that a person can have with a music therapist. For children in particular, it can encourage them to learn a new skill; sometimes patients who stay at Boston Children's Hospital for longer periods get good at guitar.

 

Occasionally Jantz has to dress in a surgical gown and gloves, but for the most part the kids don't view what he does as a therapy -- they're just relieved that instead of poking and prodding, he's there to play music with them.

 

"There's nothing wrong with having fun," he said. "That's part of how it works."

He's prepared for a full repertoire of traditional children's songs, but he has also worked with young kids who love The Beatles. And some teens would rather hear music from their earlier childhood than Justin Bieber.

 

The phone that pages him, though, doesn't beep or ring to alert him to his next destination.

 

It vibrates, so as to not interrupt the music.

 

To view original post visit http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/23/health/music-therapy/index.html

 

Cancer Support Community Benjamin Center has two music programs: Circle Singing meets the 1st Saturday of each month from 11am to 12:15pm and Family Drum Circle meets the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month from 10:45 to 11:45am.  Free of charge to those affected by cancer.  We validate parking! http://bit.ly/CSCMB2

 

 

GIVING A FACE TO CANCER: FOR THE LOVE OF PHOTOGRAPHY

By Kimber Westmore
Crafts Changing Hearts

We are honored to introduce Jana Cruder. A single conversation with Jana confirmed our belief that one person can, and must, use his or her gifts to improve the lives of others. Jana’s gift is photography.

Because Jana has shared in the journey of cancer, she was determined to focus her energies towards this growing community. When she was just seven years old, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. A 22-year journey of operations, treatments and care-taking helped her set a course to use her lens as an instrument of healing. When she lost her mom in 2010, she decided to focus on creating something unique for cancer patients and their families.

“Raising money for research is important, but that didn’t help my mom. I want to help people living with cancer now,” she shared. “I understand where they are when they step in front of my lens.”

Something to Remember is Jana’s expression of love. This year, Jana interviewed and photographed families of the Cancer Support Community-Benjamin Center. Speaking with them enabled her to accurately, poignantly document their unique journeys. On Saturday, December 7th, she assembled a talented group of individuals–including make-up artists and hair stylists, and in keeping with her core values about diet, Jana retained caterers specializing in healthy food. (No pizza and soda for this event.) It all happened at The Focus Studio in Venice, CA.

Below, see the beautiful focus of Jana’s lens this year.  Please click here for a video of last year’s event.

Be prepared to have your heart changed forever! Ours at CCH will never be the same.

To view article in original source go to http://arttohearts.com/charities/medical-support/giving-a-face-to-cancer/

 

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THE INFORMED PATIENT: THE NEXT FRONT IN CANCER CARE

The Wall Street Journal

By Laura Landro, Dec. 9, 2013 7:34 p.m. ET

 

As More Patients Survive, Cancer Centers Handle Disease's Knock-On Effects

 

For cancer patients, getting through the rigors of treatment is the first hurdle. Then, life as a cancer survivor poses its own daunting physical and emotional challenges.

 

A growing number of hospitals and community cancer centers, which treat the majority of the nation's cancer patients, are launching survivorship-care programs. These include treatment follow-up plans, physical rehabilitation and emotional assistance, such as counseling and support groups. They resemble programs currently offered by big urban cancer centers like MD Anderson in Houston and Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York.

 

As more cancer patients are treated successfully, treatment centers are focusing on the next phase and discovering it can pose daunting challenges that require new approaches to care. Laura Landro explains on Lunch Break. Photo: Greenville Health System.

Chemotherapy and radiation can damage vital organs such as the heart and liver, possibly causing secondary diseases years later. The body can be debilitated, cognitive functions impaired and emotions distressed, making return to normal life and work difficult. Some 70% of cancer survivors experience depression at some point. Patients have higher levels of anxiety years after the disease is cured. And there is always the chance that cancer will return.

More patients are expected to face such health issues as the number of cancer survivors grows, partly due to improved early detection and treatment.

The Commission on Cancer, a consortium of professional organizations that accredits U.S. cancer centers treating 70% of newly diagnosed patients, will begin in 2015 requiring that they provide survivorship-care plans for their patients.

Erin McCaffrey

Read More

• For One Young Cancer Patient, Planning for a Future While Fighting a Rare Disease

 

"I tell patients now we are going to follow you for your entire lifetime," says W. Larry Gluck, an oncologist and medical director of the Greenville Health System's Cancer Institute, in Greenville, S.C., which set up a Center for Integrative Oncology and Survivorship in 2011. "The mental and physical needs of cancer patients go on long after therapy has been completed." In the past, patients typically were sent back to their family doctor, who might have little knowledge of delayed side effects or complications of treatment and recurrence risks, Dr. Gluck says.

There are close to 14 million cancer survivors living in the U.S., a number that is expected to grow to 18 million by 2022, according to the National Cancer Institute. About 40% have been alive 10 years or more after diagnosis (including this reporter, a leukemia survivor).

Private health insurers and Medicare typically cover cancer patients' medical visits, during which some survivorship-care planning can take place. Cancer centers say some private insurers consider survivorship planning a necessary service. A bill currently in congressional committee, the Planning Actively for Cancer Treatment Act would require Medicare to cover care-planning services at diagnosis and once cancer patients finish treatment.

