Search Weight Loss Topics:

Home » Exercise Programs » Day of Hope: Survivorship program helps turn the page – Lompoc Record

Dr. Cheryl Decker doesnt like the term palliative care.

Our aim here is to be very supportive of patients to survive and thrive. Palliative care is comfort care, but most people associate the term with end of life. It doesnt mean end of life, Decker explained.

So immediately upon taking up her role at Mission Hope Cancer Center eight months ago, she changed her official title to Medical Director, Mission Hope Cancer Center Survivorship and Support Care Program.

The goal: to send a much more accurate, positive message to patients, and thereby encourage them to take advantage of all the programs offered by the Central Coasts only full-service, one-stop cancer care center.

In her role, Decker strives to maintain the best possible quality of life in patients living with cancer by offering individualized consultation. She coordinates cancer surveillance and cancer prevention plans for each patient, and works to keep Mission Hope patients from emergency department visits and unnecessary hospitalizations.

We have a mission and overall desire to treat the whole patient, meaning not just their cancer, but the stresses that surround whatever their illness is. With cancer, there are a lot of things that patients have to deal with: anxiety about what treatment will be like; if its completed, when or if they will be coming back. You live with that every day. Some patients dont cope well with that. Some become depressed. Theres a whole spectrum of emotional distress, Decker said.

Patients' needs, like their cancers, are entirely individual. Some are able to treat with surgery; some with chemotherapy; some with radiation; some with an entire gamut of treatment options.

Theres a hundred different things they have to worry about. There are issues during, and even long after, treatments they deal with to recover their sense of well being and their energy levels, Decker said.

Her primary role is to work with those patients to help them turn the page and thrive.

Bringing all the doctors and services under one roof at Mission Hope has been a big step in that direction.

We can pool together resources. Im part of that whole support system for all of our patients, Decker said.

Services free to cancer patients include massages, acupuncture, exercise classes, a dedicated exercise physiologist, tai chi, yoga, origami, meditation and journaling. There are guest speakers and support groups covering everything from daily living to coping with challenges and sexual intimacy.

Where else do you find people who will talk to you about these kinds of things, Decker asked.

Dealing with overwhelming challenges when living with cancer, pain and other physical and emotional symptoms all affect quality of life, she said, and stress can have a big impact on patients and their loved ones.

We know people who are more optimistic and have better, less-stressful approaches to life, are happier, do better. We know that. Those studies are clear. So if we can help patients get to a better place, that helps, Decker said.

Programs range from genetic screening to an online wellness program and more.

Cancer is really changing, and thats exciting. We have doubled the survival rates for cancer in the last five years. Thats remarkable. In some cancers, we have close to a 100 percent cure rate. Breast cancer has a 90 percent cure rate. That was not thought of in the past. Were in this exponential curve up in how cancer care is going, Decker said.

She credits the cure rates to improved cares, variety of therapies and optimism.

We have whole new classes of drugs or therapies that didnt exist at all when I was in medical school 25 years ago. All we had before was chemotherapy. Now we have immunotherapy and targeted drug therapies that are just amazing and have given people longer lives. In some cases, they cure, and in others they give them years instead of months to live, Decker said.

Her programs also stress cancer prevention.

There are some tangible things you can do with your diet, exercise, wellness programs. Our online program allows patients to self-direct a wellness plan that is personalized to them to empower them to do things that have been shown to reduce the risk for getting cancer, Decker said.

Patient advocates provide support groups not only for patients, but for care givers as well as children of cancer patients.

Im here for people who have had cancer at any point in their lives. If its been five years, and, hey, youre not doing well, not thriving, not turning the page in your life and moving on, come see me. If there are symptoms that are holding them back and theyre not able perform the primary functions of life, Im a resource, Decker said.

Follow this link:
Day of Hope: Survivorship program helps turn the page - Lompoc Record

Your Full Name
Your Email
Your Phone Number
Select your age (30+ only)	30313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120
Select Your US State	Select Your StateAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington,DCWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming
Program Choice	Select Your ProgramInjectable HGHInjectable TestoteroneInjectable SermorelinInjectable Weight LossInjectable HCG DietInjectable Vitamins
Confirm over 30 years old	Yes
Confirm that you resident in USA	Yes
This is a Serious Inquiry	Yes
Message:

Home » Exercise Programs » Day of Hope: Survivorship program helps turn the page – Lompoc Record