March 10, 2010
Check out The Huffington Post’s latest coverage of our CancerCare for Kids fundraising event, Cupcakes for a Cause!
The article, written by CancerCare Director of Corporate Relations Christina Wyman, details the event’s history, which began in New York City in 2004. What was initially just 12 local bakeries donating the proceeds from selling cupcakes adorned with the CancerCare logo has now evolved into a national campaign, with over 365 bakeries participating in 2009.
CancerCare for Kids was created to address the special needs and concerns of children and adolescents who are coping with cancer. CancerCare’s professional oncology social workers help families navigate the often complex issues they face when coping with a cancer diagnosis though age-appropriate counseling, therapeutic recreational activities, educational materials, and financial assistance.
Here are just a few ways that you can help support Cupcakes for a Cause:
- Download a bake sale kit and host your own bake sale, and donate the proceeds to CancerCare for Kids
- Create virtual e-Cupcakes and sending them to friends and family. Last year, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM® donated $1 per e-Cupcake for the first 5,000 sent.
- Purchase Cupcakes in Bloom, non-edible cupcakes provided by 1-800-FLOWERS. Last September, 10% of net proceeds from the sales of these cupcake-shaped floral arrangements went to support our CancerCare for Kids program.
The Huff Post’s Tammy Tibbetts also writes about the cupcakes for charity trend and mentions CancerCare’s campaign. Read Tammy’s article.
The 2010 Cupcakes for a Cause Week will take place September 20-26, during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Please visit our Cupcakes for a Cause website for more information. To learn more about our specialized services for children and families facing cancer, visit CancerCare for Kids or call 1-800-813-HOPE (4673).
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CancerCare for Kids, Coping with Cancer, Young Adults | Tagged: cancer and the family, CancerCare for Kids, coping, Events, Young Adults | 
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Posted by Kyle Hornyak
March 4, 2010
March is both Kidney Cancer Awareness Month and National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The CancerCare Co-Payment Assistance Foundation provides up to $10,000 per year in co-payment assistance to eligible individuals facing either diagnosis.
CancerCare has responded to the needs of people facing kidney cancer by hosting Connect Education Workshops that offer information about research and treatment in kidney cancer.
Informative kidney cancer publications are also available in our ever-expanding online reading room.
To learn about treatment updates for colorectal cancer, listen to our most recent Connect Education Workshop, Emerging Treatments for Colorectal Cancer: What’s New?
Other Connect Education Workshops have explored colorectal cancer topics such as improved treatment options through clinical trials and updates on genetic testing for recurrence.
Additionally, this month’s Ask CancerCare column gives you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have about coping with colorectal cancer.
For more resources on these cancers, visit the diagnoses pages on our website.
Leave a Comment » | Coping with Cancer, Financial Assistance, Learn More About Your Diagnosis, Mind-Body-Spirit, Support CancerCare | Tagged: cancer information, colorectal cancer, copayment assistance, coping, financial resources, kidney cancer | Permalink
Posted by Kyle Hornyak
March 3, 2010
Our friend Johnny Cathcart stopped by our offices last week to share his story with us. Johnny, a two-time brain cancer survivor, details his story in the touching and hilarious Hotpants: A Memoir.
The critically-acclaimed memoir traces Johnny’s journey from his unassuming adolescence through the struggle of his life, and ultimately examines the power of optimism, humor and hope. Hotpants: A Memoir is available for purchase through Amazon, and we encourage you to visit Johnny’s website and view his demo reel here.
To learn about the latest in brain tumor research, please register for our upcoming Connect Education Workshop Brain Tumors: Current Treatments and Hope for the Future.
Learn more about CancerCare’s free, professional support services for people with brain cancer and their loved ones.
Leave a Comment » | Coping with Cancer, Mind-Body-Spirit, Survivorship, Young Adults | Tagged: brain cancer, cancer information, cancer survivors, coping | Permalink
Posted by Kyle Hornyak
February 25, 2010
How am I going to get through this? How am I going to help my family or my loved ones get through this? How do I deal with all these different feelings I’m having?
Aside from the physcial concerns, a person newly diagnosed with cancer experiences many, and often conflicting emotions, such as fear, anxiety and uncertainty about the future.