 

View Graphics

 

Nonprofit groups like Cancer Support Community, which was formed in 2009 through the merger of two of the largest support organizations, Gilda's Club and the Wellness Community, offer free services including personalized assessment and care plans, distress screening, support groups and complementary therapies such as yoga and meditation. Last year, it announced a partnership with Greenville to incorporate its services into the hospital system as part of the recent survivorship center.

"Cancer hospitals are realizing that they have to be a one-stop shop, taking care not just of the body, but of the mind and soul of the survivor," says Kim Thiboldeaux, chief executive officer of Cancer Support Community.

After being treated at the Greenville, S.C., Cancer Institute last year, Renee Gossman says yoga classes at the institute's survivorship center helped her regain strength. Greg Beckner

Renee Gossman, 71, a personal trainer who teaches water aerobics, was diagnosed at the Greenville Cancer Institute with uterine cancer in January 2012. She had a hysterectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. Ms. Gossman, who doesn't have a lot of family living nearby, says she was fatigued and felt isolated during nearly a year of treatment. "You get through all of that, and then it's like, what's going to happen now?" she says.

 

Ms. Gossman says her oncologist, Larry Puls, referred her late last year to Greenville's survivorship center where she met with a social worker, a nurse navigator and a dietitian. She received a summary of her treatment, copies of her pathology reports, a follow-up plan and a summary of other programs and activities she might find helpful.

 

"They give you a team of people who are going to look after you, get you back involved in the world and see to your physical, social and emotional needs," Ms. Gossman says. She started a 12-week exercise program at the center that focuses on restoring aerobic conditioning, muscular strength and flexibility. She also began taking yoga classes and a writing workshop through the Cancer Support Community program at Greenville. Ms. Gossman currently volunteers once a week as a greeter in the lobby of the cancer institute.

Other services offered at Greenville include free nutrition counseling and help with the after-effects of specific cancers, such as swelling, called lymphedema, that often occurs after breast-cancer surgery.

Patients, and their caregivers, are encouraged to use the survivorship center as a resource, says Regina Franco, a nurse practitioner and manager of the survivorship center. "If you hear on the news that you should be taking vitamin E, call us and ask, 'Is this really something I should be doing?' "

Greenville recently joined with researchers at the University of South Carolina to open a human-performance lab that will assess patients before and after treatment, billed as an office visit.

One area of research: how cancer and chemotherapy affect energy production at the cellular level and how exercise might restore some of the damage. Also being studied is the impact of complementary therapies such as yoga, massage and acupuncture, Dr. Gluck says.

 

Many smaller cancer centers and oncology practices are using a software program called Journey Forward, created by a group of advocacy organizations and health companies, to create customized follow-up plans. The program, which includes resources for both doctors and patients, has been downloaded about 30,000 times since it was launched in 2009, says Shelley Fuld Nasso, chief executive of the nonprofit National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, which helped develop the software. For cancer survivors, "things can come up many years down the road that you aren't expecting or prepared for," she says.

 

Write to Laura Landro at laura.landro@wsj.com

 

To view article, go to http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303330204579248400281496142

CANCER PATIENTS' DESIRE FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT

At the Cancer Support Community-Benjamin Center far more women seek support than men.  Below is an interesting study from 2010 in the journal Psychooncology confirming the tendency of women to 'desire' support more than men.  What do you think are the reasons?  How does our society cultivate this desire in women and not in men?  And more importantly, what has the effect been on us as a culture?

 

Psychooncology. 2010 Feb;19(2):141-9. doi: 10.1002/pon.1568.

 

Cancer patients' desire for psychological support: prevalence and implications for screening patients' psychological needs.

 

Merckaert I, Libert Y, Messin S, Milani M, Slachmuylder JL, Razavi D.

 

Source

Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Education, B-1050Brussels, Belgium.

 

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

To investigate cancer patients' desire for psychological support and to identify patients' sociodemographic, disease-related and psychological factors associated with this desire.

 

METHODS:

The study is part of a multicenter, cross-sectional study assessing cancer patients' needs and desire for psychological support. Patients completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Ways of Coping Checklist, the Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System and reported their desire for psychological support.

 

RESULTS:

Among the 381 included patients, women (26%) desired psychological support significantly more often than men (11%) (p<0 .001="" a="" and="" as="" associated="" being="" contextual="" coping="" desire="" difficulties="" distress="" diversely="" encountered="" factors="" for="" having="" men="" modalities="" neither="" nor="" o:p="" or="1.36;" other="" p="0.003" patients="" psychological="" s="" such="" support-seeking="" support.="" support="" their="" treatment="" was="" were="" with="" women="" younger="">

 

CONCLUSIONS:

One female cancer patient out of four and one male cancer patient out of ten desire psychological support. Results emphasize the need to screen not only for cancer patients' distress but also for their desire for psychological support. This will allow implementing psychological interventions according to patients' needs and desire.

