INDIANAPOLIS – Support for People with Oral, Head and Neck Cancer will hold its south side care and share group meeting from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 3.
The next class meets Thursday, Oct. 1.
The meeting is at the St. Francis Education Center, 5935 S. Emerson Ave., Suite 100. Come share your experiences and learn from other oral, head and neck cancer patients. Ample time will be provided for participants’ questions and discussion.
This monthly support group meets the first Thursday of each month and is for anyone with oral, head or neck cancer, regardless of stage or type of cancer. Caregivers are welcome.
For more information, call 317-782-4422.
Showing posts with label head and neck cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label head and neck cancer. Show all posts
Monday, August 10, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Support group reaches out to cancer patients, caregivers
INDIANAPOLIS – Support for People with Oral, Head and Neck Cancer will hold its south side care and share group meeting from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, May 7.
The meeting is at the St. Francis Education Center, 5935 S. Emerson Ave., Suite 100. Come share your experiences and learn from other oral, head and neck cancer patients. Ample time will be provided for participants’ questions and discussion.
This monthly support group meets the first Thursday of each month and is for anyone with oral, head or neck cancer, regardless of stage or type of cancer. Caregivers are welcome.
For more information, call 317-782-4422.
The meeting is at the St. Francis Education Center, 5935 S. Emerson Ave., Suite 100. Come share your experiences and learn from other oral, head and neck cancer patients. Ample time will be provided for participants’ questions and discussion.
This monthly support group meets the first Thursday of each month and is for anyone with oral, head or neck cancer, regardless of stage or type of cancer. Caregivers are welcome.
For more information, call 317-782-4422.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Support group assists patients with oral, head, neck cancers
INDIANAPOLIS – Support for People with Oral, Head and Neck Cancer will hold its south side care and share group meeting from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 4.
The meeting is at the St. Francis Education Center, 5935 S. Emerson Ave., Suite 100. Former and current patients with those types of cancer are encouraged to attend and share their experiences with others. Ample time will be provided for participants’ questions and discussion.
This monthly support group meets the first Thursday of each month and is for anyone with oral, head or neck cancer, regardless of type or stage of cancer. Caregivers are welcome.
For more information, call 317-782-4422.
The meeting is at the St. Francis Education Center, 5935 S. Emerson Ave., Suite 100. Former and current patients with those types of cancer are encouraged to attend and share their experiences with others. Ample time will be provided for participants’ questions and discussion.
This monthly support group meets the first Thursday of each month and is for anyone with oral, head or neck cancer, regardless of type or stage of cancer. Caregivers are welcome.
For more information, call 317-782-4422.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
New radiation therapy offers more effective, precise targeting of cancers
INDIANAPOLIS – Radiation therapy at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers is being delivered in a revolutionary way, providing physicians with more options and flexibility to precisely treat cancerous tissue.It’s called TomoTherapy®, and it uses thousands of radiation beamlets delivered continuously 360 degrees around the patient.
Designed and built in the Midwest, the TomoTherapy unit at St. Francis is the first in use in central Indiana. Tomo means “slice” and since cancer is diagnosed looking at every angle, treatment can be given precisely to every slice with the help of computer assisted tomography (CT) scans generated by the TomoTherapy machine.
"St. Francis has recognized the need to provide the most precise treatment planning and delivery capabilities,” said Peter Garrett, M.D., medical director of oncology at St. Francis. "In patients we have treated to date, our expectations have been exceeded in the amount of healthy tissue that we can spare and by the quickness of the treatments, leading to a more convenient experience for the patients.”
Patients are treated with a helical mode of delivery (360 degrees of continuous treatment) which results in maximum dose delivered to the cancer site while sparing normal structures.
Patients are scanned before each treatment to confirm accuracy and then are targeted similar to a CT scan. The initial scan takes about five minutes and treatments, which are painless, begin immediately after the scan.
During a patient’s six-to-eight weeks of treatment, many physical changes can occur. Tumors shrink, organs move in the body and patients can gain or lose weight. This means initial treatment plans may be changed during therapy.
To accommodate these physical changes TomoTherapy uses an adaptive planning system. Since the TomoTherapy planning system is part of the overall unit, adjustments can be made to the original plan during the overall course of therapy, ensuring radiation delivery to the cancer immediately.
TomoTherapy is a complete package of treatment planning software, quality assurance tools, image acquisition and treatment delivery. Since all the data is in one system and not transferred between multiple systems, there is less risk of error.
Types of cancers ideally treated with TomoTherapy are prostate, head and neck and the central nervous system and all cranial tumors. All have critical normal tissues that are necessary to avoid yet require high doses of radiation for adequate treatment.”
The first patient treated with TomoTherapy was in 2003. More than 100 units are now being installed worldwide, according to TomoTherapy officials
More information about the Cancer Care Services program at St. Francis is at http://stfrancishospitals.org/cancer and at http://stfranciscancercare360.org. To learn more about TomoTherapy, go to www.tomotherapy.com.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Nurse navigators help cancer patients maneuver through treatment
INDIANAPOLIS – When first diagnosed with cancer, a person often feels set adrift in a murky sea of uncertainty and fear – and alone in their struggle.
