More added to patients' treatment plan

Learning you have or might have cancer can feel incredibly lonely.

"For a lot of them, their world comes to a screeching halt," says Carolyn Hickey, a diagnostic nurse navigator in Tampa and the one who often delivers the upsetting news.

"Anything they need at that time is what I give: an answer, silence or a hug," says Hickey, who works at the Hinks and Elaine Shimberg Breast Center at St. Joseph's Women's Hospital. "It's a frightening thing to be told."

In the past decade, hospitals and oncology centers have been adding mental and spiritual well-being to a patient's treatment plan. At many, that care includes nurses assigned specifically to help patients navigate an overwhelming and painful process.

But it also means support resources that once were limited to diagnostic brochures and occasional support groups are now far more integrated into a patient's ongoing care.

Kim Buettner knows firsthand the value of educating patients. The coordinator of the patient and family advisory program at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa also is a breast cancer survivor.

"We want the patient to be empowered," she says.

As a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center, Moffitt started introducing more patient- and family-centered programs in 2007, says Nancy Newman, director of patient support and advocacy.

The center, with 10 departments dedicated to patient and family support, offers social workers and pastoral care, art therapy, ethical consultation and wellness opportunities.

For example, a resource library became an informal gathering space with coffee, weekly yoga classes are held and computers are available for family members to pay bills. There's a question-and-answer session on weekdays, featuring a staff expert on topics ranging from nutrition to deciphering lab reports.

In-person support isn't always what the patient needs, says Ronda Buffington, cancer helpline outreach nurse at St. Joseph's. She answers any inquiry to the hospital's cancer help line. Occasionally, she plays the neutral third-party, helping a person sort out the pros and cons of a recommended treatment.

Patients sometimes find it helpful to speak with a cancer survivor. St. Joseph's "Reach to Recovery" program introduces women who just underwent breast cancer surgery to one of 10 trained staff members who also are cancer survivors.

"The survivor is not there to tell them what to do. They're there to say they were in that position and look where I am now," Buffington says. "Just knowing you can recover and knowing that you're not the only one with cancer can be very important."

HOW TO GET SUPPORT

Websites

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, www.moffitt.org/ patientandfamily

St. Joseph's Hospital Cancer Institute, www .StJosephsTampa.com

Breast Center at St. Joseph's Women's Hospital, www.StJosephsWomens.com

Help lines

St. Joseph's Cancer HelpLine, (813) 443-2046, is available to the general public. It is not staffed 24 hours a day, but a nurse will return your call.

Moffitt Cancer Answers, 1-888-663-3488, ext. 3, is available to the general public and provides access to a nurse.