Survive and Thrive Program
The Marie Keating Foundation hosted a hugely successful Survive and Thrive program of 5 seminars created to help men who have finished cancer treatment to adapt to the ‘new normal.’ The Solas Cancer Support Centre was delighted to host this program during November with the final session taking place on December 6th.
The Survive and Thrive Program included advice from experts on issues that cancer survivors often face including: coping with emotions; fatigue and other symptoms; changing nutritional needs; coping with feelings and change; managing stress and physical activity. Guest speakers included Dr Paula Calvert, Mr Ivor Cullen, Dr Mark Rowe, Nutritionist Aoife Hearne and Grainne Delaney who rounded off the Program with her talk on Mind fullness
Helen Forristal, Director of Nursing Services, Marie Keating Foundation, said, “There are now more than 124,000 people in Ireland who have survived cancer which is heartening and gives great hope to people going through cancer treatment at the moment. However, we also have to acknowledge that surviving cancer comes with its own unique challenges. Survivors can struggle with learning to cope with the ‘new normal.’ Everyone will have their own unique experiences and responses but by coming together and by getting some expert advice, this adjustment can be made a lot easier and we are looking forward to helping people who have been through cancer treatment not only to survive but also to thrive.”
Tracy McDaid, Manager of the Solas Cancer Support Centre explained how well the partnership with the Marie Keating Foundation worked in hosting this Program ‘We have been delighted to host the Survive and Thrive Program here in the Centre over the last 5 weeks. Like all our services, this program was a free service for participants, thanks to the support of Astellas and again,in mirroring our services, was not only for someone directly affected by a cancer diagnosis but also for their family members and carers. We have received very positive feedback from all the participants and look forward to working with Helen and her team in the future.’
Pictured right to left are are Suzanne Ennis – Astellas, Helen Forristal-Marie Keating Foundation, Dr Mark Rowe- guest speaker, Tom Mullane- program facilitator, Grainne Delaney-guest speaker, Martina Dempsey- Astellas.