Cancer Patient Information

Patient & Caregiver Education Classes

SCCA offers classes for patients and their caregiver to help get through the treatment process.
 
Food Safety Classes are offered every Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. for All Patients and Caregivers
Location: SCCA Clinic, Room 1006/1008, 1st Floor

Safe food selection and food handling are important parts infection prevention. Food safety in the grocery store, home, and restaurants will be discussed. Learn how to avoid food-born illness.

Transition Classes are offered every Tuesday at 1 p.m. for patients and caregivers preparing for transplant and include "Managing Care at Home." 
Location: SCCA Clinic, Room 1006/1008, 1st Floor

This class includes:

• An overview of the Bone Marrow at Home and Review of Transplant Transplant Process
• A review of the patient/caregiver role
• Available resources and adjusting to recovery at home
• Managing symptoms (mucositis, dehydration, diarrhea, bleeding and breathing problems) and
• Infection prevention 
• What to expect at different phases of transplant

Other Classes

• Lectures and Lunch & Laughs and Lunch
• Team Survivor Northwest, Women’s Exercise Class
• Smoking Cessation Information & Support
• “Knit for Life” Knitting group
• Patient & Caregiver Support Group
• Support Group for Patients After Transplant
• Therapeutic Yoga     
• Kidney Cancer Support Group

Check the Monthly Calendar for dates, times, and locations. Also, check out the Patient Education Blog for these and other events and information.

Caregiver Appreciation - June 9

Presented by: Ann Breen MR, APRN, OCN

Join us on Wednesday, June 9 from 12:00-1:00 p.m. in SCCA room 1006-1008 for our Caregiver Appreciation event.

Please pre-register by signing up at the Guest Services Desk, 1st floor, or call Sara Olsen 288-1472 to RSVP.

Ode to caregivers...

“There are only four kinds of people in this world:

Those who have been caregivers

Those who are currently caregivers

Those who will be caregivers

Those who will need caregivers”

    -Quote from Rosalynn Carter’s colleague
 
Rosalynn Carter’s book Helping Yourself Help Others begins with the above quote. With the shifting emphasis from hospital to homecare patients, families and friends have assumed more responsibility for care. Education and support have been developed to meet the needs of the patients and families we serve. The patient and caregiver education program includes weekly group classes, individualized instruction, and written materials. Support groups, including chaplaincy, are offered. 

Be well,
Ann and Sara

Time for You - Relaxation Techniques

Great ideas for caregivers and patients alike. Everyone needs a moment to chill...

Deep Breath/Tense, Exhale/Relax, Yawn

1. Clench your fists; breathe in deeply and hold it a moment.
2. Breathe out slowly and go limp as a rag doll.
3. Start yawning.

Additional points: Yawning becomes spontaneous. It is also contagious, so others may begin yawning and relaxing too.

Heartbeat Breathing For Relaxation

Before you do this, if you are unsure about how to find and count your pulse rate (usually radial pulse at the wrist), ask your nurse to help you.

1. Take a deep, comfortable breath.
2. Close your eyes or focus on your hands.
3. Count your radial pulse (at the wrist) for two beats.
4. Inhale while you count the next two beats.
5. Exhale while you count the next three beats.
6. Inhale and exhale in this manner several times.
   Additional points:  You can do this quickly if you are suddenly anxious or fearful.  You can do this without drawing attention to yourself.  The pulse (heart) rate usually slows noticeably.

Humor For Relaxation

Laugh when you hurt? Hurting is rarely funny, but people who hurt sometimes find that occasional humor is one of the most effective ways to deal with pain. Why not try some of the following?

1. Watch television programs that are really funny to you.
2. Listen to recordings by comedians that you find hysterical.
3. Read books that make you laugh.

Something funny can certainly be distracting, but its value seems to go beyond a momentary redirection of thoughts.  Humor may produce relaxation.

For example, when you laugh, it is almost impossible to maintain muscle contraction. A simple example of this is when two or more people attempt to lift a heavy object in unison. One of them may be in charge of coordinating the efforts. That person counts or gives some cue to signal everyone to lift at the same time. But if they laugh, they fail. The result is familiar:  the lifters become limp, drop the object, and sometimes actually fall to the floor. Laughter causes skeletal muscle relaxation; the skeletal muscles become too limp to hold or lift an object.

When Norman Cousins reported on his painful illness, he noted that 10 minutes of belly laughter resulted in 2 hours of sound sleep.  Many have speculated about the reason. Could laughing have relaxed him?

Patient/Family Teaching Point:  Jaw Relaxation

1. Let your lower jaw drop slightly, as though you were starting a small yawn.
2. Keep your tongue quiet and resting in the bottom of your mouth.
3. Let your lips get soft.
4. Breathe slowly, evenly, and rhythmically:  inhale, exhale, rest.
5. Allow yourself to stop forming words with your lips and stop thinking words.

Additional points:  This technique may reduce both pain and distress, especially postoperatively.

May be duplicated for use in clinical practice. From McCaffery, M. and Beebe, A: PAIN: CLINICAL MANUAL FOR NURSING PRACTICE, St. Louis, 1989, The CV Mosby Company.

What do you think? Feeling relaxed now?

~ Ann and Sara

Caregiver Appreciation

Did you know that:

• 44.5 million  Americans provide the role of caregiving
• 6 million  Americans take care of children with disabilities
• As a family caregiver, you are at risk for physical illness, fatigue, burnout, and depression?

Remember: 
Self-Care prevents burnout and depression. 

Helpful Suggestions for Self Care: 

• Be realistic and know your strengths and limits.
• Listen; take a step back; keep perspective.
• Make sure you have a healthy diet including plenty of fruits and vegetables.
• Put energy into things that matter and find meaning in your experience.
• Accept help when it is offered. 
• Take a step back; keep perspective.
• Learn how to lift and carry carefully.
• Journal your experience and feelings during your caregiving journey.