Message from Charleston Rep Lynn Joye
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Most of the year, gardening is my most favorite outdoor pastime. I get to be both creative designing my garden and physical taking care of all my plants. If I'm not watering them, I'm happily checking them for problems, pruning them back or moving them around. By the time August comes around, however, I've had it with gardening- I am hot, fatigued and overwhelmed. The single chore that is responsible for my undoing every year is the endless summer weeding. If I quit for even a week, the weeds multiply, sprouting anywhere and everywhere and begin to eclipse my organized and beautiful garden. They are only plants, mind you, but at times I can actually feel a fight-or flight-response mounting inside me. I bring this up because the times I've personally had to face cancer, I found myself burning out from being in a constant state of fight-or-flight mode. It's simply unhealthy and unsustainable to live in fear for long periods of time. A beloved therapist once told me, "Lynn, you can only white knuckle your way through life for so long." And boy, was she right. Living in an anxious or fearful state for prolonged periods can lead us to having collateral issues. Research by the American Cancer Society has shown that 1 out of 4 people with cancer actually develop clinical depression. This is why cancer centers are ramping up their support services for cancer patients and their families: human beings can only withstand so much pressure.
Cancer cells are obviously more threatening than garden weeds. There's simply nothing scarier than cancer cells threatening to take our very lives and the lives of those we love. What adds insult to injury is that we didn't intentionally sow these cancer cells. They appear seemingly out of nowhere and then they grow exponentially and out of control like kudzu unless we find a way to successfully kill them. More daunting still is that killing the cancer cells is also a dangerous undertaking. Returning to my gardening analogy, some gardeners use chemicals to kill their weeds, some use a torch to burn them away and traditionalists manually pull them out. Doctors use similar, yet more sophisticated, measures to kill cancer cells: chemotherapy, anti-hormone treatment, radiation and surgical excision. Similarly, while the best gardeners try to remove weeds without causing too much harm to the environment, the best doctors try to remove cancer without causing too much harm to the body. All of this is to say, it's now time we learn how these cancer treatments are affecting our and our loved ones' mental and emotional well-being. Those matter too. According to the Medical University of South Carolina Hollings Cancer Center, in 2020, around 32,000 South Carolinians were diagnosed with cancer and 33% of those reported high levels of depression or anxiety.
It is my hope that you will find something in this newsletter to help you alleviate some of the stress in your own life as well as in the lives of your families and clients. While the new virtual support groups can be very beneficial for those who enjoy meeting in groups, those who prefer one-on-one sustained interaction, will take a great deal of comfort from being matched with a CanCare volunteer. All our volunteers have personally faced cancer and understand better than most how the days and weeks between treatments and appointments can seem so very long. Being matched with a CanCare volunteer can help bridge that gap so patients and caregivers aren't managing their stress alone. After all, stress and worry can grow like weeds too and it's important we find ways to keep them in check!
Blessings,
Lynn Joye
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Our CanCare Charleston Community Is Growing
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- A warm welcome to our newest members: Melissa Casteel, Cathy French and Jennifer Hesson!
- According to our volunteer portal records, we have supported over 90 people!
- If you haven't already, please learn to use CanCare's volunteer portal to record the names of the people you're supporting and the time you've spent supporting them. When you record names and time estimates on a weekly or monthly basis, it gives us a measure of the impact we are making. Need help using the portal? Click here to request a lesson. lynnjoye@comcast.net
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CanCare was featured in the Sept/Oct 2021 issue of the Charleston Physician HealthLinks magazine. This free magazine educates our community on local, pertinent healthcare topics. To read the article, click the following link and go to pages 76 and 77 - HealthLink's article.
To regularly receive this magazine, subscribe here. |
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Client Spotlight: Heidi Richey
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 Congratulations, Heidi Richey!
Heidi celebrated her 3 year cancer-free milestone from colorectal cancer.
How did she celebrate? By walking the Cooper River Bridge Run with her adult daughter by her side! Heidi said she was very emotional completing the race. She felt it symbolized how hard she's fought to overcome the physical, mental and emotional challenges of colorectal cancer. We are honored she chose to wear one of our new t-shirts over the bridge!
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Merchandise Now Available
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Our next virtual volunteer training will take place Thursday and Friday, December 2-3, 2021.
If safe to do so, our next local in-person training will be Saturday and Sunday, March 12-13 in Mt. Pleasant.