 

PMID:19382112[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

To see this abstract in the original, go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19382112

LOW-FAT DIET, OMEGA-3 LINKED TO REDUCED PROSTATE CANCER AGGRESSION

Cancer Support Community-Benjamin Center Prostate Support Group meets the 2nd Monday of each month from 7 -9pm at 1990 S. Bundy Drive, Suite 100, LA, CA 90025.  Gay Men's Prostate Group meets the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month from 7 - 9pm at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center at The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90038.  Call 310-314-2555 for more info and to find out about our prostate cancer-related educational workshops.  http://bit.ly/EDUCSC


Check out this article:
Low-fat diet, omega-3 linked to reduced prostate cancer aggression - Medical News Today

THE PROCESS OF CREATING ART

 
By Victoria Moore

Art has always been very important to me, even though I'm not much of an artist. I can't draw or paint like Pablo Picasso or concoct a canvas with vibrant colors like Henri Matisse. I can't capture a flower perfectly like Georgia O'keeffe or dribble paint like Jackson Pollack. I can enjoy the process of making my own compositions, however, that comes from a week of studying nature in all its glory or immersing myself in a famous masterpiece by Pierre August Renoir.

Before I took Kimber Luederitz's "Creative Art Class" at the Realm Studio in Santa Monica, California, I didn't even know what "the process" was. I thought you either had to have artistic talent or years of training to be an artist. Gifted with the patience it takes to work with people who're going through the cancer experience, Kimber provided a highly supportive environment where I not only grew artistically but emotionally and psychologically as well.  Her class is provided by Elizabeth's Canvas and is a partnership with Cancer Support Community-Benjamin Center.

Compared to the more advance students in the class, I initially felt what I brought to the art table was meager fare indeed. The only experience I had had was the Art History and Design classes I was required to take as part of my coursework as a Fashion Merchandising major at CSULA. At the time I utilized these skills when I worked in retail to do visual merchandising and fashion coordination. Later, when I became a fashion/feature writer I used them for photography and when describing various trends, stores and events. When I got Breast Cancer in 2010 and discovered a way to use art in Esther Dreifuss-Katen's "Cancer and Creativity" class to express what I was going through, I saw how beneficial it was.

Despite the differences in Kimber and Esther's classes, I still responded to both with equal enthusiasm. I did notice, however, that my education about art grew more with Kimber's class because we focused on specific types of painting for a longer period of time and got a chance to really work on a project. In the first class, we started with "color studies" in the mode of artist Mark Rothko. For some reason I chose pink, blue/green and white and painted them in straight bands with a series of connecting lines between the sections. When I thought about why I chose that palette I remembered that pink is my favorite color, blue means harmony, green means rebirth and white means cleanliness.

For our second class, we continued with color studies, but this time we added an organic shape to one portion of the painting. Following a week of studying trees, flowers, leaves and clouds I chose leaves as my organic shape. I still used pink and blue but this time I also added yellow and green. We finished the "color studies" in one day and besides feeling happy about creating something beautiful in a single sitting, I also enjoyed how involved I became while bringing it to completion.

The next painting we worked on, a vase of flowers, was a lot more difficult and caused me hours of frustration and anxiety. To start us off Kimber showed us a series of paintings on the computer then let us select a color copy from a variety of different ones. I chose a gorgeous Impressionist piece by Renoir that had a luxurious goldish-brown background against a bouquet of light pink flowers in a green vase. After we studied our chosen picture we were then instructed to sketch out our composition on canvas and then work on the table and background. Unlike the "color studies" we'd done previously this project was to be completed in stages.  My painting went through a significant amount of changes,where I eventually ended up painting a flower and vase that were simpler, but no less striking.

The event that made my progress even more trying was the breast reconstruction surgery I had on September 26. I was taking a computer class at the time too, so the effort it took to participate in both classes, was enormous. Still I pushed on with this painting, seeing it as becoming a reflection of my trials and tribulations. In the end the painting I ended up with, pink orchids in a green vase atop a red tablecloth and against an orange background, was a collaboration between Kimber and I that I profoundly appreciated. Vibrant and resilient, with all of the colors I'm attracted to on a good day, this final composition is an effort I'll always be glad I struggled to achieve.

Look for more upcoming art classes in partnership with Elizabeth's Canvas and Cancer Support Community-Benjamin at http://www.cancersupportcommunitybenjamincenter.org/calendar/program-calendar/month.calendar/2013/12/02/-.html or call 310-314-2555 for more information.

CANCER EXPERIENCE REGISTRY℠

If sharing your cancer journey could enhance the lives of others would you help? You can!

What is the Cancer Experience Registry℠?

It is a community of people touched by cancer. A primary focus is on collecting, analyzing and sharing information about the cancer experience including the social and emotional needs of the patient and their family throughout the cancer journey.

Why is it important?

There is a need to include social and emotional support as an integral part of comprehensive quality cancer care. This has been proven to improve quality of life and may also improve health outcomes of cancer survivors. The information collected from the registry will be used to inform the future of cancer care, develop innovative programs and offer services to more effectively address the emotional and social needs of people affected by cancer.

Who is eligible to participate?

Anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer at any time. Whether you have been recently diagnosed, are undergoing treatment or are years past treatment, you are eligible to participate. By joining you can make a difference in improving the quality of life and health outcomes of people touched by cancer.

How to participate?

If you have ever had cancer, please join now and share your experience with us. Also, if you know somebody who has been diagnosed with cancer at any point please encourage them to join. All personal information is protected.

