Looking Forward Program

May 12, 2021

Information

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.

ID6584

To CiteDCA Citation Guide

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.