Organization offers 'Hope,' help, support for cancer survivors

When you walk into the Hope Cancer Resources office on Sunset Avenue in Springdale, it is instantly warm and inviting. It's undergoing a bit of remodeling -- the former lobby is being transitioned into a fitness room -- but some slight construction debris here and there does nothing to hamper the friendly atmosphere created by the staff, starting with the receptionist who welcomes you with a wide smile into the office.

"We're lucky to do what we do," says Miki Biggers, director of social work services. "We have so much support here from staff and our community. Everyone who works here is here for the same reason. We're all working for the same goal, and that makes it a great workplace."

The goal Biggers is speaking of is to provide professional cancer support and education in the Northwest Arkansas area.

"We have three certified health educators," says communications coordinator Madeline Whitaker. "They go out to schools, businesses, just anybody in the community, and do free cancer prevention education, tobacco cessation classes, that kind of thing." Whitaker notes that Abbie Sudduth, the organization's education program specialist, just finished a clinic: a group of dermatologists and physician assistants who donated their time screened 153 individuals for skin cancer.

The fitness room, recently completed, is a new initiative for the organization. Whitaker says SandyPrince, vice president of cancer prevention and education, has completed a 500-hour yoga training and is currently conducting group classes in yoga for cancer survivors and caregivers. Casey Shelor, director of cancer prevention and wellness, is a certified health education specialist and helps clients with their personal fitness goals and activities.

"What we've found by adding in exercise is that it has given people a more positive outlook, as well as made them stronger and just given them better days,"says Shelor, who adds that she and Prince "meet each survivor where they're at" and are careful to create a fitness plan that is just right for each individual.

"There is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to cancer survivors," she says.

Transportation is another important and practical function offered by the organization, says Whitaker.

"We have seven drivers who will take patients to and from their cancer-related medical appointments for free, anywhere within a 60-mile radius of Highlands Oncology Group in Fayetteville or Landmark Cancer Center in Rogers," she says. Whitaker adds that the organization works hard to fulfill every transportation request. "We had one patient who lived around 65 miles from one of the clinics, so we organized with one of her friends to take her to a store exactly 60 miles away, and our driver met her there to give her a ride to her appointments."

"I only drove a couple of times and immediately connected with people," says Michelle Hobbs, transportation coordinator, of the bond that can develop between a patient and their driver. "You hear their whole story, from being diagnosed to 'Thank you so much, if we didn't have this service we wouldn't be able to get treatment.' Some people don't have anyone who can take them, or they live here with no family, or they may have a car but, as you know, chemotherapy makes them sick, so they can't drive themselves. They're just very grateful that we provide this service for them."

Hobbs knows from personal experience how important the service can be -- after her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, she depended on Hope Cancer Resources for rides to and from her doctor's appointments.

"We all lived here with her, but we have to work, we have families to take care of, and as much as we want to be there and do that for her, it just doesn't work sometimes," she says. "To have Hope Cancer Resources transportation there to take care of our loved ones [so] we don't have to stress as a family member is beyond words. It makes a huge difference. Any time I ever hear our driver say, 'We just drive', I say, 'No, you don't just drive them. You're an ear, you're a shoulder, you're a hand in the vehicle or clinic.'"

Hobbs not only benefited from Hope Cancer Resources when her mother was sick, she also is a cancer survivor who found help at the organization through their "Art, Healing & Hope" collage class, offered in collaboration with the Highland Oncology Group's Buddy Project.

"I was diagnosed in 2014, and I just really thought I was dealing with it OK," she says. "Somebody mentioned the collage group, another survivor that I knew, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, if they ever do that again, I want to do it.' So I started the collage group and wow, it was amazing. I said it was like Pandora's Box. [When you get sick] you put everything in a box and put the box away and never touch it. After the first meeting, [group leader] Miki said, 'Go through your photos and bring some in,' and when I started going through them, the tears just rushed out because those were all feelings that I had never dealt with. I got to listen to other people's stories, because there are so many times that you want to ask, 'Did you have this problem? Did you have this issue?' but you feel too uncomfortable to just go up to people and ask questions."

Cancer has touched the lives of many employees of the organization, lending their advocacy a particularly poignant and effective touch. Special events coordinator Anna Rohweder is also a cancer survivor who is currently taking part in a collage class. She agrees that it has been hugely beneficial in helping her to make peace with the past.

"I had a box of stuff that I had not looked at in probably six or seven years, and so I opened it and went through it all," says Rohweder. "It was kind of humbling, just realizing -- I mean, it's easy to put all of that stuff aside and just forget about it and not realize that this is what has led me to this place and my life now. If it weren't for this experience, I would not be here today."

Biggers says the organization has conducted three separate collage groups and that those and individual, one-on-one sessions with social workers are valuable resources for cancer survivors.

"My experience, and my observation in talking with survivors, is whenever they're going through [a cancer experience], they have this appointment and that appointment, this scan and that scan, and then they're doing treatment, then recovering from treatment or surgery or chemotherapy or radiation -- and they're just focused on surviving and getting through all of that. There's a certain point after you've gotten through it that you look back as a survivor, and the mental catches up with the physical, and you start processing all of that -- but our bodies as a natural defense mechanism kind of compartmentalize these things that are difficult to deal with. So when you have something like this class, where you're asking people to pull up the visual reminders of what you went through, and it's right there and your brain can't say 'Let's push it back here,' you're going to confront it and deal with it in the moment."

Biggers and her team of social workers coordinate with Highlands Oncology Group and Landmark Cancer Center to reach out to cancer patients and survivors who might need one-on-one support. In 2016, they provided emotional support to 3,247 patients.

"A lot of times, from what my clients tell me, they don't want to share what they're thinking and how they're feeling with their family," says Biggers. "They don't want to worry their family, and they feel like their family is already doing so much to help take care of them that they don't want to put another burden on their family by sharing those fears and concerns. I think that having someone who you can come and share those feelings with seems to take a load off of them, just to be able to say it out loud."

Whitaker notes that all the services the organization offers are free of charge -- and they even offer emergency financial services that cover the cost of prescription medication or utility bills in a time of crisis. Events like their upcoming Heather Ridley-Fleeman Battle for Hope 5K and 10K walk/run are important fundraising opportunities that help them offer their services to as many people as possible.

"This is our 13th annual race, and it's now the longest running race in Bentonville," says Rohweder. "It's in memory of Heather Ridley-Fleeman, who passed away of colon cancer at the age of 28 in 2004. The next year, her friends and family got together and partnered with Hope Cancer Resources and started this race in memory of her to raise awareness of how colon cancer and early screenings can save lives."

The American Cancer Society lists colorectal cancer as the third most common cancer diagnosis in the United States, the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women, and the second leading cause in men. When colorectal cancer is found early enough through regular screenings, however, the five-year survival rate is 90 percent.

The race is always held the first weekend in May, says Whitaker, with a starting point at Bentonville High School, in honor of Ridley-Fleeman's birthday and alma mater.

Participants can choose from a 10K run and a 5K run or walk with a registration cost of $30 for adults and $20 for children. Same-day registration prices go up by $5.

"All of the money raised by this race will go, 100 percent, to the services offered by our organization," says Rohweder. "Our foundation covers the developmental expenses of this race, so everything that is raised can go straight into the organization.

"We're expecting an attendance of around 200 people," says Rohweder. "We're really trying to increase attendance and get as many people as we can out there -- not just to support us, but also to raise awareness of colon cancer screenings, and how important [they are]."

NAN Profiles on 04/23/2017