People helping people focus of cancer conference

The day was about people. And on that day, a woman on a patient discussion panel stood before the audience. Before uttering a single word, she reached behind, undid some clips, bent over, reached under her sweater and removed her prosthesis. She then placed it into a bag under her seat. The room was silent, and the audience sat, watched, waited a moment, and then started to slowly clap their hands. "Now that feels much better," the woman said, amidst a round of applause, people now standing, and a "You go girl" shouted from the crowd.
On Friday, October 12, in Machias, the 11th annual Washington County Cancer Conference at the Lee‑Pellon Center once again brought people from all walks of life to tell their stories, hear about new treatments, share a day and make a collective journey together -- a journey of hope.
Keynote speaker and cancer survivor Jana Richards spoke about her journey with stage four non‑Hodgkin's lymphoma. Her cancer was discovered the summer after her senior year in high school at the age of 17. Richards spoke about how lucky she was to be given care in a pediatric hospital. "It felt like and eventually became home for me," says Richards. "The team approach made me feel we were a family fighting the fight." After her diagnosis, Richards went through a grueling treatment regimen that lasted nine months, resulting in remission. But, soon after, she relapsed with a different strain of the cancer. "I grew up more the second time around with cancer," says Richards. "The after-effects of cancer were tough, and at the same time my mom then received a diagnosis of breast cancer. She also had a relapse and ultimately survived cancer like me."
Now in remission for nine years, Richards lives with her husband and two‑year-old son in Standish. She currently works for the Opportunity Alliance's Public Health Program helping communities in planning for a variety of health initiatives. "No matter how much strength we have we are never complete," says Richards. "I never did get to medical college. I realize today my mental health was tougher to heal than what I went through physically, and this is why it is so important to have people in our lives. I could have never walked my path alone. Today I am living a fulfilling life but also know that my biggest hurdle may still be yet to come."
Dr. Philip Brooks, an oncologist with CancerCare of Maine and currently at Mount Desert Island Hospital, presented information on genomics and immunotherapies and other treatments that can now target specific areas and cells within the body, allowing for a more precise and patient-specific approach to battling cancer. Brooks noted the dramatic changes within the field since he first spoke at this conference five years ago. "The pace of extraordinary findings in cancer research is accelerating. In my own practice, the tools at an oncologist's disposal are growing, and the gains we are seeing in gene therapy and immunotherapy are incredible."
But it was the patient panel, specifically Karen Wood who is currently battling stage four breast cancer, that brought an "in your face" reality to the day. Her diagnosis eventually led to a double-breast mastectomy. The message she was hoping to make by removing her prosthesis is that the material things in people's lives are not what it's about, nor are they what make you who you are. "It is the people in our lives that matter," says Wood. She spoke about her best friend, Clint, and the importance of having him in her life, and she noted, after he passed away, how others were there to fill the void. And she spoke about how to live each and every day. "Always remember the dash between your day and birth year, and fill it with life. Be real. Tell the facts, no matter how hard they are; and learn the lesson and be better for it. And when you feel you can't take the next step, you must. Fill that blank wall with reminders that a life, no matter the diagnosis, needs to be lived each and every day."
Other participants on the patient panel spoke about life before and after their diagnosis. A woman living in New York City had it all before her diagnosis -- a job, friends, a life -- and then found a new place to live and a supportive community in Lubec. Her caregiver by her side spoke about the strength and bravery he witnesses every single day from her. And the man living in Eastport spoke about relying on no one, doing for himself and his teenage son as he battles melanoma; yet he is very grateful to the people who came into his life ever since the diagnosis.
The stories were all unique and the presentations informative, current and important. But within each person's story or professional presentation there was a recurrent theme, a common thread within the fabric of their cancer stories: people helping people. There are people who make time to take care of others, people who call, write letters, send cards, drive to appointments, pick up groceries and medications, do research, listen, see, laugh, cry, understand, support and love. This particular day was all that and so much more: people helping people and giving hope for all to take comfort in.