Learn More about The Cancer Experience Registry

To view original, go to:

https://csc.cancerexperienceregistry.org/

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF TAI CHI

Cancer Support Community-Benjamin Center has a tai chi class that meets every Tuesday from 5 -6pm.  At no cost for those affected by cancer.  Just drop in or call 310-314-2555 for information.

May 2009, Harvard Medical School Article

This gentle form of exercise can prevent or ease many ills of aging and could be the perfect activity for the rest of your life.

Tai chi is often described as "meditation in motion," but it might well be called "medication in motion." There is growing evidence that this mind-body practice, which originated in China as a martial art, has value in treating or preventing many health problems. And you can get started even if you aren't in top shape or the best of health.

In this low-impact, slow-motion exercise, you go without pausing through a series of motions named for animal actions — for example, "white crane spreads its wings" — or martial arts moves, such as "box both ears." As you move, you breathe deeply and naturally, focusing your attention — as in some kinds of meditation — on your bodily sensations. Tai chi differs from other types of exercise in several respects. The movements are usually circular and never forced, the muscles are relaxed rather than tensed, the joints are not fully extended or bent, and connective tissues are not stretched. Tai chi can be easily adapted for anyone, from the most fit to people confined to wheelchairs or recovering from surgery.

"A growing body of carefully conducted research is building a compelling case for tai chi as an adjunct to standard medical treatment for the prevention and rehabilitation of many conditions commonly associated with age," says Peter M. Wayne, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Tai Chi and Mind-Body Research Program at Harvard Medical School's Osher Research Center. An adjunct therapy is one that's used together with primary medical treatments, either to address a disease itself or its primary symptoms, or, more generally, to improve a patient's functioning and quality of life.

Belief systems

You don't need to subscribe to or learn much about tai chi's roots in Chinese philosophy to enjoy its health benefits, but these concepts can help make sense of its approach:

•  Qi — an energy force thought to flow through the body; tai chi is said to unblock and encourage the proper flow of qi.
•  Yin and yang — opposing elements thought to make up the universe that need to be kept in harmony. Tai chi is said to promote this balance.

Tai chi in motion
A tai chi class might include these parts:

Warm-up. Easy motions, such as shoulder circles, turning the head from side to side, or rocking back and forth, help you to loosen your muscles and joints and focus on your breath and body.

Instruction and practice of tai chi forms. Short forms — forms are sets of movements — may include a dozen or fewer movements; long forms may include hundreds. Different styles require smaller or larger movements. A short form with smaller, slower movements is usually recommended at the beginning, especially if you're older or not in good condition.

Qigong (or chi kung). Translated as "breath work" or "energy work," this consists of a few minutes of gentle breathing sometimes combined with movement. The idea is to help relax the mind and mobilize the body's energy. Qigong may be practiced standing, sitting, or lying down.

Getting started

The benefits of tai chi are generally greatest if you begin before you develop a chronic illness or functional limitations. Tai chi is very safe, and no fancy equipment is needed, so it's easy to get started. Here's some advice for doing so:

Don't be intimidated by the language. Names like Yang, Wu, and Cheng are given to various branches of tai chi, in honor of people who devised the sets of movements called forms. Certain programs emphasize the martial arts aspect of tai chi rather than its potential for healing and stress reduction. In some forms, you learn long sequences of movements, while others involve shorter series and more focus on breathing and meditation. The name is less important than finding an approach that matches your interests and needs.

Check with your doctor. If you have a limiting musculoskeletal problem or medical condition — or if you take medications that can make you dizzy or lightheaded — check with your doctor before starting tai chi. Given its excellent safety record, chances are that you'll be encouraged to try it.

Consider observing and taking a class. Taking a class may be the best way to learn tai chi. Seeing a teacher in action, getting feedback, and experiencing the camaraderie of a group are all pluses. Most teachers will let you observe the class first to see if you feel comfortable with the approach and atmosphere. Instruction can be individualized. Ask about classes at your local Y, senior center, or community education center. The Arthritis Foundation (www.arthritis.org; 800-283-7800, toll-free) can tell you whether its tai chi program, a 12-movement, easy-to-learn sequence, is offered in your area.

If you'd rather learn at home, you can buy or rent videos geared to your interests and fitness needs (see "Selected resources"). Although there are some excellent tai chi books, it can be difficult to appreciate the flow of movements from still photos or illustrations.

Talk to the instructor. There's no standard training or licensing for tai chi instructors, so you'll need to rely on recommendations from friends or clinicians and, of course, your own judgment. Look for an experienced teacher who will accommodate individual health concerns or levels of coordination and fitness.

Dress comfortably. Choose loose-fitting clothes that don't restrict your range of motion. You can practice barefoot or in lightweight, comfortable, and flexible shoes. Tai chi shoes are available, but ones you find in your closet will probably work fine. You'll need shoes that won't slip and can provide enough support to help you balance, but have soles thin enough to allow you to feel the ground. Running shoes, designed to propel you forward, are usually unsuitable.

Gauge your progress. Most beginning programs and tai chi interventions tested in medical research last at least 12 weeks, with instruction once or twice a week and practice at home. By the end of that time, you should know whether you enjoy tai chi, and you may already notice positive physical and psychological changes.