An interdisciplinary approach by the patient’s healthcare team is key to treating the newly diagnosed person with cancer and should include addressing the patient’s emotional and practical concerns, says Carolyn Messner, DSW, director of education and training for CancerCare, in an interview appearing in the February 2010 edition of The Oncology Nurse.
“Cancer is a complicated disease, and it requires a team of health professionals to refer back and forth to each other so that we can direct patients to the people who can best help them,” Messner notes.
“Social workers are trained to talk to people systemically about their concerns and issues they confront. Many are employed in the hospital or community center setting. In my own experience, oncology nurses and oncology social workers work very well together. That is the best model [in patient care].”
CancerCare has a full-time staff of professional oncology social workers who can help a person find effective ways to cope with a cancer diagnosis. Start by visiting the CancerCare website, or call 1-800-813-HOPE (4673).
Leave a Comment » | Coping with Cancer | Tagged: cancer information, coping, counseling, depression, financial resources, mental health, psychological impact of cancer, stress | Permalink
Posted by Kyle Hornyak
December 30, 2009
A recent study conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP found that nearly one in three Americans is a caregiver for a loved one. A majority of caregivers are female (66%) and the average age is 48 years old. Caregivers provide 20 hours on average of care per week and the average duration of caregiving lasts 4.6 years. The study also found that there is a substantial increase in the number of caregivers today as compared to 5 years ago (44.4 million vs. 65.7 million). Cancer was reported as one of the main reasons people need care and 31% of those who responded said that they were highly stressed by caregiving.
The good news is that caregivers are receiving more assistance than they were 5 years ago. This is important because 1 in 6 caregivers reported that providing care to a loved one negatively impacted their own health.
To support those caregiving for a loved one with cancer, CancerCare provides Caregiver Support Services, including counseling, support groups (including online), educational workshops and publications.
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Posted by jzahora
December 14, 2009
In a recent posting to the New York Times health blog “Well,” oncology nurse Theresa Brown relates her experiences in helping two patients shave their heads when the gradual hair loss from chemotherapy became intolerable.
The stories she shares reveal, in her words, “how difficult it can be to lose your hair as a by-product of saving your own life.” Of course, each patient reacts to treatment-related hair loss in their own personal way, as reader’s comments on the blog illustrate:
“I had chemo last year and loved being bald. My son and I went together to have our heads shaved and our local paper made a video of it,” says one woman. Another writes, “I lost my hair twice due to different treatment regimens and each time there were emotions associated that I did not expect.”
CancerCare social workers offer the following tips to individuals coping with hair loss:
- Buy a wig before all of your hair falls out. This way, you will have a good match to your own hair color.
- Get a professional fitting. There are full-service wig salons that fit and style wigs.
- Find out if your health insurance company covers the cost of wigs. If so, remember to save your receipt.
For additional tips, read CancerCare’s fact sheet, “Tips for Managing Hair Loss.”
One commentator to the “Well” blog offers the following helpful advice to parents with cancer who are contemplating going bald:
“Parents with school aged children should talk to their kids and set expectations with them. Our kids were fine with their Mom being bald AT HOME, but when she was at school they requested that she wear a wig so she would look normal.”
Do you have some tips of your own? We invite you to share them with our readers by leaving a comment on this page.
Leave a Comment » | Coping with Cancer, Treatment Side Effects | Tagged: coping, depression, psychological impact of cancer, side effects, stress, Women's Cancers, Young Adults | Permalink
Posted by Monica Cavazos Mendez
December 14, 2009
The ancient Japanese tradition of senbazuru promises that a person who folds 1000 origami cranes will be granted a wish, such as long life or recovery from illness.
Boston-based Millennium Pharmaceuticals, owned by the Japanese pharmaceutical, The Takeda Company, recently launched a website honoring the senbazuru tradition, where people facing cancer–patients, caregivers, loved ones–can express their hopes and wishes for the New Year. Each message of hope posted at the site is represented by a bird-shaped paper figurine.
Millennium Pharmaceuticals is a funder of CancerCare’s Door to Door program, which provides financial assistance to cover transportation costs for people undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma.
