September

September is a big month in terms of the number of different kinds of cancer being recognized, remembered, and discussed in the media to help raise awareness. At Hope Cancer Resources, no one cancer diagnosis is more important than another... they all cause the fear, stress and physical, emotional and financial needs that we have made it our mission to address. But if we let the month go by without bringing the following to your attention, we are not doing our job.


National Ovarian Cancer Month - Each year in the United States, more than 21,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and about 15,000 women die of the disease. That's a 70% mortality rate, folks.

According to the data, the mortality rates for ovarian cancer have not improved in thirty years since the “War on Cancer” was declared. While other cancers have shown a marked reduction in mortality due to the availability of early detection tests and improved treatments, this is not the case with ovarian cancer, which is still the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers.

Childhood Cancer Month - In the United States, more than 12,500 children are diagnosed with cancer each year. That is roughly the equivalent of two average size classrooms (35-46 kids) diagnosed each school day. Over 40,000 children and adolescents currently are being treated for childhood cancers, and cancer is the #1 cause of death by disease in children, cutting short the lives of more children under the age of 20 than any other disease. Most heartbreaking, 1 child out of 5 who is diagnosed with cancer dies.

Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month - An estimated 137,260 people in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2010. New cases of leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma will account for 9.0 percent of the 1,529,560 new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States this year.

Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma will cause the deaths of an estimated 54,020 people in the United States this year. In fact, every ten minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer. This statistic represents nearly 148 people each day, or more than six people every hour. 

Gynecological Cancer Awareness Month - Any woman is at risk for developing a gynecologic cancer. There are five main types:

• Cervical cancer - In 2006,* 11,982 women in the United States were told they had cervical cancer.
• Ovarian cancer - In 2006,* 19,994 women in the United States were told that they have ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other gynecologic cancer, but it accounts for only about 3 percent of all cancers in women.
• Uterine cancer - In 2006,* 38,535 women in the United States were told that they had uterine cancer.
• Vaginal & Vulvar Cancer - In 2006,* 1,102 women in the United States were told that they had vaginal cancer and 3,807 women learned they had vulvar cancer.

* The last year for which statistics are available.

Each year, approximately 82,550 women in the United States are diagnosed with cancers affecting the reproductive organs. In 2006, 27,848 women died from a gynecologic cancer. 

National Thyroid Cancer Awareness Week - Thyroid cancer is one of the few cancers that has increased in incidence rates over recent years. It occurs in all age groups from children through seniors. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 37,200 new cases of thyroid cancer in the U.S. in 2009. Of these new cases, about 27,200 will occur in women and about 10,000 will occur in men. About 1,630 people (940 women and 690 men) were expected to die of thyroid cancer in 2009.

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month - Prostate cancer is diagnosed every two minutes and fifteen seconds, and more than 217,730 new cases are expected in 2010. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in America among men. An estimated 32,050 American men will lose their lives to prostate cancer this year. One in six American men is at lifetime risk of prostate cancer and in the next 24 hours, prostate cancer will claim the lives of 83 American men.

Part of the vision we have at Hope Cancer Resources is to reduce the number of cancer incidences in Northwest Arkansas. To make that happen, we have to educate our friends and neighbors about prevention, symptoms, and screenings. Until we have done away with cancer, we will continue to provide that education in our communities, and assistance to those struggling with the disease, whatever form it takes.

Join us! Contact us, share your own stories, and let us know how you'd like to help support our mission to provide compassionate, professional cancer support and education in the Northwest Arkansas region today and tomorrow.

Get Social, Feel Better

A recent article on MSNBC.com highlighted a study done by researchers at Brigham Young University on the importance of having social relationships as a way to maintain and/or improve your health. The article stated "People with strong social relationships were 50 percent less likely to die early than people without such support."

This is a pretty serious conclusion. And one that is very intriguing to those of us who are in the business of making sure people have the support they need to face cancer treatment and recovery. The patients we work with need the emotional support and encouragement that is expected from a friendship or family relationship. But unfortunately, not everyone has that kind of relationship available to them. Having no friends or family to turn to can create some challenges for our patients, even without the implications this article presents. That's what we're here for.

In addition to one-on-one meetings with patients and the assistance they provide to be sure their basic financial and medical needs are met, our social workers also facilitate support groups in Northwest Arkansas for those who need this kind of social support. Support groups provide a place to feel accepted, understood, and cared for. Exactly what we all need to be able to cope with our toughest days, let alone those who are dealing with something as life-altering as cancer.

Below is a list of support groups currently available in Northwest Arkansas.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call us at 479-361-5847 and ask to speak to a social worker.

Been There is a local network of cancer survivors who volunteer to provide one-on-one support for newly diagnosed patients. Contact Christy Scarrow, LSW at 479-361-5847.

Blood Cancers Support Group meets at Hope Cancer Resources the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. Contact Jessica Minton, LCSW at 479-361-5847.

Breast Cancer Support Group meets at the Cancer Support Home in Bentonville the 2nd Monday of every month, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Contact Susan Earnest, RN at 479-521-8024.

Coping and Conversation is for anyone with a cancer diagnosis or their caregivers.  They meet at the cancer Support Home in Fayetteville each Wednesday at noon.  Call 479-521-8024 for more information.

Faithful Friends is a breast cancer support group that meets on the 3rd Monday of every month at 11:30 a.m. at Circle of Life Hospice in Springdale. Contact Dee Williams at 479-756-9172 for more information.

