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[201]Spiritual Coping. Torres D. Pastor, Hanapepe Missionary Baptist Church, Kauai
- Being able to cope with having a traumatic illness is essential. Many try to understand "why is this happening to me, or to my loved ones." Having an understanding of the God who made us can help us to get through some of these times of uncertainty.
There is a necessary season for everything that happens. We must learn to be patient as we experience the trials of life. In the middle of a crisis, we do not like to hear that other are people suffering worse than we are.
All the horror of our experience is real to us. I would like to focus on those of us who are affected in one way or another with cancer.
It seems that some are able to cope better than others. I attribute this to two things:
1) Because of experiences.
2) Because of faith in God.
When these two are combined, we can get by without losing our minds trying to figure out "why."
[202] Alternative Medicine. Hsia YE. Dept Genetics & Pediatrics, U. Hawai'i, Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children, Honolulu, Hawai'i.
- Everyone wants to be happy. This is harder when a person is unwell, but is still possible. "Wellness" has to include well-being of the body, the mind, and the spirit.
Unwell people need more than treatment. Worry or sadness can make a person sick or sicker. Everyone, including doctors themselves, expect too much of doctors. Doctors are dedicated to treating the ill. They can make mistakes in diagnosis or in treatment. They cannot be expected to treat the mind and spirit as well as the body. Nurses are dedicated to comforting the ill. The medical system is dedicated to providing facilities and services for the sick. Psychiatrists and psychologists are dedicated to treating the mind, helping people to understand and cope with their worries. (Pills may relieve pain, or may help people to be less worried about real or imagined problems.) Religious ministers are dedicated to helping people find spiritual fulfillment and inner peace. Alternative medicine leaders are dedicated to offering sympathy and hope; they often claim to offer cures as well. Most practitioners in any of these fields are fine and sincere, but some may take advantage of people who are looking for a leader to trust and to help; the successful ones, even when wrong, are very convincing.
Everyone should feel free to look for help outside traditional medicine, but should realize that unproven remedies may not work. "Wholeness" is a concept proposed by people who feel dissatisfied, because their doctors do not seem to listen or to care for them.
Alternative approaches to traditional medicine include:
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Diets or vitamins can be harmful, or can be beneficial, but the effect of diets is usually much less than the effects of physical factors or inborn susceptibilities.
Homeopathy claims taking vanishing doses of a drug is better. Although overdose of any drug may be harmful, it is hard to see how an underdose will work, unless the drug is ineffective, so that lower doses do less harm. Osteopathy claims that many but not all illnesses are caused by spine problems.
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Natural medicines, even when they have been accepted by a culture for many centuries, still cannot be guaranteed to work. When careful studies have shown that a natural medicine does work, it has often been accepted by doctors.
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Acupuncture may convince many people that they are better, but anatomists cannot find the critical spots under the skin that are connected to the vital organs; and there is little objective evidence that any physical illness has been reversed by acupuncture; the effect may be on the psyche.
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"Electrical" or "Electronic" treatment is claimed to cure "life forces."
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Prayer is essential for spiritual well-being, many feel this is more important than mere physical well-being. Prayer may help a person's spirit, it may improve the healing processes in a person's immune system.
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Meditation undoubtedly can help a person to feel better and stronger.
Faith-healing encourages auto-suggestion that an illness does not exist, and can be cured by intense hope.
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Christian Science is a form of faith healing.
Proof is lacking that any of these alternate approaches works, but some may help in mind, or in spirit. Release from worry, stress and depression will eliminate all these adverse or aggravating factors for any illness.
Mens sana in corpore sano - "A healthy mind in a healthy body."
[203] Life and Living. Hoffman JS. Divisions of Oncology,& Genetics, Kapi'olani Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawai'i.
- A diagnosis of cancer is often heard as a death sentence, regardless of the actual prognosis. The goal of treatment for cancers is the prevention or delay of death from the disease. The psychological goal is the continu-ation of life.
Regardless of prognosis, life continues until death occurs.
This view of the patient, as living while dying, reframes treatment and allows the patient and family to focus on normal and positive processes while coping with the very diffiult process of treating the cancer.
Implications of this philosophy will be discussed, especially in the context of familial cancer.
[204] Burnout: Rekindling the Flame. McCarthy J. Employee Assistance Program Coordinator, Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawai'i.
- Burnout isn't a flash-fire. It smolders unnoticed for some time before it rages out of control. Burnout is gradual and comes in phases; psychiatrist Herbert Freudenberger, a pioneer in this area, coined the term "burnout" more than two decades ago.
Physical symptoms are common, including sleep disturbances, chronic fatigue, stomach upsets, backaches, head-aches and skin rashes. Other symptoms are emotional and mental, including such feelings as irritability, loss of emotional control, withdrawal, denial, and over-compensating through overwork.
By understanding the warning signs and taking action, we're better equipped to anticipate and hopefully to prevent burnout. Some of the things we can do to prevent burnout are:
1) catch it early by knowing the symptoms
2) slow down and take a break
3) talk to someone about your feelings
4) be honest about what you can and cannot do
5) get plenty of physical exercise.
[205] Keep Laughing to Keep Healthy. Hill J. Humorist, Santa Ana, California.
- This presentation will provide:
1) Information
2) Inspiration
3) Entertainment and
4) Examples
These will help you WAKE UP YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR. Everyone needs laughter and positive humor in their life, but it is even more important for Cancer Survivors and those who care for Cancer Survivors. As a breast cancer survivor, I will be the first to tell you that there is nothing funny about having cancer; but as a comedienne, I will show you how to find humor in things that occur in your daily life by sharing my own experiences regarding my cancer diagnosis, and how this helped in my own healing process.
