Capital Chefs' Showcase: Silent Auction

For the 30th year of Capital Chefs' Showcase, Cancer Services has not only invited 30 of the best chefs in the Greater Baton Rouge area but has also secured over 200 unique and exciting items for our Showcase Silent Auction. You'll have the chance to bid on items like these -  all to benefit those living with cancer in our area. Click here to buy your Showcase tickets now so you can come claim your favorites!

Here's just a small representation of what this generous community has provided us:

African safari with Ezulwini Lodges

Necklace made from vintage items from Grandmother's Buttons

Original artwork from Dixon Smith

Pearl and diamond earrings from Diamond Distributors

LSU Football signed by Head Coach Les Miles donated by Jean Brown

Saints suite tickets and packing pass for the Nov. 5th Eagles game donated by Capital One/Don Barnes

Set of two blue painted porcelain vases from McMillin Interiors

LSU WIN! bar painted on driftwood by Eric Garcia

Staying Relevant: Until there’s a cure, there’s Cancer Services

For over 50 years, Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge has been in this community serving cancer patients, their family members and caregivers. Using the word relevance expresses our promise to stay meaningful and relevant to their needs – even though those needs have changed drastically over the years.  

When Cancer Services opened its doors in the 1950’s, those who heard the words “you have cancer” had fewer options and less hope than today’s cancer patients. As a result, the agency had a hospice feel, providing loaned equipment, home visits and sick room supplies.  Thankfully, today’s advancements have made cancer survivorship a real thing. There are over 12 million cancer survivors in America and the number continues to grow. Over the years Cancer Services has continually responded to stay relevant to today’s survivors. When chemotherapy became mainstream, we addressed its side effects by opening our wig boutique and offering nutritional supplements. When exercise became a recommended option, we started aerobics, yoga and Zumba geared to the physical abilities and needs of survivors. With more people living long-term with cancer, we’ve expanded our support groups and started hosting more survivorship events.

Through our programs and services – and with the generous help of this community – we promise to stay relevant to the needs of cancer patients and their families.   

 

Miss Fix-It: Cancer Services’ New Partnership

Cindy, bottom right, with some attendees of our 
Digestive and Urinary Cancers Survivorship event.

At Cancer Services partnership is one of our favorite words and with the help of many partners, we want to “fix” your cancer-related issues. Thanks to a new partnership with Get Your Rear in Gear, our clients now have access to Cindy Schneider, a Certified Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurse.

But what is an ostomy? For many of our clients living with digestive and urinary cancers it’s a word they know all too well. An ostomy is an opening of the intestine into the wall of the abdomen, required for some patients after the surgical removal or the healing of part of their colons, rectums or intestines.

Patients sometimes feel embarrassed about their ostomies and often find their loved ones are uncomfortable discussing them. Many are sent home with little long-term training or resources to help them adjust. This is where Cindy comes in! In addition to attending support group meetings, Cindy is available for phone consultations and home visits to coach “ostomates” on how to make their ostomies work into their lives, as well as offer emotional support. Cindy says, “The best advice I can give to ostomy patients is that you can still do everything you did before your ostomy. If something isn’t working for you, I can help fix it.” Connecting clients with Cindy’s expertise is another example of how we’re improving life for those living with cancer.

Cancer Services also has a large amount of donated ostomy supplies available to clients free of charge. Our Digestive and Urinary Cancers Support Group meets the third Monday of each month at noon at Cancer Services. Call 225-927-2273 to learn more about the group or our ostomy support services.

Meet Judy: Reiki Master and Cancer Services Volunteer

Judy Alonso has volunteered her time and expertise at Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge for nearly a year, coming in weekly to provide Reiki sessions for interested clients.  For those of you who haven’t met Judy or experienced a Reiki session, here's a little background on Judy, and how and why she came to be a Reiki Master.

“In 2005 after 4 1/2 years of my husband battling throat cancer, some friends suggested that we should go to the Reiki Center in Hollywood, Florida, where we lived for 20 years, and talk to the Reiki Master.  They felt she could probably help him with pain since he was done with his radiation and umpteen chemo sessions, and wasn’t going to do anymore.  Nothing to lose at this point for sure with only a 10% chance of survival.

We did not even know how to pronounce Reiki, let alone what it was.  The Reiki Master, Myrna Farbiash, was in that day (hmmmm, what a coincidence) and spoke with Al first and then took a look at me and spoke with me.  She told me there was a Level 1 Reiki class a couple of months or so down the line, and it was already full, and if I wanted to be in on it to go tell the Reiki Master at the counter to put someone out if she had to, but to make room for me.  Being the kind person she was, she did not put anyone out, and not knowing if Al would even still be with us then, I enrolled us both in the class.