No pain, big gains

Although tai chi is slow and gentle and doesn't leave you breathless, it addresses the key components of fitness — muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and, to a lesser degree, aerobic conditioning. Here's some of the evidence:

Muscle strength. In a 2006 study published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Stanford University researchers reported benefits of tai chi in 39 women and men, average age 66, with below-average fitness and at least one cardiovascular risk factor. After taking 36 tai chi classes in 12 weeks, they showed improvement in both lower-body strength (measured by the number of times they could rise from a chair in 30 seconds) and upper-body strength (measured by their ability to do arm curls).

In a Japanese study using the same strength measures, 113 older adults were assigned to different 12-week exercise programs, including tai chi, brisk walking, and resistance training. People who did tai chi improved more than 30% in lower-body strength and 25% in arm strength — almost as much as those who participated in resistance training, and more than those assigned to brisk walking.

"Although you aren't working with weights or resistance bands, the unsupported arm exercise involved in tai chi strengthens your upper body," says internist Dr. Gloria Yeh, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. "Tai chi strengthens both the lower and upper extremities and also the core muscles of the back and abdomen."

Flexibility. Women in the 2006 Stanford study significantly boosted upper- and lower-body flexibility as well as strength.

Balance. Tai chi improves balance and, according to some studies, reduces falls. Proprioception — the ability to sense the position of one's body in space — declines with age. Tai chi helps train this sense, which is a function of sensory neurons in the inner ear and stretch receptors in the muscles and ligaments. Tai chi also improves muscle strength and flexibility, which makes it easier to recover from a stumble. Fear of falling can make you more likely to fall; some studies have found that tai chi training helps reduce that fear.

Aerobic conditioning. Depending on the speed and size of the movements, tai chi can provide some aerobic benefits. But in the Japanese study, only participants assigned to brisk walking gained much aerobic fitness. If your clinician advises a more intense cardio workout with a higher heart rate than tai chi can offer, you may need something more aerobic as well.

Selected resources

Tai Chi Health www.taichihealth.com
Tai Chi Productions www.taichiforhealth.com
Tree of Life Tai Chi Center www.treeoflifetaichi.com

Tai chi for medical conditions

When combined with standard treatment, tai chi appears to be helpful for several medical conditions. For example:

Arthritis. In a 40-person study at Tufts University, presented in October 2008 at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, an hour of tai chi twice a week for 12 weeks reduced pain and improved mood and physical functioning more than standard stretching exercises in people with severe knee osteoarthritis. According to a Korean study published in December 2008 in Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, eight weeks of tai chi classes followed by eight weeks of home practice significantly improved flexibility and slowed the disease process in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful and debilitating inflammatory form of arthritis that affects the spine.

Low bone density. A review of six controlled studies by Dr. Wayne and other Harvard researchers indicates that tai chi may be a safe and effective way to maintain bone density in postmenopausal women. A controlled study of tai chi in women with osteopenia (diminished bone density not as severe as osteoporosis) is under way at the Osher Research Center and Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Breast cancer. Tai chi has shown potential for improving quality of life and functional capacity (the physical ability to carry out normal daily activities, such as work or exercise) in women suffering from breast cancer or the side effects of breast cancer treatment. For example, a 2008 study at the University of Rochester, published in Medicine and Sport Science, found that quality of life and functional capacity (including aerobic capacity, muscular strength, and flexibility) improved in women with breast cancer who did 12 weeks of tai chi, while declining in a control group that received only supportive therapy.

Heart disease. A 53-person study at National Taiwan University found that a year of tai chi significantly boosted exercise capacity, lowered blood pressure, and improved levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and C-reactive protein in people at high risk for heart disease. The study, which was published in the September 2008 Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, found no improvement in a control group that did not practice tai chi.

Heart failure.  In a 30-person pilot study at Harvard Medical School, 12 weeks of tai chi improved participants' ability to walk and quality of life. It also reduced blood levels of B-type natriuretic protein, an indicator of heart failure. A 150-patient controlled trial is under way.

Hypertension.  In a review of 26 studies in English or Chinese published in Preventive Cardiology (Spring 2008), Dr. Yeh reported that in 85% of trials, tai chi lowered blood pressure — with improvements ranging from 3 to 32 mm Hg in systolic pressure and from 2 to 18 mm Hg in diastolic pressure.

Parkinson's disease.  A 33-person pilot study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, published in Gait and Posture (October 2008), found that people with mild to moderately severe Parkinson's disease showed improved balance, walking ability, and overall well-being after 20 tai chi sessions.

Sleep problems.  In a University of California, Los Angeles, study of 112 healthy older adults with moderate sleep complaints, 16 weeks of tai chi improved the quality and duration of sleep significantly more than standard sleep education. The study was published in the July 2008 issue of the journal Sleep.

Stroke.  In 136 patients who'd had a stroke at least six months earlier, 12 weeks of tai chi improved standing balance more than a general exercise program that entailed breathing, stretching, and mobilizing muscles and joints involved in sitting and walking. Findings were published in the January 2009 issue of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.

