2nd Annual Cancer Survivor Celebration

Join us! If you currently have cancer or had it in the past, you and a guest are invited to attend our second annual cancer survivor celebration. This free event will feature a keynote speaker plus informative presentations about wellness, survivorship and more. Breakfast and lunch included.

2^nd annual Cancer Survivor Celebration
June 2, 2012, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Heritage Room, 604 Water Street, Olympia
Register>>

Keynote Speaker: Cancer Survivorship and Quality FOR Life: Shaken, Stirred, Movin’ On! - Brad Zebrack, PhD, MSW, MPH

Presentations and speakers

• What’s New in Diagnosis and Treatment - medical oncologist Jim Lechner, MD; radiation oncologist Jim Raymond, MD; pathologist Rich Whitten, MD
• Natural Therapies for Post-Chemo and Radiation Symptoms - Chad Aschtgen, ND, FABNO
• Family conversations about legal concerns - Jonathan Sprouffske, JD
• Living Well with Cancer – palliative care physician Gregg Vandekieft, MD; psycho-oncologist Cobie Whitten, PhD
• New! Patient Panel 

Providence Experts Featured: Palliative Care and Wellness

Providence’s own Gregg Vandekieft, MD and Cobie Whitten, PhD have presented “An Unlikely Union - Palliative Care and Wellness at the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine annual conference in Denver last week.

This discussion about chronic illness care and cancer survivorship will also be featured at the upcoming Providence Cancer Survivor Celebration on June 2 in Olympia, stay tuned for details. If you'd like to be e-mailed when the invitations are done please send your information to provcancer(at)providence.org. 

To read the blog in it's entirety, click here >>

How do you deal with "unhelpful" comments from others?

Recently Providence Centralia Hospital's Director of Mission, Cathy Johnston and Providence Regional Cancer System consultant, Cobie Whitten were interviewed for an article in The Spokesman-Review titled "Offering comfort."

It's a great article, so we wanted to share. To read the article in full, click this link >>

Here's an excerpt:

Q. When I had breast cancer, several people told me about their mothers or sisters or friends who had difficult chemotherapy experiences or who died from their cancer. It was not helpful. Why do people do that?

A. “People respond out of their own fear of cancer and fear of death. Often their comments are a panic reaction,” said Cobie Whitten, a psycho-oncology consultant who works with cancer patients in Olympia.

People may be stunned to learn their friend’s news and their reactions default to what is familiar, instead of what is helpful. Many people still, wrongly, believe that a cancer diagnosis is synonymous with death, Whitten said.

And people may wonder what it means for them. Will they have to be a caregiver? Or will they lose their friend to this awful disease?

They manifest their own discomfort with inappropriate comments, instead of simply saying, “I am sorry this is happening to you.”

When Catherine Johnston confided in a colleague that she was taking several weeks off for cancer treatment, the woman replied, “I have news, too. I’m getting a new job!” Johnston stood up and left the room.

We'd love to hear from you. Do you have advice to add? Would you like to share your own story? Please feel free to leave us a note in the comments section.

Free Community Event at Mason General Hospital

Transitioning from cancer patient to cancer survivor

When patients end treatment, they often report feeling lost, abandoned, and unsure of what to feel and do next. End-of-treatment stress is often unexpected because patients anticipate feeling relief when active treatment ends and hoping they can “get back to their lives.” The transition from cancer patient to cancer survivor can be very challenging.

I am thrilled to announce the launch of our fall Cancer Transitions Program funded with the grant we won from LIVESTRONG (Lance Armstrong Foundation).

Check out the article I wrote on "Combating end-of-treatment stress" while I was in Austin for training.

This is a six-week program (Oct 10, 17 & 24, Nov 1, 7 & 14)) with a one month booster session Dec 12.  We will meet from 6 - 8:30PM on the Providence St. Peter Hospital campus.  Dinner will be served.

Please forward this information to anyone you know who has completed active cancer treatment and is looking for tools and resources to successfully transition to the next phase of survivorship. 

Please contact me if you have any questions or would like more information.  Thank you for your support!