TodayCarlisle cancer patients find support
Mt. Holly Springs resident organizes new cancer support group to meet men’s needs.
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Debbie Edmundson, left, John Kendrick, center, and Richard Hair are involved in cancer support groups in Carlisle. (Jason Malmont/The Sentinel)
One of the most consistent similarities among people is the need for support.
The difference is that women more often form their own groups in times of need, but that’s about to change when a new Carlisle area men’s cancer support group meets for the first time in January.
The event is sponsored by the Carlisle Hearts-N-Hands Sertoma Club, an offshoot of a Mechanicsburg club created to make daily life easier for cancer patients.
Men and women deal with serious illnesses like cancer in different ways, said Dick Hair, a cancer patient who is organizing the support group. That’s why having separate organizations is so important.
“There are lots of things that male cancer patients have on their minds, both physical and emotional problems, that they just will not discuss in mixed groups,” the Mt. Holly Springs resident said.
He first heard of a men-only support group in 2007 when he was invited to a Reel Recovery, a fly-fishing weekend retreat at Allenberry Resort for men dealing with cancer.
“The most important part of the retreat was in the morning and in the evening we would have roundtable discussions with all of the patients,” Hair said.
It was through these gatherings that he and the other patients came to realize that they were not alone in their struggles with their diseases. Hair wants to share that insight with the Carlisle area.
‘Livestrong’
Forming a support group isn’t about helping members deal with specific problems and symptoms associated with their cancer, he said, but rather to help them get back to their regular lives.
“My whole goal is to create a positive atmosphere for men with cancer to live with it,” he said.
That means continuing with activities they enjoy instead of dwelling on the disease, Hair said.
“In other words, you can still enjoy life,” he said. “You may have to modify it, but you can still enjoy it.”
Hair wears a yellow “Livestrong” bracelet all the time, he said. He looks at it every day and thinks of the impressed word as more than a motto – to him, it’s a goal.
“That’s the key to trying to get well with cancer,” Hair said. “You may never cure it, but you certainly can get well from it.”
Assessing needs
The main goal of the first meeting is to gather input from those who attend to find out how the group can better help area cancer patients, Hair said.
“I guess we’ll be assessing if there’s a need for it,” said John Kendrick, who is to be the discussion facilitator at the first meeting.
An organization development consultant, he’s volunteering his experience with facilitating all sorts of groups.
Kendrick has also been with the Sertoma Hearts-N-Hands Club and it was though that group that he heard about Hair’s efforts and offered to help.
Sertoma works not only with cancer patients and survivors, but also helps people living with all sorts of debilitating diseases to do everyday things like getting meals and doing housework.
For cancer patients and survivors like those who will attend the group’s meeting, club President Deborah Edmondson said, the best help can be connecting them with local resources and information.
“Men deal with their diagnosis so much differently than women do, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t need support,” she said.
