It was bad enough when Myrna Cohen learned that she was suffering from breast cancer in June of 2001. Worse to come, however, was the discovery that she also had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that radiated from an enlarged lump in her groin and spread to the other side of her body.

"The doctors said it was very rare to have two different kinds of cancers at once," recalls Ms. Cohen. "I felt like I had won some horrible lottery."

No matter what the circumstances are surrounding a diagnosis of cancer, the affected individual and his or her family join a new and frightening world not of their choosing. It is a place of medical terms and treatments, difficult decisions and conflicting emotions. "

In the beginning you are so overwhelmed physically that you do not always have a chance to deal with the emotional part," Ms. Cohen says.

Help for Cancer Patients

Psychosocial support for cancer patients at The Cancer Center of Saint Barnabas Medical Center can begin as soon as a patient has been told that he or she has cancer.

"We help the patient to sort through concerns and formulate the questions that are most vital to them," says Angela McCabe, L.C.S.W., Coordinator of Cancer Support Programs.

"Most people hear 'cancer' and they are so stunned that they immediately stop hearing anything else. With this heightened anxiety they need someone to help them, as well as their families. We understand the stress the entire family is experiencing."

The Cancer Center offers a variety of free programs and services to address the needs of these patients in crisis. They include individual counseling, support groups, workshops on particular topics, a Look Good. . . Feel Better program sponsored by the American Cancer Society (ACS), and Art That Heals-an art therapy support program (see story on "Art Therapy: Healing by Creating).

Myrna Cohen recalls how much a phone conversation with Jill Kaplan, L.C.S.W., Oncology Counselor and Coordinator of Cancer Support Programs, meant to her after she was diagnosed with cancer. Ms. Kaplan had said that, "I can help you live with your cancer," which relayed the important message that people with cancer do survive. These individualized counseling services can be a lifeline for patients throughout the process.

Counseling and Support Groups

"I felt like I had won some horrible lottery."

Individualized counseling sessions help patients and families take a practical look at their lives and focus on alleviating the day-to-day burdens. For example, if the patient is a stay-at-home mother, counseling sessions might focus on how to manage everyday tasks such as cooking and child rearing. If the patient is a single person with limited support in his/her family, sessions might focus on the development of a network of friends, neighbors and clergy.

"It may be particularly hard for someone who had been very independent before and never needed help to ask for that help now," relates Ms. McCabe. Ongoing monthly support groups are offered for breast cancer, prostate cancer, and cancer that has spread. There is also a group addressing post-treatment issues. These small groups, generally of six to eight people, meet to discuss the gamut of emotional issues that surround a cancer diagnosis. Ms. McCabe adds that such groups can help people to verbalize those deepest feelings and fears. It also provides a haven for cancer survivors to address any lingering concerns about cancer in their lives.

"The breast cancer group was a tremendous support for me," says Ms. Cohen. "It helped to meet such incredible people. We could laugh; we could cry. Each story was different, but we all had that common bond of how it had changed our lives. A support group is the only place where someone has walked in your shoes."

Focus on Families

Social workers at The Cancer Center provide services that also address the needs of patients' families. The Children's Circle is a group program for children of cancer patients. By using art, stories, writing and play, children will be helped to understand cancer and to cope with a diagnosis of cancer in the family. Another group helps adult family members and friends with their feelings of worry, sadness and isolation.

Ms. McCabe describes the constraints of the modern health care system and the lack of home care programs that were available even ten years ago. With the needs of the family constantly evolving and without any additional caregivers to lighten the load, even the smallest change is a huge burden. She gives the example of a family where the father handled all the finances, then became sick. Now the wife, who may never have written a check, must negotiate their financial landscape.

Look Good. . .Feel Better

Sponsored by ACS in partnership with the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, Look Good… Feel Better is a program to help women cope with the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment. Using the Look Good…Feel Better catalogue, newly diagnosed women find medical information and special products that may be helpful during treatment. Free cosmetics and demonstrations are offered in a supportive group setting.

"It sounds so shallow when you are fighting for your life, but losing my hair was such a difficult thing for me," relates Ms. Cohen. "The hair loss reminds you every day of the cancer. I remember something I read in the Cancer Center Library. The woman wrote, 'When I lost my hair, my eyelashes and my eyebrows, I felt like I had been erased.' That is just how I felt."

Embracing Life

Ms. Cohen remains in contact with her Post-Treatment support group members, only now the meetings are held in each other's homes. She says that the group members are there for each other through the ups and downs of a life during and after cancer treatment. Now cancer-free, Ms. Cohen says her support group connections help her to deal with lingering cancer fears.

"You don't have to be alone," she says. "As hard as it is to put yourself out there to talk, in the end it is really helpful. I learned so much from other patients about going on with my life. There was no other place where people really understood my fears." Cancer survivors gather at Saint Barnabas in June to celebrate the 10th Annual Cancer Survivor's Day. Among those present were, from left, Leonard Cohen of West Orange, his wife Myrna, a breast cancer survivor, and Trish Smith of Maplewood, also a breast cancer survivor.

Cancer survivors gather at Saint Barnabas in June to celebrate the 10th Annual Cancer Survivor’s Day. Among those present were, from left, Leonard Cohen of West Orange, his wife Myrna, a breast cancer survivor, and Trish Smith of Maplewood, also a breast cancer survivor.