Leave your wish at 1000 Cranes of Hope.com (the site is free but log-in registration is required). For every wish left at the site, Millennium will make a donation to a healthcare-related charity.
1 Comment | Caregiving, Coping with Cancer, Financial Assistance, Mind-Body-Spirit | Tagged: caregivers, coping, cost of care, Door to Door program, financial resources, multiple myeloma, transportation grants | Permalink
Posted by Jeanie M. Barnett
November 24, 2009
This year’s Lung Cancer Awareness Month has ushered in a new sense of hopefulness about better treatments in the future for lung cancer.
Continued developments in targeted therapy are leading more oncology researchers to investigate personalized treatments for lung cancer. It’s important to note that lung cancer was one of the first cancers in which targeted therapy was found to help a segment of people dealing with late-stage lung cancer. Today’s newer targeted therapies offer the promise of improved treatment outcomes for many more types of lung cancer. For more information, read CancerCare’s free publications, A New Class of Drugs: Targeted Treatments for Cancer, Progress in the Treatment of Lung Cancer, and Your Guide to the Latest Cancer Research and Treatments (Lung Cancer).
Unfortunately, people coping with lung cancer are still saddled with a significant emotional burden arising from the stigma of the diagnosis, which can have a negative impact on the views of even the professionals themselves who treat lung cancer patients. The stigma also exacerbates emotional stress among family members of the lung cancer patient, especially when that person has a smoking history. And, patients themselves often react with guilt and shame to their lung cancer diagnosis which may interfere with their doing all they can to comply with their treatment.
A great deal of work needs to be done to address the social stigma of lung cancer so that the diagnosis, like all other cancers, can finally be acknowledged as a “no fault” medical event for patients. Because the simple fact is, no one deserves lung cancer.
Learn more about CancerCare’s free, professional support services for lung cancer patients and their loved ones.
Leave a Comment » | Coping with Cancer, Learn More About Your Diagnosis | Tagged: cancer information, cancer research, lung cancer, psychological impact of cancer, stress | Permalink
Posted by Win Boerckel
November 23, 2009
A new online resource from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) answers some important questions about seasonal and 2009 H1N1 flu for cancer patients and survivors.
While cancer patients and survivors may not be at any greater risk for infection with either 2009 H1N1 flu or seasonal flu, the CDC cautions that cancer patients and survivors are at higher risk for hospitalization and potentially life-threatening complications from all types of flu.
The CDC recommends that people who have cancer or a history of cancer should receive a seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 flu shot (not the nasal spray vaccine). The seasonal flu vaccine alone is not expected to protect against 2009 H1N1 flu. Household members and caregivers of cancer patients and survivors also should be vaccinated against both types of flu.
Find out more at www.cdc.gov/cancer/flu
Leave a Comment » | Caregiving, Coping with Cancer, Survivorship | Tagged: cancer information, cancer patients, cancer survivors, caregivers | Permalink
Posted by Jeanie M. Barnett
November 19, 2009
People diagnosed with lung cancer may benefit from a newly launched campaign to match lung cancer patients with current clinical trials based on their individual situations.
The Lung Cancer Clinical Trial Call to Action campaign offers easy-to-use educational and trial-matching resources to help identify clinical trials that are appropriate to each patient’s diagnosis, stage and treatment history.
The campaign is a collaboration of six leading patient advocacy organizations, including CancerCare’s lungcancer.org, a leading resource for people affected by lung cancer.
Patients can access the Lung Cancer Clinical Trial Matching Service online by visiting www.lungcancer.org or by calling 1-800-698-0931, to speak directly with a clinical trial specialist who can guide them through the entire process.
Other organizations in the campaign include the Lung Cancer Alliance, Uniting Against Lung Cancer, National Lung Cancer Partnership, LUNGevity and the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago. EmergingMed is the service provider for the Lung Cancer Clinical Trials Matching Service.
The effort is being supported by several major pharmaceutical companies dedicated to the fight against lung cancer, including Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Amgen Inc., AstraZeneca, Genentech BioOncology, and Pfizer Oncology.
Leave a Comment » | Clinical Trials, Coping with Cancer, Learn More About Your Diagnosis | Tagged: Clinical Trials, lung cancer | Permalink
Posted by Jeanie M. Barnett