Please refer potential volunteers to our our local website:
http://CanCareCharleston.org
and our Facebook page:
http://fb.me/CanCareCharleston
They may subscribe to our newsletter at either of the above, or by contacting Lynn Joye lynnjoye@comcast.net.
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Local Events
Hope Lodge's annual oyster roast fundraiser "SHUCK CANCER" will look very different this year. Instead of an oyster knife, you’ll need your yoga mat! On November 3rd, event participants will be led in gentle yoga led by Kate Moon Yoga AND a soothing sound bath by Liz Ramirez from Still Soul Studio. What's a sound bath? Learn more here.
Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at Eventbrite - click here for tickets.
This event will be held at the beautiful wellness oasis named "Synchronicity" located at 1513 Mathis Ferry Road in Mt. Pleasant.
Want to incorporate more wellness into your life? Learn more about the offerings at Synchronicity and Still Soul Studio:
thesynclife.com
stillsoulstudio.com
Charleston Hope Lodge on Calhoun Street has thankfully reopened to cancer patients needing a place to stay while they get their treatment in Charleston.
Before the pandemic, one of CanCare Charleston's outreaches was to occasionally provide and serve dinner to the residents of Charleston Hope Lodge. Fortunately, the Dining with Hope Program is reopening, although volunteers may not actually enter the Hope Lodge just yet. For more information and to sign up to bring dinner to the guests at Hope Lodge any evening Monday through Thursday, use this link:
Charleston Hope Lodge Meal Train: https://mealtrain.com/5ekvm7
Monetary donations may also be made using the above link and donations of Ensure may be dropped off anytime.
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Interested in making this happen here?
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 The daffodil has become the symbol of cancer survivorship and hope for a future without cancer. CanCare's Atlanta affiliate created the project, Daffodils 4 Hope, and we're gauging interest to see if we can make this happen here in Charleston. We are looking for volunteers who can help us get this going. We'll also need daffodil bulbs and a high visibility location to plant them, possibly near a cancer center.
Daffodil bulbs are typically planted in September through November, or even as late as January if the soil is still workable (ideally when temperatures are around 40 to 50 degrees at night). They need to be planted 3-6 inches deep and 4-5 inches apart in soil which gets full sun or partial shade. The bulbs bloom between January and March.
Want to get involved? Contact Lynn Joye. lynnjoye@comcast.net |
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Resources to Help Ease Stress and Anxiety
 
Although mental health is not often discussed as it relates to cancer, it is quite common for patients, caregivers and survivors to struggle with their mental and emotional well-being during and after treatment. Please consider sharing the following local resources with your CanCare clients:
1. Psychologist Wendy Balliet at MUSC's Hollings Cancer Center shares 12 tips to not only relieve Covid-19 stress, but stress of any kind. Click here to read: article
2. A recent MUSC Hollings Cancer Center podcast focuses on emotional health during and after cancer. On the "I Will Survive" episodes, lymphoma survivor Liza Patterson details her struggles with mental health after surviving cancer. Psychologist Wendy Balliet shares insight on this-all-to common issue. Dr. Balliet asks the question, "Are we setting people up for failure by having them ring a bell when they complete their cancer treatment and graduate to the surveillance stage?" She also explains the science behind depression and anxiety after surviving cancer. Check out this episode on CANCERCHAT on Spotify, Amazon Music or other streaming services.
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Virtual Support Groups
Just like in-person support groups, virtual support group meetings provide a safe place to share your experiences and connect with others facing the same challenges, but from the comfort of your own home!
Did you know MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas is our country's #1 Cancer Center and offers a variety of virtual support groups? You don't even need to be a patient there to join a group! To learn more, click here:
https://www.mdanderson.org/patients-family/diagnosis-treatment/patient-support/support-groups.html
Hollings Cancer Center in Charleston launched its first virtual support group for breast cancer patients and survivors in September. To learn more, click here:
https://hollingscancercenter.musc.edu/news/archive/2021/10/01/new-hollings-online-support-group-aims-to-connect-and-help-breast-cancer-patients
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Book Recommendation
A lovely book for under $15 you can share with clients and loved ones.
https://www.christianbook.com
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CanCare Charleston Contacts:
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- Accounting
- Event Planning, specifically Daffodils 4 Hope
- Fundraising
- Facebook Page Management
- Grant Writing
- Marketing
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