July 25, 2008

Seton Support Center ‘heals the whole person’

Theresa Laurence, Tennessee Register

When Julia Ozburn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago, she knew she was in for a difficult journey marked by chemotherapy and fatigue.

But, “what’s so horrible is that it’s so isolating,” she said. Healthy friends and family are never quite sure how to relate to someone they love undergoing cancer treatment, so “it’s good for me to be around a group who does understand what I’m going through,” she said.

Ozburn’s “group” consists of fellow cancer survivors who learn and grow together through the programs offered at St. Thomas Hospital’s Seton Support Center. The center is “Saint Thomas’ way of wanting to attend to the needs of the whole person,” said Linda Sack, director of the Seton Support Center. “Cancer is such a tough journey, you can’t manage all on your own.”

To help cancer patients face their diagnosis with confidence and a positive attitude, the center offers nutrition and exercise classes, massages, legal counseling, gardening workshops, wig fittings and more, at no cost.

Nancy Wenberg, stylist and wig consultant at Blossom Hair and Wig Salon, located inside the Seton Support Center at Saint Thomas, offers caring guidance to those facing hair loss as the result of chemotherapy. “I tell them about what will happen with hair loss,” she said. “I don’t just plop a wig on their head, I hold their hand through the whole process.”

With 17 years of experience fitting wigs for cancer patients, “I’ve learned it’s about compassion,” Wenberg said, “being there for them.” 

Her newly expanded salon looks like any professional stylist’s. “I try to make it fun so it’s not just another doctor’s appointment for them,” Wenberg said. Sometimes her clients bring in family and friends to help pick out their wig and end up joking around during the fitting, relieving some of the stress brought on by a cancer diagnosis.

While the wig shop and other services have been available to cancer patients and their families for many years, Sack has been building up the Seton Support Center since she became its first director in February 2007.

A holistic approach to healing cancer is becoming more the norm, and hospitals are expanding their support services to better meet all the needs of their patients, Sack said. “The general trend in medicine is to provide support for the spirit and the mind beyond just the physical.” 

While cancer support services in the hospital setting are becoming more common, some doctors are still slow to embrace additional therapies that help fight cancer. Randy Pendergrass, a cancer survivor and licensed sports nutritionist, said that doctors don’t put enough emphasis on the diets of cancer patients. “Nutrition is not looked on as being important in the medical community,” he said, but “healthy eating is enormously important to beating cancer. It’s everything.”

Pendergrass, a throat cancer survivor, had the “worst diet known to man” before his diagnosis, and then became “obsessed” with learning as much as he could about nutrition and tweaking his own diet.

Pendergrass now enthusiastically shares his knowledge at the popular monthly defensive eating seminars at the Seton Support Center. He emphasizes eating fresh, local, organic vegetables and fruits and warns cancer patients to avoid sugar and soft drinks like the plague. One sweetener he’s OK with is stevia, which is grown in the healing garden right outside the front door of the Seton Support Center.

The small garden, started last fall and now thriving in the heat of the summer, has fostered an environment where people “feel peaceful and comfortable,” said Sack. Working in the garden is appealing to cancer patients because “death has been invading their bodies and they want to cultivate life,” she said.

“When you garden is when you get to know people,” said Ozburn, who has spent many hours working in the garden. In addition to bonding with fellow cancer patients while mulching, pulling weeds and harvesting herbs, Ozburn said she has also learned healthier eating habits by working in the garden and attending the cooking and nutrition classes. 

Ozburn said Pendergrass’ monthly seminars are important for people like her seeking knowledge to stay as healthy as possible to defend their bodies against cancer-causing agents. 

Ozburn participates in the programs offered at Gilda’s Club of Nashville as well as at the Seton Support Center. The local Gilda’s Club, which has offered cancer support to those in the Middle Tennessee area for nearly 10 years, is more expansive and well-established, but according to Ozburn, has one thing missing.

“There’s a deep element of the church” that runs through the Seton Support Center program offerings, she said, that’s not part of the Gilda’s Club mission. Having that spiritual connection, Ozburn said, “is huge.”

For more information about the Seton Support Center, call Program Coordinator Linda Sack at (615) 222-3234.

Photo by Theresa Laurence

Katy Waring, center, gets fitted for a wig by Nancy Wenberg, right, Saint Thomas Seton Support Center hair and wig consultant. Waring’s granddaughter, Autumn Baer, left, assists. Waring was preparing to undergo chemotherapy and was choosing a wig to help with her anticipated hair loss. Wenberg offers free, private consultations to cancer patients.

Photo courtesy of St. Thomas Hospital

Julia Ozburn, an ovarian cancer survivor, works in the healing garden outside the Seton Support Center at Saint Thomas Hospital. The Center offers a wide array of services to cancer survivors and their families, including nutrition and exercise classes, art workshops, legal advice, massage therapy, and support group meetings, available at no charge.