Your Immune System and Cancer Treatment - Cancer Support Community Free Progam

Research into developing  immunotherapy treatments for various cancer has increased dramatically over the past few years. Here is a link to an article on the immunotherapy treatments for advanced melanoma and cervical cancer that were highlighted at the 2014 ASCO Annual meeting. 

In an effort to inform patients about immunotherapy treatments a free workshop on your immune system and immunotherapy as a cancer treatment will be presented in NJ.

Thursday , April 16, 2015

6:00-8:00 PM 

Bridgewater Manor

1251 US 202/206 

Bridgewater NJ

Dinner will be served.

Registration is required . Please contact Cancer Support Community Central Jersey at (908)-658-5400 to register (www.cancersupportcnj.org) .

Please click on the image above for speaker information and sponsors of the event.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing! 

A Weekend of Butterflies and Lipstick

This past weekend was great one for survivors in NJ.  The weather was great and the feeling of connectedness to other cancer survivors was strong.

Saturday:
 I attended the Wings of Hope event in honor of National Cancer Survivors Day at the Cancer Support Community-  Central New Jersey in Bedminster. I have participated in CSC-CNJ programs since 2006. The day began with a Walk for Hope.  Origami butterflies purchased to honor or in memory of a loved one diagnosed with cancer were displayed on sheer curtains There were tables of crafts for children, a drumming circle, a basket auction and lots of water and Rita's ice. The sun was bright and the temperatures were in the 80's.

I was thrilled that my two good friends and ovarian cancer survivors Carole Fagella and Lynn Franklin received this year's Spirit of Courage Award for their work as advocates raising awareness of ovarian cancer. Congratulations Carole and Lynn!

Spirit of Courage awardees

Sunday:
The Cancer Institute of NJ's National Cancer Survivors Day Celebration took place at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick on Sunday morning.

I was so excited to see so many survivors in the ballroom. And was thrilled that so many oncology nurses and social workers came to celebrate with us.  The event began with a delicious buffet meal and a welcome by the Director of Oncology Nursing Services Janet Gordis-Perez. She introduced the keynote speaker Geralyn Lucas. ( Check out Geralyn's video about getting a mammogram .)

Geralyn Lucas

Geralyn is a seventeen year breast cancer survivor and author of the book Why I Wore Lipstick to my Mastectomy. She told us how she found her "inner cleavage" and described the interaction she had with her cab driver on the way to her mastectomy. She made us laugh and she made us tear up when she invited other breast cancer survivors up to the stage to put on lipstick and share how they celebrate life.

I think this was my forth or fifth time at the CINJ Survivors Day celebration. And the first one where i felt a bit sad at the end.  Last year the ladies from my support group and their caregivers filled a table.This year it was Nick and I and one other ovarian cancer survivor.  I sure do miss Pam, Rita Kay and Ann.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

CSC-CNJ Program: Frankly Speaking About Gynecological Cancers

Frankly Speaking About Gynecological Cancers

Wednesday, May 1, 12 -1:30 pm

Guest Speaker:  Darlene Gibbon, MD, Clinical Director of Gynecologic Oncology, Cancer Institute of New Jersey

Dr. Gibbon will offer information on the latest research, treatments and side effect management to optimize your quality of life during and after cancer treatment.  A light lunch will be served.

Preregistration required. Contact elevine@cancersupportcnj.org or 908-658-5400

Cancer Support Community Central New Jersey

3 Crossroads Dr.

Bedminster, NJ 07921

I have been to this program in the past and always come away having learned something new. 

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!

OC Awareness #10 - Recurrences

I thought I was doing great back in 2008 . And I was . Until I had my 6month CT scan. My CA-125 was 16 up from 11. A number which is well within the range of a normal result. But the scan showed cancer on my spleen and liver. I had recurred two and a half years after finishing my initial treatment . Eighty percent of women diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer recur.( Source: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/ovarianepithelial/HealthProfessional/page6)

When a recurrence occurs within 6 months of finishing treatment the tumor is said to be refractory and the patient is said to be platinum resistant . When a women recurs after 6 months she is said to be platinum sensitive. The term platinum is used because the standard treatment for the initial diagnosis of ovarian cancer usually involves the use of carboplatin or cisplatin which are platinum chemotherapy drugs. If you are platinum sensitive you will be able to use those platinum drugs again. (Source : http://ovariancancer.jhmi.edu/treatment.cfm)

I already discussed the standard treatment for a majority of late stage ovarian cancers as surgery and then chemotherapy. There are a number of clinical trials looking at chemotherapy then surgery. This allows the oncologist to shrink the tumors before the surgery. The treatment you may be offered when you recur depends on if you are platinum resistant or sensitive you,  the location of the disease,  as well as the number and size of the lesions.

Options for women who have recurred are:
Surgery
Chemotherapy drugs
Biologic / immunotherapy
Clinical trials

In my case, I was considered platinum sensitive and I had many options open to me. I could have surgery then chemo( carbo/taxol) , chemo than surgery, or a clinical trial . This time I chose to have the surgery and then chemo. I had my liver resectioned and spleen removed in November of 2008 and finished chemotherapy April 2009. I have been disease free since then. This plan worked for me but another woman in consultation with her doctor might have chosen a different path for treatment.

