KEARNEY, Nebraska (KSNB) – CHI Health Samaritan is launching a new program called Survivorship 101 to help cancer survivors and patients. It was launched by A Time to Heal Cancer Foundation in Omaha.
“Survivorship 101” begins August 19th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the CHI Good Samaritan Cancer Center and is free to all. Participants meet once a week for nine weeks. The program focuses on helping cancer survivors regain their best life by addressing mind, body and spirit.
It talks about how the body heals, how to recover emotionally, and what you can learn about nutrition and exercise. The goal is to provide a nurturing environment for people after their cancer journey.
Good Samaritan counselor Kim Burr will lead the program in Kearney. She currently serves as a mental health counselor at Good Samaritan Cancer Center and said the battle against cancer also affects the patient.
“They may have spent a year or even more of their life processing the diagnosis and the surgery or treatment they went through,” Burr said. “Often, at the end of that phase of treatment, you’re taken off and there’s still a lot of healing to be done.”
Burr said they realize more healing is needed and the cancer center wants to provide more than just physical help.
“There is a fear of relapse,” Burr said. “There are symptoms that keep coming back over time. People have a hard time reintegrating into work or social activities that they participated in before they had cancer.”
Burr said Survivorship 101 is a way to give patients tools to ease their transition and help them live their lives after cancer. The program isn’t just for survivors, either.
“We welcome cancer patients of all types, male or female, and you don’t have to be finished with treatment,” Burr said. “If you feel well enough to attend, that’s fine. We want to help these people no matter what point in their journey they are at.”
It doesn’t matter where you were treated, either. Survivorship 101 will take place in a small group of eight to 12 people, and no one will be forced to share information they don’t want to share. But over time, participants leave the program with new friends.
“When I’ve helped present this program, people always come in the first night and for the first five minutes they feel kind of like strangers,” Burr said. “Very, very quickly people make connections and most of the time when they leave nine weeks later they feel like they’ve made really good friends.”
Burr said it’s a good place to network and find camaraderie and friendship with other people who understand the journey and offer support.
To register, contact Kim Burr at 308-865-7291 or email: [email protected]
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