My presentation on love, laughter and healing includes:
1) A comedy routine written around my experience with cancer, and true stories that will make you laugh.
2) The important role laughter can play in the healing process.
3) Information on the physical and psychological benefits of laughter.
4) Ideas on how to bring laughter/humor into your own life.
It has been found that laughter can lower your blood pressure and reduce the blood level of stress hormones which can make for a healthier immune system. See how you can find humor in your daily life and why we want to "Keep Laughing to Keep Healthy." Laughter/humor also helps relieve tension and stress, helps improve relation-ships, and can make things more tolerable.
If time permits, the presentation will finish by inviting some members of the audience to share their own funny true stories with the rest of the group. Although we cannot always control what happens to us, we can control our attitude and how we react to things. I will discuss how humor helps put a better perspective on everything and can help to give us some power over a difficult situation rather that the situation taking power over us.
This is a funny and honest approach to everyday life, whether you've been touched by cancer or not. This is just the right medicine to make you laugh.
[206] Komen Kids. Hill K. Komen Kids, Santa Ana, California.
- When I was 10 years old, my mom sat me down on our couch and told me they had found a lump in her breast. At that time I thought a lump in her breast, no big deal," but later she brought the word "cancer" into it and that was when I started to freak out. Back then I thought cancer meant death, because that was all that the media focused on. But my mom is in remission, and now I am 15.
When I was 12, I helped my friend Jon Wagner-Holtz set up a friendship network (called Komen Kids) for kids who have a parent with cancer.
Jon myself and three other kids brainstormed, to share thoughts about who the group should be open to - kids who have or had a parent with any type of cancer. We decided to have a phone line, which was in Jon's bedroom. We decided to hold monthly meetings and to find topics to talk about. Jon, I, and other kids who have or had a parent with cancer, developed the program because we felt we knew what would help us best. Both Jon's mom and mine were always there to give support and guidance.
We had 150 Komen Kids in our chapter, which held monthly meetings. Jon and I interviewed psychologist/ facilitators Drs. Steve Prather andCarol Willner. We wanted the meetings to be as comfortable as possible, so we never used chairs. Everyone brought a pillow, and we sat on the floor in a circle. Jon and I started by announcing that everything said in the meeting is confidential and not to be repeated, then we ask the parents to leave. We add: "Yes that is right - NO parents are allowed in the meeting.
We had guest speakers. Sometimes doctors and nurses taught us about cancer and even let us look at it under a microscope. They taught us about radiation and chemo-therapy. Sometimes storytellers, dance therapists and others taught us to express our emotions through body movement and art therapy. After the guest speaker, we usually split into two groups (12 and under, 13 and older). We then had our own little rap session where kids can talk openly with each other and kids can give kids support and advice on what they did when they went through a similar situation.
Our chapter also started Karen's Kids, a bereavement group for kids who have lost a parent to cancer. These kids also come to the monthly Komen Kids meetings.
Besides monthly meetings, we got together for socials, where kids could get away and forget all about the cancer world and have fun with the other Komen Kids. Sometimes we had rollerblading, ice skating, or beach parties. We even got to meet President Reagan. Our most fun outing was a 3-day camp. We were challenged to help build our confidence on a ropes course. I took the challenge to climb up an 80-foot tree, and I did it! Everyone encouraged and cheered each other. This felt great and very supportive - which is what Komen Kids is all about.
Our Komen Kids chapter was the first, started by the nonprofit Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, in Orange County, California. It is now a national program with chapters in many cities across the nation. Komen Kids helps and participates in the Race for the CureTM, which raises money to help find the cure for breast cancer. We have run in several races, my mom, my dad, and I.
I wish that no other kids had to hear the words I heard about my mom having cancer,, but if they do, I am glad that Komen Kids are there to help them through it.
[207] Family Coping. Hoffman JS. Divisions Oncology & Genetics, Kapi'olani Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawai'i.
[208] Talking about Cancer. Brumblay J. Dept Genetics, U. Hawai'i, Honolulu.
- Talking about cancer can be difficult and uncom-fortable. When lay persons and health professionals try to discuss cancer together, the conversation can be confusing and negative. The best way to overcome this confusion is to discuss the ways in which both lay persons and health professionals would feel the most comfortable when approaching the topic of cancer.
This session will break up into small groups to discuss how to talk about cancer.
[209] Cancer in Families: A Model for Cancer Prevention Treatment, and a Priceless Resource for Gene Discovery. Zbar B. Laboratory of Immunobiology, National Cancer Institute, N.I.H., Frederick, Maryland.
- It is now well known that a predisposition to develop cancers may be inherited. This is not a predisposition to develop all forms of cancer; rather each family's cancer predisposition is unique. There are about 50 different kinds of inherited predispositions to cancer.
In individuals with inherited forms of cancer, cancers tend to occur at an earlier age, and are more frequently multiple. Usually, cancers occur in older individuals and are single. In families with inherited cancers, on the average, a single affected parent can transmit the disorder to half of his or her children.
Families with these inherited cancers are fortunately rare. Such families present special problems and challenges in patient management for health professionals. It is now possible to detect cancer early in cancer-prone families, and to develop new, more effective methods of treatment. Medical decisions are being made with more sophistication.
For the research physician, families with inherited cancers are a priceless tool for gene discovery. Each family provides unique information of considerable significance to the biomedical community. There are now many success stories of how, through study of families with inherited cancers, the genes responsible for these disorders have been isolated. These success stories include inherited tumors of the eye, colon, breast, kidney, nervous system and endocrine system. The isolation of genes responsible for each of the inherited forms of these cancers has brought the benefits of early diagnosis and cancer prevention to these families. Fundamental studies of these genes are underway, in the hopes of developing drugs that will interfere with the development of the inherited tumors.
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