Welcome Cancer Survivors!
Whatever your particular cancer may be, however old or young you are--Welcome! If you have just received your diagnosis or, if you have been in remission many years--Welcome! Though each case is unique we have much in common.You are a survivor.
You are beginning a journey to study and learn about a most interesting subject--Yourself, especially yourself in crisis. You have gone, or are going through, perhaps the most challenging experience of your life. With courage you will work through your unique cancer history to a point where you can gain a new sense of self in this changed circumstance. By living and pondering it, we can make some sort of sense of the upheavels and suffering.
I am currently teaching a class for cancer survivors. We are sharing what we have learned from this life-changing experience. We are a small mixed class with men and women with a variety of types of cancer and all at different stages of our suvivorship. I would like to hear from other cancer survivors.
ReplyDeleteIn my book I give instructions for starting a group for cancer survivors through your local church. Kris Tollerson, who co0ordinated a group in Raliegh, N. C. gives some steps for initiating a cancer support group using hospital and community resources: 1. contact nurses, social workers and therapists who work with oncology patients for names. 2. find a suitable location and time to meet 3. call prospective members prior to the first meeting 4. Use an ice-breaker to get people talking at meetings, e.g. WHat have you learned that could help a newly diagnosed cancer survivor cope?
ReplyDeleteKris duied from cancer in 2011. Her Mother, Eleanor Nelson, shared these notes with me.