Meetings provide a valuable resource for diagnosis and treatment information and tips for coping with the disease
MAYWOOD, Ill. – A cancer diagnosis affects the patient as well as the patient’s family and friends. All can struggle with disbelief, fear, guilt, sadness and other strong emotions that may make it difficult for them to cope.
For those overwhelmed by a cancer diagnosis, support groups provide opportunities to gain comfort and hope from listening to other patients’ experiences, sharing one’s own story or getting the latest information from medical professionals. The Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center of Loyola University Hospital in Maywood, Ill., offers a variety of free support groups for cancer patients and their families, friends and caregivers. A social worker, nurse or psychologist leads the groups, which also provide information and practical help to participants. The groups include:
Brain Tumor Networking Group – Group meets from 6-7 p.m., the fourth Wednesday of the month in the Image Renewal Center Conference Room in the Cancer Center. For more information, call (708) 327-2042.
Breast Cancer Networking Group – Meets from 6-7 p.m., the third Thursday of each month in the Image Renewal Center Conference Room in the Cancer Center. Group does not meet in July, August and December. For more information, call (708) 327-2133 or (708) 327-2042.
Gastroenterology Cancer Networking Group – Group meets from 6-7 p.m., the second Wednesday of the month in the Image Renewal Center Conference Room in the Cancer Center. Appropriate for patients, family and friends dealing with one of the following cancer diagnoses: esophageal, stomach, intestinal, colon, rectal, anal, bile duct, gallbladder, pancreatic and liver. For further information, call (708) 327-2042.
Lung Cancer Networking Group – Group meets from 6-7 p.m., the first Tuesday of the month in the Image Renewal Center Conference Room in the Cancer Center. Oxygen is provided for patients; please call at least 24 hours before meeting to make arrangements. For more information, call (708) 327-3088.
Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Networking Group – Group meets from 6-7 p.m., the third Wednesday of every month in the Image Renewal Center Conference Room in the Cancer Center. For more information, call (708) 327-2042.
Great Diversions – Group meets from 7-9:30 p.m., the second Thursday of every month at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Group is for men and women who have had a continent urinary diversion. For more information and for the number of the room where the meeting will be held, call (708) 216-5112.
Registration is not required and refreshments are provided. Parking is available in the Cancer Center parking lot. The Cancer Center and Stritch School of Medicine are both located on the campus of Loyola University Medical Center, 2160 S. First Ave., Maywood, Ill.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.