Blueprints of Hope’s Cancer Wellness Workshop Series announced

Posted

By Toni Abbey

Special to The PREVIEW

Lifting the Fog — Navigating the Impact of Cancer Treatments on Memory, Thinking and Attention workshop will be held Saturday, June 23, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Durango.

Sponsored by Blueprints of Hope, a local nonprofit, this event will be held in the Fellowship Hall of the First United Methodist Church, 2917 Aspen Drive, Durango.

This is the first of three cancer survivorship workshops, scheduled to extend into February 2019. Each workshop has been made possible by a grant from the Colorado Cancer Coalition, Colorado Cancer Fund, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The first workshop will focus on difficulties with memory and thinking that appear during and after cancer therapies, and welcomes three guest speakers:

• AnneMarie Ciccarella, cancer survivor, patient advocate, blogger and researcher, who will discuss “Life in the Fog: The Value of Acceptance as a Key Addition to Our Daily Tips and Tricks.” Ciccarella was featured on the cover of the American Association for Cancer Research fall 2017 issue of Cancer Today and her blog, www.chemobrainfog.com, has been named as one of the Best 10 Breast Cancer Blogs by Healthline for the seventh consecutive year.

• Andrea Chadwell, oncology pharmacist with Mercy Cancer Services, will present “Chemo-Brain: Clinical Findings, Pharmacologic and Nonpharmacologic Interventions and What the Literature is Saying.”

• Susie Young, registered dietitian and board certified in oncology nutrition with Mercy Cancer Services, will share “Waking Up After Treatment: Improving Neuroplasticity using Nutrition and Exercise Strategies.”

Blueprints of Hope invites you to join them in learning more about what this mental cloudiness is, what causes it and how to gain tools that can make your life better. The event is free of charge and is open to cancer patients, survivors, their friends, caregivers and health care professionals. Space is limited, so please register online at www.blueprintsofhope.org or call 403-3711.

Blueprints of Hope is dedicated to providing community-based oncology nurse navigation, education, advocacy and supportive care programs for cancer patients, survivors, caregivers and health care providers in southwest Colorado. The goal of these workshops is to promote viable options people can use to make the most of life as they travel through the cancer journey.