Check out original article at http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch/2009/May/The-health-benefits-of-tai-chi

 

 

US CANCER CARE IN CRISIS, EXPERTS SAY

(Photo) Gerry Broome / AP

 

MAGGIE FOX, NBC NEWS

September 10, 2013, 12:38 PM ET

 

A nurse prepares to administer chemotherapy treatment at Duke Cancer Center in Durham, N.C.

Cancer may be the most feared diagnosis, but Americans are getting disorganized care and they’re often not even getting treatment based on the best scientific evidence, a panel of experts reports.
It’s often too expensive, and the most privileged are getting far better care than people with lower income, minorities, people who live away from big cities and the elderly. And most cancer patients who are doomed to die still wrongly believe they might be cured.

And as the baby boomer generation ages, the U.S. is going to be hit with a tsunami of new cancer cases. It’s time to get organized, the Institute of Medicine committee says.

“As a nation we need to chart a new course for cancer care,” says Dr. Patricia Ganz, chair of the committee that wrote the report and a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine and School of Public Health. “We need to make the healthcare system better.”
The Internet brings a unique opportunity to change this, with ways to make sure doctors follow the best protocols for treating patients, and making sure patients understand what they need and what is possible, the committee says.

Cancer is the No. 2 cause of death in the United States after heart disease, killing more than 500,000 Americans every year.

Because cancer becomes more likely as people get older, the numbers will go up exponentially. By 2030, the report projects, cancer rates will go up 45 percent, to 2.6 million cases a year.
Cancer is common, so a range of doctors and other specialists treat it. Often the care is very good, but too often it isn’t.
“One would expect an entire system to snap into place that would ensure that this patient receives all the treatments he or she needs,” Dr. Neil Wenger of UCLA, one of the committee members, says in a video released with the report. 

“That is not the way that this system works. We have the most highly trained oncologists but because we don’t have coordination among all clinicians, this care doesn’t serve patients well. Sometimes it even harms patients.”

So someone with colon cancer who goes to his community hospital maybe treated by a surgeon who doesn’t know to take out certain lymph glands for testing to see if the cancer has spread, says Ganz. “They may do too many tests,” she told NBC News.

Often doctors order too many CT scans or unnecessary MRIs, Ganz said. “These kinds of variations lead to potential risk or harm to the patient,” she said. “Obviously if you don’t have good access, you won’t get good care.” Plus it can be costly -- and patients often must pay a large chunk of this pricey and unnecessary care.

But patients shouldn’t have to rely on being able to get to big, famous cancer centers like MD Anderson in Houston, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York or Fred Hutchison Cancer Center in Seattle, says Ganz.

“The truth is, not everybody can travel,” says Dr. Clifford Hudis, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, who was not on the panel. “We have a golden opportunity now that we are in the age of bioinformatics.” Electronic communications can help doctors connect to one another and share expertise, and it needs to happen more often, Hudis and the panel agree.

“Why shouldn’t any doctor who is using a computer and electronic records ultimately be able to gain from the experience of everyone? Then it won’t matter quite so much if you wander into a one-person office in a rural center," Hudis says.

Patients also need to get more informed, and they can’t be left to the mercy of misinformation on the Internet, adds Ganz. “We do recommend there be good quality information available in both written and social media,” she said. “What is out there and what is on blogs can be very distressing.”
The report points out that Americans often don’t understand a cancer diagnosis. Up to 80 percent given a diagnosis of incurable cancer don’t fully get it -- they think they can still be cured, the panel points out.

“Part of this has to do with human nature and the belief that you will be the exception,” Hudis says. But many oncologists are also reluctant to deliver the bad news that a patient will never be cured.
Americans often emphasize fighting cancer, characterizing patients as courageous survivors who either beat the odds, or went down after a good fight. But evidence suggests that so-called palliative care -- designed to ease pain and other symptoms -- not only makes patients more comfortable, but can help them live longer than intense chemotherapy.

And people shouldn’t die of cancer in an intensive care unit, the report says -- even though this is still happening far too often. Quality hospice care provides a better alternative.

On the other side, people often panic when they get a cancer diagnosis and may rush into treatment, says Ganz. “We don’t want to frighten patients,” she says. “I think the quality of care in many places around the country is really high and of a high standard. Patients need to understand that once they are told they have cancer, it is rarely an emergency."

With the exception of an unusual brain tumor or some forms of leukemia, there is usually not a hurry. “Most of the time you can make up your mind over several weeks,” Ganz says.

“It will take training of professionals and it will take big changes at a policy level including how care is reimbursed," says Betty Ferrell, an oncology nurse researcher at the City of Hope cancer center in California who was on the IOM panel. “But everything that we are advocating for is ultimately extremely possible.”

To see original post, go to http://www.nbcnews.com/health/us-cancer-care-crisis-experts-say-8C11121986

Ipilimumab Conveys Long-Term Survival Benefit in Pooled Analysis of Metastatic Melanoma Patients

"The ASCO Post" printed this article on melanoma, November 15, 2013, Volume 4, Issue 18

By Caroline Helwick
http://www.ascopost.com/issues/november-15,-2013/ipilimumab-conveys-long-term-survival-in-pooled-analysis-of-metastatic-melanoma-patients.aspx

The Intriguing Health Benefits of Qigong

By Laura Johannes from the Wall Street Journal

The Claim: Qigong, a Chinese health practice based on gentle movements, meditation and breathing, has wide-ranging benefits, including improving balance, lowering blood pressure and even easing depression.

