Breast Cancer Support Group

Breast Cancer Support Group
By: Kaitlyn Jankowski

The statistics are intimidating. According to the American Cancer Society, 2.4 million women living in the U.S. have already been diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer.

An estimated 192,370 new cases are expected to be diagnosed in American women during 2009. Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among U.S. women, responsible for more than one in four cancers. By the end of this year approximately 40,170 women will have died from breast cancer.

Diane Gully, facilitator of the breast cancer support group at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg said they have realized the many implications that breast cancer has on one’s life has developed a breast cancer support group. The purpose of the hospital sponsored support group will be multi-faceted and will cover a wide range of topics that will help breast cancer survivors understand the disease - its treatments, a patient’s options, the emotional side effects and the importance of gaining a perspective and awareness of this all too common disease.

Gully talked about one of the hospital’s goals - to create a place where women can go to talk about their illness with others who are able to empathize, and not just sympathize, with them.

During support group sessions the hospital will rely on a number of medical experts and speakers who will deliver presentations addressing issues of exercise, and ways to deal with the emotions and stressors that come with the cancer. To emphasize the importance of nutrition “the dietary department provides the food and snacks for the support group,” said Teresa Higginbotham, dietary director at Montgomery Regional Hospital.

“Once a woman takes action for breast cancer, she is a survivor,” Gully said “It is something that is important for people to realize and understand, that even if a woman just started chemotherapy, she is a survivor.”

Gully said the sharing of breast cancer information by group members, by its very nature being both person and intimate, develops into a resource of profound importance that stands to benefit all.

Gully said that the Montgomery Regional Hospital support group is in a position to make a difference in these many lives. The support group facilitates the ability of breast cancer survivors to become pro-active and play a larger more important role in their own recovery.

The breast cancer support group’s next meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 7 to 8:30 pm. The meeting will be held in the first floor Board Room. For more information regarding this event please call (540) 443-3932.