CancerCare partnered with L’Oreal Paris and Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) to create a free telephone counseling and referral service for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer. 

Launched one year ago, The L’Oreal Paris OCRF Hopeline has proven to be a great source of support for many women facing an ovarian cancer diagnosis. The Hopeline is staffed by professional oncology social workers and operates Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

Call the L’Oréal Paris OCRF Hope Line at 877-OV-HOPE-1 (877-684-6731).

CancerCare responded to the needs of men facing prostate cancer by publishing two new fact sheets: Caring for Your Bones When You Have Prostate Cancer and Prostate Cancer: What You Should Know About Screening and Diagnosis. 

For more resources on these cancers, including additional publications, support groups and archived connect education workshops, visit the diagnoses pages on our website.

Screenings were sponsored by OSI Foundation and implemented in partnership with the Colette Coyne Melanoma Awareness Campaign (CCMAC).

CCMAC was established in 1998 in memory of Colette Marie Brigid Coyne,  who died at the age of 30 after being diagnosed with melanoma. Visit CCMAC’s Facebook page to stay posted about the group’s upcoming events. 

CancerCare’s fact sheet, Risk Factors and Screening for Melanoma, explains the importance of melanoma screening and details how to perform a skin self-exam.

CancerCare is also a partner with the Melanoma Research Foundation on the Melanoma Helpline, staffed by professional oncology social workers who can answer your questions and concerns about melanoma. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with melanoma, call the toll-free helpline at 1-877-MRF-6460 (673-6460).

Celebrities dropping in at the SLS Hotel’s swag lounge shared their “personal acts of caring” on the program’s Facebook page.  For each act posted, Tic Tac brand will donate $5* to CancerCare’s free, professional support services for people facing cancer.

CancerCare got a mention in a recent Los Angeles Times article (8/26) examining how swag lounges for Hollywood celebrities are increasingly emphasizing their charitable tie-in’s and forgoing the traditional high-end loot offered in previous years.

Check out the celebrity shout-outs on Shake, Share & Care’s Facebook page, and post your own personal act of caring to support CancerCare.

*(up to $100,000).

Donna’s Dance Center offers hip hop, jazz, tap, ballet and many other dance classes for all ages.  Please call the center at 631-399-7033 to register for classes and to learn more about the programs they offer.

We encourage you to visit their Facebook page and become a fan!

CancerCare of Long Island was founded to ensure that Long Island residents had full access to all of CancerCare’s free support services including counseling, education and financial assistance.

Fighting Cancer inspires patients to feel in control at a time when they may feel powerless. The many topics the book discusses include:

• What cancer is and how it spreads

• How to reconcile emotional needs alongside medical treatment

• Why particular treatment strategies are chosen and how they work

• How patients can visualize treatments at work in the body and why this is helpful

You can order a copy of the book here, or through Amazon.com.

We also encourage you to visit Dr. Frank’s Fighting Cancer blog.

Traditional care has focused mainly on treating cancer as a medical condition in which emotional concerns and issues resulting from the diagnosis are often downplayed or not addressed at all. This is changing, as more and more oncologists and other health care providers acknowledge the integral role of counseling and emotional support for patients, their families, and caregivers.

Oncology social workers provide critical support to patients, notes CancerCare’s Win Boerckel, who is quoted in the article;  they can “help people normalize the experience of having cancer, so they can answer questions from their children or get to their next chemo appointment.”

Read the article, “Surviving the First 100 Days,” in the debut issue of LIVESTRONG Quarterly , beginning on page 22.

When Suzanne Lindley was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and informed she had six months to live, she and her family moved to the country, where she’d always dreamed of living.  Twelve years later, Suzanne leads an amazingly active life, traveling all around the country as a colorectal cancer advocate.

She credits her current quality of life to hitchhiking treatments, as well as to her CancerCare social worker Keith Lyons, who provided her with essential support and motivation through individual counseling and a support group.  “[Keith] said I could see cancer as a death sentence or I could celebrate the fact that I was very much alive and experience now,” Suzanne recalls.

The complete article is available here.

CancerCare offers online, telephone and face-to-face support groups that connect you with people who are in a similar situation. All support groups are free and led by professional oncology social workers who are experienced with cancer-related issues and concerns.

Genentech will donate $5 for each survey completed to programs and services designed specifically for metastatic breast cancer patients.  Survey results will be used to produce video and media materials that will be distributed on Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day (October 13).

The survey is open and available online until August 31. Please visit facesofmbc.org or text MBC to 74471 to share your story.

Recipients are awarded an average of $2,000 in grants and scholarships that help cover costs such as medical and living expenses, certain types of tuition, and family-building expenses.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, 17-35 years old, and have completed active treatment. The application deadline is Monday, July 12.

To apply for a 2010 SAMFund grant, visit www.thesamfund.org. 

CancerCare offers specialized, free services for young adult patients, caregivers, loved ones, and survivors including counseling, financial assistance, support groups, and publications.

Spending time in the sun can be relaxing and enjoyable, but it’s important to always practice sun safety. A few tips for staying safe in the sun include:

• Wearing waterproof sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher
• Donning lightweight, loose-fitting clothing that covers your whole body
• Seeking shade or avoiding the sun during its peak hours of 10am-4pm
• Reapplying sunscreen often
• Wearing a hat and sunglasses

Our free publications on sun safety and melanoma prevention and screening offer more great tips on how to protect yourself from skin cancer.  All of our publications can be ordered free of charge through our online order form. 

We at CancerCare hope you’ll keep these tips in mind this summer, whether you’re sunbathing at the beach,  lounging in the backyard, or taking a relaxing walk outside.  We encourage all of you to spend some time ourdoors, and to safely enjoy the summer sunshine!