The Verdict: Increasingly popular in the U.S., qigong (pronounced chee-gong) has been found in recent studies to improve quality of life in cancer patients and fight depression. Other studies have found improvements in balance and blood pressure. But so far, there aren't enough large, well-designed studies to constitute solid proof of any benefits, scientists say.

Student Krupa Patel warms up during class. Dominick Reuter for The Wall Street Journal

Qigong, with its roots in traditional Chinese medicine, is a close cousin to the better-known tai chi. Unlike that practice, qigong isn't based in martial arts. Instead, it uses a variety of gentle movements, says Stanwood Chang, who teaches qigong classes at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Because its motions are simple and repetitive, qigong is more accessible to many people than tai chi, which has long sequences that need to be memorized, Mr. Chang adds.

Traditionally, qigong is described as a practice that cultivates "qi," or life energy. Qi can't be measured objectively, says Shin Lin, a professor of cell biology at the University of California, Irvine. But his studies of qigong and tai chi practitioners have found a boost in both alpha brain waves, suggesting relaxation, and beta waves, indicating strong focus. "It has the dual benefit of relaxing you, but also sharpening your mind," says Dr. Lin.

Some studies have found improvement in balance from qigong. At least one cites the fact that participants are taught to take a wider, more stable stance when standing. 

Natural Standard Research Collaboration, a Cambridge, Mass., scientist group that evaluates natural therapies, gives qigong a grade of "B," for hypertension, concluding that there is "good evidence" to support its use along with standard medications to treat the condition.

Earlier this year, a three-month, 14-person study of depressed Chinese-Americans, who were offered one-hour qigong classes twice a week and encouraged to practice at home, found that 60% of those who took at least 15 classes saw a significant improvement in depression based on a standard rating scale. "One theory is that qigong helps people to relax and combat stress," which tends to aggravate depression, says study co-author Albert Yeung, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge.
The study was too small to be conclusive, adds Dr. Yeung, a senior consultant at the Benson-Henry Institute. But he's excited enough about the potential that he already recommends qigong to patients with mild and moderate depression, and in combination with medication to patients with severe depression.

For cancer patients, qigong can be done sitting and lying down if a person has physical constraints or is in pain, says Yang Yang, a kinesiologist and researcher, who teaches qigong at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. 

In a study of 96 women getting radiation therapy for breast cancer, published earlier this year, a team of Chinese scientists and researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston found reduced depression in women who took five weekly classes of qigong, compared with a control group that didn't take the classes. Among those depressed at the start of the trial, fatigue was lessened and overall quality of life improved.

Many people take qigong group classes, which typically cost $10 to $20 an hour, or practice at home after learning the exercises in a class or from a qigong DVD or online video. 

Read the original article in the Wall Street Journal here.

Living With Cancer: Brains on Chemo

By SUSAN GUBAR from The New York Times Well Blog:

 

Over the past few months, a number of headlines in The New York Times have stumped me.

Tomatoes Have Devastated American Indian Families in Oklahoma
U.S. Workers Are Grounded by Deep Cats
Wall Saint Banks Woo Children of Chinese Leaders

Of course, those weren’t actually the headlines The Times had written. But why am I staring at the word “Tornadoes” and reading “Tomatoes”? Looking at “Cuts” and reading “Cats”? Interpreting the abbreviation “Wall St.” as “Wall Saint”? After three cycles (or 18 sessions) of chemotherapy, I seem to be dealing with a weird sort of dyslexia. 

Chemo brain is a phenomenon that patients have described for quite some time as a thick mental fog resulting from chemotherapy. For quite some time, too, physicians discounted chemo brain as a figment of patients’ imaginations. Now, however, the American Cancer Society terms it “a mild cognitive impairment” that for most people only lasts a short time.

Doctors were skeptical about chemo brain because many factors can induce mental glitches. Forgetfulness, trouble concentrating, memory blanks, inattention, word loss, retention problems and disorganization can result from aging, sleeplessness, depression, fatigue, anxiety, low blood counts, the onset of menopause and other medications. 

Isn’t it curious, though, that chemotherapy often accelerates aging, causes sleeplessness and depression, promotes fatigue and anxiety, lowers blood counts, causes the onset of menopause and requires powerful secondary medications to deal with its side effects? We seem to be caught in a dupe — oops, I mean a loop.
P.C.C.I., or post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment, after being attributed to patients’ hang-ups, finally became the subject of serious research while I was undergoing treatment. Such investigations therefore could not yield pragmatic solutions quick enough to help me locate my car in the parking lot or my keys maybe inside it.

While I was going through chemotherapy, the phrase “mild cognitive impairment” did not pertain to the stupefaction I experienced at forgetting a close friend’s name. I found myself bewildered about what task had led me to my university office and then lost on the way home. I had to enact a convoluted guessing game to get my husband to provide the word “egg.” On more than one occasion, it became apparent that one of my daughters was confiding in me, but about what? 