Prostate Cancer Support Group supports men diagnosed with prostate cancer and their partners.  They meet at the Community Church in Bella Vista the 4th Tuesday of every month at 4:00 p.m. Contact Dianne Krolikowski at 479-855-1126 for more information.

Reach to Recovery is a program administered by the American Cancer Society. They offer assistance to women undergoing breast cancer surgery. Contact Martha Green at 479-750-2493 for more information.

SPOHNC - Support for People with Oral, Head & Neck Cancer. This non-profit organization is dedicated to meeting the emotional, physical and humanistic needs of oral, head and neck cancer patients and their caregivers. Their support group meets on the 3rd Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m. at the Fayetteville Cancer Support Home. For more information, contact Jack Igleburger at 479-876-1051 or 479-586-4807.

Survivor's Circle meets at the Cancer Support Home in Fayetteville on the 3rd Monday of every month. Call 479-466-5893 for more information.

Upbeats is a support group for women meeting the first Wednesday of each month at Papa Mike's in the Kingsdale Complex in Bella Vista. Contact Karen Willis at 479-855-6275 for more information.

Been There, Done That...

Imagine that you have recently been diagnosed with cancer and you have noticed that your usually close friends are starting to become infrequent acquaintances.  What if your friends and family seem to expect you to remain upbeat and optimistic, but you are not feeling that way?  Or what if you feel like you've leaned on them so much already... you just can't burden them anymore with your sometimes obsessive need to talk about your diagnosis.

For a cancer patient just starting down the road through treatments to recovery, it's helpful to talk to a compassionate and professional social worker who has the ability to calm your fears and explain what's to come.  Our social workers and patient assistance programs are an important part of what we do at Hope Cancer Resources and, for many patients, they are enough.  But sometimes a patient benefits even more from sharing their experience with someone who has already been through it themselves.  That's when our "Been There" volunteer program can become an additional resource.

"Been There" is a local network of cancer survivors who volunteer to offer their time and an understanding ear for newly diagnosed cancer patients.  Because each volunteer is a survivor, they probably experienced similar feelings and had some of the same questions and concerns during their own cancer journey.  The program provides an outlet for the patient to express all of their emotions - even negative ones -  without fear of upsetting loved-ones and caregivers.  The volunteers are available to help with non-medical questions using layman's terms, and conversations are kept strictly confidential.

The program is managed by one of our licensed social workers, Christy Scarrow, who manages our volunteer programs.  Christy matches patients who request the service with a volunteer who has a close match to their diagnosis or personal situation (single parent, elderly, etc...).  

If you know someone who might benefit from this service, or are interested in becoming a volunteer, contact Christy at 479-361-5847 for more information.

Hablamos Espanol!

Hearing the words "You have cancer." is emotionally challenging even when you speak your doctor's language... imagine seeing their grave expression and knowing something is seriously wrong but not being able to completely understand what they are saying. An enormous amount of information is given to a new patient and their caregivers when a diagnosis of cancer is made. There are treatment plans to discuss and sign off on, prescriptions to get filled and take correctly... lots of information from lots of different people. It can be overwhelming for anyone, regardless of their native language.

At Hope Cancer Resources we have a Spanish language interpreter and a social worker who work with patients and provide interpretation services for them and their families. Kathy Taylor, our interpreter, and Adela Martinez, one of our licensed social workers, can answer questions on the phone, meet with new patients at Highlands Oncology Clinic, or accompany a family to medical and other appointments that are required to support their diagnosis. Kathy also helps translate the materials we provide to the community as well, an invaluable asset as we work toward our goal of reaching ALL of Northwest Arkansas with our services and educational programs.

There is no good way to learn you have cancer. But with a little bit of help, we hope we can take away the uncertainty and confusion that language barriers can cause. 

For more information on translation services, contact Kathy Taylor at 479-361-5847 or kathy.taylor@hopecancerresources.org

 

Making a Difference

On the eve of a little fundraiser we're a part of tomorrow, we thought you'd appreciate seeing exactly where we are using the donations we receive.

We have a number of programs that fall under our cancer Patient Assistance umbrella and others that are geared toward the Outreach and Education for the entire community of Northwest Arkansas. In the first six months of this year, we have been doing great things to support the needs of cancer patients and others in our community... take a look...

Since January: 


We have provided $99,385 in prescription and emergency assistance to 373 patients.

We have given 169 patients over $16,000 in gasoline cards to help them with transportation for themselves and their caregivers.

The amount of support we have been able to acquire for patients from pharmaceutical companies with prescription assistance programs totals $86,513.

Psychosocial assistance has been provided to individuals by our licensed social workers at a value of just over $71,000.

301 hours of Spanish interpretation have been provided by our staff to those requesting this service.

89 patients have been transported 64,390 miles to and from their appointments by our drivers.

Paid for cancer screenings through our Save-a-Live program for people who were either uninsured or under-insured - for a total of $55,679.

Provided over 2,400 people with cancer education through sessions facilitated by Hope Cancer Resources staff.

Registered 944 new cases in the Northwest Arkansas Cancer Registry.

The total value of all of the services we have provided to Northwest Arkansas for the first half of 2010 is 

$369,569.02.

We hope you'll join us tomorrow at Fish City Grill in Rogers to support all this amazing work by eating a meal, and maybe bringing a friend or five along. It's First Tuesday at FCG, and they will be donating 15% of the day's sales to us. It's an easy way to make a big difference in the daily lives of people living with, battling, preventing and surviving cancer in our community. 

See you there!