Cape Cod cancer support group provides comfort

CENTERVILLE, Mass. (AP) — They leave behind the cold of a moonless November night for the warmth of a well-lit parish hall.

Some come alone. Some in pairs. They are quiet while crossing the parking lot as leaves rustle and scud in the wind. But inside the parish hall at Our Lady of Victory Church, they find their voices. Through the laughter, talking, listening and prayer, one thing becomes abundantly clear these people believe no one should have to struggle alone through cancer.

Now in its second year, the Our Lady of Victory Cancer Support Group is modeled after a similar group begun a few years ago at St. Elizabeth Seton Church in North Falmouth. Its goal is to provide support and a place for healing, said the Rev. Mark Hession, pastor of the Our Lady of Victory.

"There are a number of cancer support groups on the Cape that do good work and are helpful to people. We are distinguished from other groups in that what we do is within the context of our faith," he said. "By no means does that indicate we are a closed group. All are welcome. And what we do is the very opposite of proselytizing. We aren't here to preach or be preached at. We are here to support one another, to help people face the disease with purpose, courage, and hope."

Patients, family members, care-givers or friends, Catholic or not, "all are welcome," said Joseph Gill, one of the organizers.

Mary Lees, a nurse who is also a breast cancer survivor, has been with the group since it began. Last summer, her daughter underwent surgery for breast cancer. Now Lees herself is once again facing the disease, this time ovarian cancer.

She describes the group "as a place where I can always find a positive attitude."

"There are days when I need the support of others. And there are days when giving someone else support is the best thing for me," she said. "There are many ways of healing body, spirit and emotional. We all may feel the need for these healings at one time or another, and sometimes the least of them is physical."

Studies indicate that religious belief and spirituality often help cancer patients adjust and manage symptoms of the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

Some studies suggest that religious and spiritual beliefs are linked to lower levels of discomfort as well as reduced levels of hostility, anxiety and isolation among patients and their families. And a sense of spiritual well-being helps cancer patients enjoy life despite fatigue or pain, according to "Spirituality in Cancer Care," a report from the National Cancer Institute.

This comes as no surprise to Jeanne Jackson, a registered nurse with 50 years of experience, 41 of them at Falmouth Hospital where she was an emergency room nurse.

Jackson is now the director of the hospital's integrative services, a program that assists patients who want to take a more holistic approach to treatment. In addition to their medical treatment, patients can get Reiki therapy, a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation; massages; hands-on healing; and "energy techniques that promote healing," Jackson said. Like Lees, she emphasizes that healing is not synonymous with cure.

"Healing is restoration and self-empowering," she said. "The allopathic (medical) model is more about curing, but it treats symptoms. ... Healing is about body, mind and spirit."

Spirituality also is often at the center of services offered at Haven for Healing, a nonprofit organization in Falmouth that offers free holistic services to people being treated for cancer, said Shelly Levin, a massage therapist and volunteer at the center. Started 13 years ago at the Falmouth Hospital's Women's Resource Center, Haven for Healing now has its own office on Jones Road where it offers a variety of free services for people with cancer and their caregivers including massage, Reiki, reflexology, vibrational therapy and hands-on healing.

"A person heals at different levels, including the spiritual," Levin said. "For some that means coming to peace, letting out their fears."

The Our Lady of Victory support group also touches on many different elements of healing. They have brought in a variety of guest speakers such as physicians, dietitians and experts in fitness or wigs. They've offered a Zumba class an exercise program with Latin music and held a comedy night that included professional comedians from Boston. Members of the group pray together and often there is a homily offered by one of the priests or a church deacon.

Karen Z. Rood of West Yarmouth said she derives comfort from the group and it reinforces her sense of faith because she witnesses "compassion from people who understand suffering because they have suffered themselves."

Her son, Arthur Rood, died last summer of bile-duct cancer at the age of 47. "I still cry. It doesn't seem right that my son should go before me. He was a big, strong man," she said.

The disease seems to stalk her family. She is in remission from cancer several years ago, but her mother died from brain cancer, as did two of her aunts. Coming to the group has provided "a safe place" for her, she said.

"We all pray the day will come when there is no need for cancer support groups," Gill said. "But while there is, we welcome anyone to join us."

Understanding that some people might feel uncomfortable attending a Roman Catholic-based group, Gill is putting together an outline to help other churches, synagogues or faith communities form like groups.

"We began this as a ministry within our parish and based in our faith, but ministry to those who suffer is bigger than all of us," he said.