From that time on, I got hooked on two aids many people use to survive with a minimum of mortification. First, on my computer and iPhone, I have an elaborate calendar listing not only events that must be attended or tasks that must be accomplished but even menus and their ingredients. I study it hourly so I will remember what needs to be performed, purchased or produced — when, and for or with whom. 

Second, I always have a small pad in my purse, another by the side of my bed, another next to my computer, another in the kitchen. Often I scribble suggestions or snippets of conversation so — if they are decipherable — I can mull them over later and learn to remember the information they convey in a new, if more laborious, manner. 

Because of the cumulative effect of chemicals, sometimes those aids do not help. A few years ago, I suffered the bane of chemo brain most intensely toward the end of six infusions of Taxol and Carboplatin, when a fuzzy hesitancy spiraled into blank enervation. I could not think to think, stand to stand, or feel to feel. Vacancy morphed me into a zombie or humanoid. I felt somehow exiled from myself, a mishap never mentioned in the cheerful brochures on chemotherapy displayed in oncology waiting rooms. 

A friend of mine now on the same drug combination weeps while considering suicide, although she is taking an antidepressant. “It’s the chemicals, stupid,” she has to keep reminding herself.

Even when Carboplatin alone was later prescribed for me, I had trouble reading. I tried, but when I turned the page I became convinced that either there was a page missing or I had skipped a page. My eyes would roll over a paragraph without being able to snag on a sentence … sort of a hindrance for an English teacher.
These days, while I take a targeted drug, the aftereffect of chemo brain persist in milder forms, making my reading quite stimulating — but for the wrong reasons. As I study a recipe calling for 1 ¼ teaspoons of salt, I wonder how to measure 11 fourths. I am regularly surprised by discussions of kidney stores (instead of kidney stones), dejection tissues (instead of digestion issues), the sex dive (sex drive) and constipations after surgery (rather than complications after surgery). 

As a self-identified “chemosabe” in my support group assures me, at least the recognition and naming of chemo brain prove we are not (completely) crazy.

Check out the original post from by Susan Gubar from The New York Times Well Blog.

The Cancer Insurance Checklist: Your Guide to Shopping for Insurance on the Marketplace/Exchange

As implementation of the health reform law (the Affordable Care Act) continues, individuals that do not have insurance through an employer or government plan like Medicare or Medicaid will be required to purchase insurance on state-based Health Insurance Marketplaces, or Exchanges.   Open enrollment begins October 1st for coverage that will begin as early as January 1, 2014.

Cancer Support Community has participated in a partnership of 19 cancer and advocacy organizations to develop the Cancer Insurance Checklist.
 
CancerInsuranceChecklist.org was designed to provide guidance on the issues that you — as a person with cancer, a history of cancer, or a high risk for cancer —should consider when shopping for insurance.

Specifically, the Checklist arms you with the right questions to ask to be sure you can
evaluate and compare plans’ coverage for cancer-related services and the costs associated with that coverage.  Although you may not need all of the treatments in the Checklist, and there may be other treatments, costs or aspects of your care that you need to consider, the
Checklist is a useful guide to help you find a plan that will meet your needs.

WHEN TO USE THE CHECKLIST:

• If you will be purchasing insurance on your state’s Health Insurance Marketplace/Exchange
• If you have cancer, a history of cancer, or are at risk for cancer 
• When evaluating insurance plans
• When discussing your insurance needs with your Navigator or Marketplace/Exchange representative
• When discussing your cancer care needs with your health care provider

To use the Checklist, simply fill in the 3 worksheets for each insurance plan you are considering. By doing so, you will be able to tell which insurance plan best fits your needs and your budget.

CancerInsuranceChecklist.org also provides helpful links to other resources related to cancer and insurance.

We urge you to use and share this helpful new tool with anyone who may need it.  And if you need any assistance with cancer related issues, please call CSC’s Helpline at 1-888-793-9355.

Reposted from CSC's Headquarters' blog.

THANKFUL FOR MY CANCER EXPERIENCE? YES OR NO?

By Carol L. Soskin

 

Flashback to seven years ago . . .

 

After over a year of weight loss, flu like symptoms and coughs, a year filled with X-rays, biopsies and other tests, my neck became very swollen and I was having trouble breathing.  I was informed that my lung had collapsed.  I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  I was immediately admitted to the hospital and started chemo.  My life changed before my very eyes; this wasn't supposed to be happening to me!

I had treatments every three weeks, then radiation.  All through it I kept my sense of humor but I felt that I was in another world.  Or was it another planet?  This was my new reality now. 

My great friends, family and doctors helped me on this journey to save my life.  It was shortly thereafter that I found the Cancer Support Community-Benjamin Center (CSC).  I made wonderful new friends and regularly attended the Writing Group.  The feedback about my writing as well as listening to other peoples’ writing helped me move forward with my life both mentally and physically.  I include the support group ‘Time to Talk’ and the many educational lectures at CSC in this story of gratitude. 

CSC understood.

Cancer gave me many gifts.

So the answer is  .  . . yes, I am very thankful!!

 

 

CSC's Writing Group meets every Wednesday from 1 - 3pm.  Time to Talk, a drop-in group for people with cancer meets every Monday from 2:30 - 4:30pm.  All CSC groups are run by psychotherapists.