Cancer Survivors Day Offers Rehab Help

Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara and San Jose will be hosting the eighth annual Seeds of Hope, Cancer Survivor Celebration on June 11 at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara. The theme “Balanced Healing” will focus on rehabilitation and healing from cancer and its treatment.

“Cancer treatment may save your life,” said Dr. Anita TC Lee, Radiation Oncologist, Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara, “but cancer rehabilitation helps to restore the quality of your life.”

She says national statistics demonstrate that only a minority of patients with potentially modifiable functional deficits from cancer treatment, receive the necessary medical intervention and rehabilitation to restore their function and quality of life after cancer treatment. “But at Kaiser Permanente, rehabilitation is extremely important and it is our mission to help educate everyone about available services and resources.”

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Cancer Survivors Day 2017 will emphasize wellness activities like exercises and fitness classes. “Our keynote speaker, Dr. Kerri Winters-Stone, is a national expert in exercise and wellness and will address strategies to reverse side effects of cancer treatments.”

Dr. Pilar Ivanov, Chief of Medical Oncology, Kaiser Permanente San Jose, points out that cancer treatment often causes a variety of side effects that impact the quality of life of cancer survivors such as fatigue, insomnia, short-term memory loss and peripheral neuropathy.

During the event, booths will showcase the services available at Kaiser Permanente and in the community. “We’ll have experts on hand who can talk about sleep issues and psychological effects of cancer treatments,” said Dr. Ivanov. “Speech pathologists and dermatologists will offer advice for patients facing speech and skin issues with treatment.”

At Cancer Survivors Day, attendees will learn from experts about eating for healing and strategies to heal faster, stronger and better. There will be multiple demonstrations of fitness programs such as restorative yoga, tai chi and stretching. Therapists will perform reiki on participants. This can be a helpful tool that have beneficial effects of relaxation, and creating a sense of security and well being

“Breast cancer surgery as well as radiation therapy can cause scarring of chest wall tissues and muscles,” said Dr. Lee. “Targeted exercise is a must to help prevent long-term loss of mobility after breast cancer treatment.”

National Cancer Survivors Day started 30 years ago as a celebration for those who have survived, an inspiration for those recently diagnosed, a gathering of support for families, and an outreach to the community.

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