Looking Forward Program
May 12, 2021Information
Dr. Tara Sanft and Dr. Gary Soffer explain the services offered by the "Looking Forward Program" at Smilow Cancer Hospital and the benefits for patients.
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- 00:04I had felt a small lump in my
- 00:06right breast and ended up finding out
- 00:08that I was being diagnosed with breast
- 00:11cancer was a stage three pretty aggressive
- 00:13breast cancer and the year after I
- 00:15retired I went for a test and the
- 00:18doctor said I we see something on
- 00:20your lungs look like ground glass.
- 00:22I was diagnosed this things one
- 00:24at the Times. It was a trauma.
- 00:29When you get that diagnosis,
- 00:30you're really hit right
- 00:32between the eyes. It's very
- 00:33difficult at that time. I had two girls,
- 00:36so freshman and a senior in high
- 00:38school and just kind of the unknown.
- 00:40What comes next and where am I getting
- 00:43the help and what are my options?
- 01:03have cutting edge disease focused
- 01:05treatments that patients come
- 01:07to get cures for their cancer.
- 01:09The Integrative Medicine program focuses
- 01:11on the human side of the patient.
- 01:14What I see with my patients who use
- 01:17integrative medicine services is a sense of.
- 01:20Being able to reflect to be able
- 01:22to express themselves or be able
- 01:24to get physical relief from the
- 01:26services that are provided. One of
- 01:28the best ways to describe
- 01:30integrative medicine,
- 01:31especially in terms of cancer care,
- 01:33is if the cancer is a weed.
- 01:35Your oncologist is phenomenal
- 01:36at dealing with that read.
- 01:38They can focus on it.
- 01:39It's really our job to focus
- 01:41on the rest of the garden.
- 01:43Build the Flowers,
- 01:44make sure that the soil is inhospitable to
- 01:47the weeds anymore.
- 01:48I went through chemo and the surgery.
- 01:50And I went home and I languished
- 01:52for about 6 years just sitting
- 01:55around home, feeling whatever.
- 01:56Sorry for myself or whatever.
- 01:58And then I met the data Brewer, one
- 02:01of the highlights of being an integrative
- 02:03medicine practitioner is that I get to go
- 02:06upstairs and engage with patients that
- 02:07wouldn't normally choose integrative
- 02:09medicine because maybe they are unsure of
- 02:12what we offer or they haven't heard of it.
- 02:15We do yoga classes.
- 02:16We have Tai chi Qigong.
- 02:18We have meditation classes, Zumba classes.
- 02:20We do huge creative expression
- 02:22collaborative projects.
- 02:23An individual projects we have massage.
- 02:25We have Reiki and when I say
- 02:27there's something for everyone,
- 02:29there really is because at
- 02:31the very very least,
- 02:32there's breathing and there's
- 02:33breathing exercises.
- 02:34And there's just ways to to help
- 02:37alleviate stress and feel better.
- 02:38Many of these services
- 02:40are offered online or through zoom
- 02:42or through phone based treatments.
- 02:44My patients love the fact that
- 02:46they have all these different
- 02:47services to choose from that's
- 02:49provided by the integrative team.
- 02:51When I met Dana she indicated
- 02:53the Smiler wanted to make 1000
- 02:55white birds as as a project and
- 02:57if I'd like to participate,
- 02:59learn how to make that like
- 03:01jumped at the opportunity.
- 03:02There was a doctor from the
- 03:04Malaysia from as a boy.
- 03:05He bowfishing as he took the
- 03:07thousand birds and move them into
- 03:09a fishing net and it was displayed
- 03:11in the Smiler lobby for the longest
- 03:14time and then we took it down and
- 03:16cut the birds out and gave those
- 03:18birds to the cancer patients and
- 03:20that now that I think about it.
- 03:23That was really the emphasis
- 03:24for me wanting to do it.
- 03:26It's kind of
- 03:27like set planted the seed.
- 03:29Sometimes it's just simply about experiencing
- 03:31joy again because they've become so
- 03:33used to this pattern of chemotherapy,
- 03:35feeling ill, feeling sick.
- 03:36But if you can give them
- 03:38these Nuggets of happiness,
- 03:39then you can really transform their journey
- 03:41in who they are and who they become.
- 03:44And so everybody is always seeking
- 03:46to be happy once you get the
- 03:48weight of cancer on your back,
- 03:50it's so much more challenging
- 03:52to go into that place.
- 03:54But that's you know,
- 03:55that's the strength of integrative medicine.
- 03:57If we give the patients
- 03:59those tools to get back
- 04:00into that place,
- 04:01the support really raised me up.
- 04:03It gave me so much strength to
- 04:05clearly battle both for physical pain,
- 04:08but just my emotional well being
- 04:09as much as I wasn't a yoga
- 04:12person and maybe still am not.
- 04:14I looked forward to going there.
- 04:16I look forward to the
- 04:18conversations that were held.
- 04:19I looked forward to the praise
- 04:21that was given for small little
- 04:23gains from week to week.
- 04:25I just look forward to the comfort
- 04:27really that a lot of the programs
- 04:29provided me integrative medicine is
- 04:31another layer of support for patients
- 04:33going through treatment and beyond to
- 04:35help them achieve that hope and optimism
- 04:38and that connected feeling that they
- 04:40need when I walk into the room,
- 04:42I'll say hello, my name is Dessie.
- 04:44I'm volunteer here another
- 04:4613 year cancer survivor.
- 04:49During my time here,
- 04:50I learned how to make origami birds
- 04:52and today I make them for cancer
- 04:54patients and other nice people.
- 04:56Will you accept this for me?
- 04:58I couldn't give away fast enough
- 05:00because I would get this shot
- 05:02of dopamine in my brain and
- 05:04I'd walk out of the hospital
- 05:06like 6 inches off the ground.
- 05:08I think
- 05:09I gave 2000 birds away in 2818 and 19.
- 05:11I'm reminded daily that
- 05:13I'm a cancer survivor,
- 05:14but I find that I am incredibly
- 05:17resilient and and I believe that I am.
- 05:19Due to the strength that I gained from
- 05:22those people that I met along the journey,
- 05:24I was fortunate enough to have a great
- 05:27support system already in place with
- 05:29my family and friends in my community.
- 05:31But I think I gained more strength as
- 05:34well from the doctors and nurses and
- 05:36the staff in the Integrative Medicine
- 05:38Department and just the people that
- 05:40I've met through becoming involved
- 05:42with the looking forward fashion show.
- 05:44It continues to show me the
- 05:46importance of the program and in
- 05:48giving back every dollar that's donated.
- 05:50Ends up affecting countless patients,
- 05:52providers, and family members
- 05:53that we can't even imagine.
- 05:55We're growing and developing program
- 05:57and we need support. We need
- 05:59help to create that we really
- 06:01do rely on the support of people to
- 06:04help us grow and help us thrive. He
- 06:07started with the integrated services,
- 06:09you know he just changed like that.
- 06:11He was the old Desi. You know,
- 06:13very positive and very often without
- 06:15the creative expressions program,
- 06:17I think he wouldn't would not have been.
- 06:20The man he is today. I really don't.
- 06:23I think he would have went into
- 06:25a deep depression, but it was
- 06:27a godsend. So what good is treating
- 06:29them on physical level if you
- 06:31leave the emotional and spiritual
- 06:33level untouched, this is this
- 06:35touches that this gives us a chance
- 06:37to to heal completely.