Submitted by Gordon Hospital
January 30, 2008 05:15 pm
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CALHOUN — After being diagnosed with uterine cancer three years ago, Calhoun resident Marsha Claus couldn’t find a support group in the area. Rather than let this get her spirit down, she decided to start her one of her own — the Cancer Survivor Group.
“Above all else, we are an encouragement group,” said Claus, a fourth grade teacher at Coble Elementary. “We offer support and encouragement to everyone from the newly diagnosed to those who had cancer twenty years ago, because everyone who is diagnosed is a survivor.”
The Cancer Survivor Group will now hold monthly meetings the first Tuesday of each month at Gordon Hospital’s Cancer Resource Center beginning February 5, 2008 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
“Support groups can help patients and their families share their cancer journeys and give them hope, reassurance and strength,” said JoAnn Silvers, cancer nurse navigator at the Cancer Resource Center. “We are proud our center can host the Cancer Support Group. Our center offers a comfortable space for group meetings, so this collaboration is a natural fit.”
At meetings, the group discussions are focused on the participants. Caregivers of cancer patients, friends and family members are invited to attend the meetings.
A year and a half ago, the group lost a member. The member’s husband participated in the meetings leading up to her death. Claus recalls that he was able to talk freely about what was going on and the group was there to listen. “Although other people can listen, they don't fully understand unless they have been there,” she said. “That’s where we come in.”
Today Claus is healthy and feels better than she has in years. The group meetings have personally provided her with the realization that cancer survivors are going through the same situation. “Although it's a daily mental struggle to get past the cancer diagnosis, I know there are many others who I can talk to on those days when it's harder than others,” she said. “It's been helpful; it gives me something to focus on instead of myself.”
For more information on this group or the Cancer Resource Center, please call 706.879.4746.
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