There are excellent online resources ( NCI, OCNA  for women who have recurred including these brochures:
Ovarian Cancer Resource Guide for Women with Recurrent Disease- NOCC
The Patient Guide to Living with Ovarian Cancer - The Cancer Support Community ( formerly known as The Wellness Community)

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

CSC Launches "Open to Options" program

Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I have been an active participant as well as a speaker for Cancer Support Community of Central NJ (formerly the Wellness Community of Central NJ). That is why it pleases me to write this post regarding a new program by the Cancer Support Community ( CSC)  and the Amgen Foundation .

Open to Options^TM  was created to improve communication between patient and physicians  and make the patient feel comfortable making treatment decisions. We all know how difficult it is to make treatment decisions when we are still processing the fact that we have been diagnosed with cancer. I knew I relied on the help of the librarian at the resource center at my cancer center to help me find information that applied to my treatments. This program will help patients throughout the country understand their options and find the best way to communicate their decisions and needs to their doctors. Patients work with counselors to generate a list of personalized questions and concerns to take to their oncologist appointments. It is available to those newly diagnosed and those having recurrences. 


Vicki Kennedy, Vice President of Program Development & Delivery at the CSC says  “The goal of Open to Options is to help people affected by all cancers evaluate their options so they can feel more confident and communicate clearly with their doctor so a decision is made that best fits their individual desires and goals.” While Jean Lim Terra, president of the Amgen Foundation said,  “The resources that the Cancer Support Community provides individuals and families helps to ensure that those affected by cancer have the knowledge and support they need to make the right decisions at the right time.”


A CSC study found that a majority of cancer patients feel unprepared to make decisions about their care. A pilot program with the Center for Disease Control found that patients using the program  had less anxiety and more informative appointments with their doctors.


The Open to Options program is available through its Cancer Support Helpline at
1-888-793-9355, through select affiliate locations and by visiting http://www.cancersupportcommunity.org/open2options.  We in NJ are please to have the program available locally at  CSC Central New Jersey (Bedminster, NJ)  (908) 658-5400 .


Thank you to CSC and the Amgen Foundation for developing a program to assist cancer patients with such difficult decisions.  


Dee
Every Day is a Blessing 

Cancer Support Community Website Relaunch

The Cancer Support Community is relaunching their website and blog in the next few days. Over the past 6 years, I have taken part both as a participant and a workshop provider in many Cancer Support Community Central NJ programs. I was pleased to learn that the CSC blog will include my Women of Teal blog in their blog roll. Thank you CSC.

You can find the new site at

http://www.cancersupportcommunity.org/

and their blog at

http://blog.cancersupportcommunity.org/.

CSC has so much to offer news, downloadable tools, and support groups, both online and at their affiliate facilities. In NJ there are four affiliates.

• CSC Central New Jersey, Bedminster ( formerly known at the Wellness Community)
• CSC Northern Jersey Shore , Eatontown
• Gilda's Club Northern NJ, Hackensack
• Gildas Club South Jersey, Linwood

Click here for addresses, maps etc.

If you are a cancer survivor or caregiver I am sure you will find information about survivorship, support and guidance at the CSC. I know I have.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!

Cancer Caregivers

On Friday, I received a reminder from the The Cancer Support Community that today, November 21, 2011 is National Cancer Caregiver Awareness Day. I thought how nice that there was a day to recognize all those caregivers who give so much of themselves to help their family and friends diagnosed with cancer.

Then a short time later, I read an entry on my niece Chloe's blog, Chloe Yelena Miller entitled "Writing Prompt: Parent / Caregiver Memory". I decided to use that prompt to write about my special caregiver in honor of Caregiver Awareness Day.

Continuing

We were sitting in the warm examination room on the first floor of CINJ. Nick in the arm chair by the wall and me perched high up on the special chair/examination table. My legs were dangling far off the floor.

My gynecologic oncologist had just left the room. It was 3 weeks after my 6th carbo/taxol/selenium treatment. Minutes before she had come in and explained to me how she was recommending I do 3 more treatments. All the spots of cancer that remained after my surgery were gone except for one on the top of my liver by my diaphragm. I quietly told her "OK" . She told me that she was going to write the orders for today's treatment and would be back.

I turned to Nick and said " I don't think I can do this anymore." Tears were brimming up in my eyes. The eyes that had no eyelashes. And I lowered my chin to my chest.

Nick came up to me placed his hands on either side of my face and gently raised my face toward his. He looked me in the eyes and said " You can do this. Lorna thinks you should and I know you can. We will take this one treatment at a time. Do this for me and Terry and Matt."

And I did. I finished all three treatments. And when my cancer returned in 2008, I had surgery and 6 more treatments - all with my caregiver, my husband, my friend by my side. He was with me for chemo treatments, scans, port flushes, and doctor's appointments, putting off things that he could have been doing. He spent many sleepless nights with me, created schedules in Excel to make sure I didn't miss taking any pills, handled health insurance calls and held me tight when the pain was overwhelming me. And he made me laugh.

His care has been a crucial part of my recovery.

Thank you Nick!

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!