As it turned out, he was still with us, and that was the last thing we did together.  He struggled to get there each day for the 2 day class, but he made it.  A week later, the Lord called him home.  The Lord put me on my path of Reiki through Al’s illness.  Maybe, otherwise, I would not have been able to recognize His road sign.

Funny, in the mid 60’s I had 2 dance schools which I thought I would be doing for the rest of my life.  Then, as life went, I worked for the Postal Service for 30 years and retired a year after my husband passed away, Whew!  During that year, I completed my Level II Reiki Class, Reiki Master Class and finished all of my teaching requirements before moving back home to Baton Rouge.

I had already begun teaching my classes and doing my sessions when I received the Cancer Services Bulletin in the mail and noticed you all were offering alternative methods of body, mind, spirit; and Reiki was one of them.  I immediately called and asked for an appointment to bring my cards, brochure, copies of certificates and ministry and asked to “SIGN ME UP!” This was my chance and my honor to give back to the very thing that put me on this journey in the first place—the wonderful people still battling this disease called CANCER.

What is one of the most important things I have learned in life, you ask?  It is said so many ways but this is one of my favorites:

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD

Painful moments, TRUST GOD

Every moment, THANK GOD

And, when you feel you have come to the end of all you know, and are about to step off into the darkness, trust and have faith in God that he will either give you something solid to stand on, or wings to fly.” 

Love, Light and Angels,

Judy Alonso

Reiki Master Teacher

Baton Rouge, LA

Making Their Cancer Care Complete

Cancer Services continued our Survivorship Events, marking Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month with a luncheon for our Digestive and Urinary Support Group this past Monday.

At the luncheon, attending survivors and their loved ones shared their stories as well as talked their concerns and asked questions about their colorectal, bladder, liver, testicular or prostate cancer. Several of the survivors emphasized the importance of getting tested regularly and urged everyone at the luncheon to encourage their family and friends to forgo the embarrassment and get colonoscopies and exams.

Also at the luncheon, Cindy Schneider was introduced as a new aspect of the support group. Cindy is an ostomy nurse who will attend the monthly meetings and be available to provide support and answer questions needed by the survivors. This is made possible through a grant from Get Your Rear in Gear and the Colon Cancer Coalition. (The next Get Your Rear in Gear 5K is coming up on April 28. Click here to register and support local colorectal cancer initiatives!)

The survivorship luncheon and support groups are a great way to share experiences from cancer treatment and to find encouragement and hope. One survivor spoke about how great it was to see a fellow liver cancer survivor who is about to have a 10 year anniversary since diagnosis. Another survivor stressed the importance of having a positive attitude during treatment.

Cancer Services fully recognizes the importance of support as part of our clients’ cancer care and we offer over 15 support groups that meet monthly; our Digestive and Urinary Group that meets every third Monday of the month at noon at Cancer Services. For more information on this support group or other services offered by Cancer Services please visit our website or call Esther at 225-927-2273.

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Dark Blue is Colorectal's Cancer Awareness Color.

March is colorectal cancer awareness month. Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer among men behind skin, prostate and lung cancer, and the fourth most common among women after skin, breast and lung cancer. The risk of colorectal cancer increases with age with more than 90 percent of cases occurring in people who are 50 years old or older (CDC).



According to the NCI, risk factors for colorectal cancer are:

• being 50 years old or older,
• having a family history of colon cancer or polyps,
• colorectal polyps,
• a personal history of cancer, especially ovarian, endometrial or breast cancer,
• ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease,
• hereditary conditions like familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC),
• a diet of high fat and low calcium, folate and fiber and
• cigarette smoking.

It is important to get tested for colorectal cancer if you are 50 years old or older because it can save your life. Many cancers in the early, treatable stages do not cause symptoms so it is important to get tested regularly. Symptoms usually begin to emerge when the cancer has progressed. Some of the symptoms of colorectal cancer include:

• Constipation or Diarrhea
• Blood in or on the stool
• Weight loss with no known reason
• Fatigue
• Vomiting or nausea
• The sensation that the bowel does not empty completely
• Narrow stools (which indicate an obstruction in the colon)
• Chronic abdominal discomfort, like gas pains or cramps or feeling bloated or full

These symptoms may be caused by something other than cancer, but it is important to visit a doctor so that a proper diagnosis can be made. For more information about colon cancer or screenings in our area, call the Cancer Services Library/Resource Center at 225-927-2273.

Each week, Cancer Services posts a Cancer Q&A in the Health section of The Advocate.