But an innovative program at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers helps patients from the time of diagnosis throughout their treatment regimen. It’s the nurse navigator program and it’s designed for patients and their families with colorectal and head and neck cancers.
This nurse specialist assists patients in coordinating diagnostic appointments and physician visits, along with helping to manage symptoms, providing education, increasing awareness of clinical trial availability and very importantly, easing patient anxiety.
"We augment what’s being done on the clinical side by helping guide patients through every step of the treatment and beyond," said Karen Norris, R.N., nurse navigator at St. Francis’ Colorectal Cancer Center of Excellence. "It’s not enough for the technology to be good – you have to provide the human touch to the people you serve."
Norris, who took on her role as a nurse navigator in mid-2007, is an integral player on a team of more than 25 physician specialists including gastroenterologists, colorectal surgeons, general surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, family practice physicians and radiologists who comprise the Center.
"It truly is a collaborative effort and our physicians and other specialists do a wonderful job in communicating and coming together to decide what’s best for patients," Norris said.
Nurse Practitioner Janice Leak’s role as St. Francis’ other nurse navigator – she was the first in 2006 – has positioned her as a key link between physicians and patients receiving care for head and neck cancers. The patients Leak works with often go through different treatment phases, often a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and that means they will be seen by different physicians and technicians for tests and procedures.
Leak currently works with about 48 patients having head and neck-related cancers; Norris has a caseload of more than 70 patients at St. Francis hospitals in Indianapolis, Beech Grove and Mooresville.
"Cancer treatment can seem very complex and segmented to patients," Leak said. "That’s where a nurse navigator can be a common thread to help weave the patient through the process and so that they feel supported throughout the process."
Cheryl Snooks is one patient who has experienced that process. The business project manager was diagnosed with an oral-related cancer in 2006 at St. Francis and was immediately paired with Leak.
"As you go from diagnosis to treatment, your questions and concerns change," Snooks said. "It was helpful to have Janice there with the answers and to have a positive experience."
As part of the Center’s commitment to provide the newest technology and highest quality of care, Norris explained that all patients are screened for enrollment in clinical trials. These research studies are among nearly 100 now under way and overseen by the St. Francis Cancer Research Foundation.
The attention doesn’t end with treatment. Norris and Leak both follow up with their patients long after their therapies.
St. Francis also has plans to expand its nurse navigator program into lung cancer.
More information about Cancer Care Services at St. Francis is at http://stfrancishospitals.org/cancer.
But an innovative program at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers helps patients from the time of diagnosis throughout their treatment regimen. It’s the nurse navigator program and it’s designed for patients and their families with colorectal and head and neck cancers.
This nurse specialist assists patients in coordinating diagnostic appointments and physician visits, along with helping to manage symptoms, providing education, increasing awareness of clinical trial availability and very importantly, easing patient anxiety.
"We augment what’s being done on the clinical side by helping guide patients through every step of the treatment and beyond," said Karen Norris, R.N., nurse navigator at St. Francis’ Colorectal Cancer Center of Excellence. "It’s not enough for the technology to be good – you have to provide the human touch to the people you serve."
Norris, who took on her role as a nurse navigator in mid-2007, is an integral player on a team of more than 25 physician specialists including gastroenterologists, colorectal surgeons, general surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, family practice physicians and radiologists who comprise the Center.
"It truly is a collaborative effort and our physicians and other specialists do a wonderful job in communicating and coming together to decide what’s best for patients," Norris said.
Nurse Practitioner Janice Leak’s role as St. Francis’ other nurse navigator – she was the first in 2006 – has positioned her as a key link between physicians and patients receiving care for head and neck cancers. The patients Leak works with often go through different treatment phases, often a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and that means they will be seen by different physicians and technicians for tests and procedures.
Leak currently works with about 48 patients having head and neck-related cancers; Norris has a caseload of more than 70 patients at St. Francis hospitals in Indianapolis, Beech Grove and Mooresville.
"Cancer treatment can seem very complex and segmented to patients," Leak said. "That’s where a nurse navigator can be a common thread to help weave the patient through the process and so that they feel supported throughout the process."
Cheryl Snooks is one patient who has experienced that process. The business project manager was diagnosed with an oral-related cancer in 2006 at St. Francis and was immediately paired with Leak.
"As you go from diagnosis to treatment, your questions and concerns change," Snooks said. "It was helpful to have Janice there with the answers and to have a positive experience."
As part of the Center’s commitment to provide the newest technology and highest quality of care, Norris explained that all patients are screened for enrollment in clinical trials. These research studies are among nearly 100 now under way and overseen by the St. Francis Cancer Research Foundation.
The attention doesn’t end with treatment. Norris and Leak both follow up with their patients long after their therapies.
St. Francis also has plans to expand its nurse navigator program into lung cancer.
More information about Cancer Care Services at St. Francis is at http://stfrancishospitals.org/cancer.
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