Cancer Transitions Program

Bellingham, Wash. - PeaceHealth St. Joseph Cancer Center started the first session of the Cancer Transitions Program on Feb. 7. The current session has six participants and will last for six weeks.

The Cancer Transitions: Moving Beyond Treatment was designed in 2006 by the Cancer Support Community and the Livestrong Organization to help with cancer patients after treatment in the transition period. The program uses “written materials as well as interactive components to address the long-term effect of cancer treatment”, according to the Livestrong Organization website.

“The focus is getting people back on their feet to survival,” said Carol Brumet, Cancer Services Outreach Coordinator at St. Joseph.

Research from the Livestrong website shows people who participate in the program can experience “less worry about the negative impacts of cancer, better physical and social functioning, more commitment to physical activity and improvements in fat-related dietary habits”. The goal for the program is to allow participants to regain control over their lives and get back to their everyday selves said Brumet.

The program is free for the participants and is funded by a grant from the Livestrong Foundation. The Livestrong Foundation donated more than $8 million in grants in 2009, according to the Livestrong website. The Cancer Transitions Program at St. Joseph and 33 other locations across the country are funded by the Livestrong Foundation through the 2011 Community Impact Project.

“Each meeting will focus on good nutrition, exercise, medical management, and life beyond cancer,” said Brumet.

During each meeting a representative from the YMCA will come in and work with the participants for about 30 min., working on exercise routines and how to stay active. A registered dietician will teach the participants how to eat healthy and focus on their eating habits. Doctors from the cancer center will come in to talk to the participants during the meeting as well. The doctors will answer questions regarding treatment and medical management. The class is taught by a social worker. Through group discussion, the participants will be able to focus on their emotional health and well-being.

Brumet said the program will teach the participants “how to let go of the cancer and start living again”.

St. Joseph was notified at the end of last summer that they would be receiving the grant of $4,000. When St. Joseph applied for the grant, it was up against other hospitals in the nation and communities could go online to the Livestrong website and vote for hospitals to earn the grant.

 “The result shows the support we have for cancer research in our community,” said Brumet. With this grant, the program must run a minimum of four times but Brumet hopes the program will last longer.

The Cancer Transitions Program offers four sessions through St. Joseph Cancer Center. Each session is six weeks long and spots are open for 12 participants in each session.

Participants will attend meetings once a week for two and a half hours. Right now the meetings are scheduled for Tuesday afternoons. Anyone who has finished cancer treatment within two years or less can enter into the program. Another session will start in the spring said Brumet.

St. Joseph Cancer Center offers many other programs for cancer patients and people recovering from treatment. The cancer center also offers another life after treatment program “Exercise and Thrive” which focuses on helping cancer survivors regain strength, flexibility and endurance in their body after treatment through a 12-week program. 

Ice Bowl 2012

Bellingham, Wash. - The second annual Disc Golf Ice Bowl Tournament will be held Feb. 11 at Cornwall Park. The tournament is part of a national fundraiser for food banks. Cash and food donations will be sent to the Bellingham Food Bank. This even should bring in over 50 people, said TJ Tipton, the organizer of the event. Each player will donate $5 or two cans of food.

Disc golf, or commonly referred to as Frisbee golf or “frolf” is a popular sport played in Cornwall Park. In fact, most of the park is part of the actual disc golf course. 

Members of the Bellingham disc golf community use this course to practice and play tournaments. Due to location or course set-up, numerous golfers choose Cornwall Park as the regular course of choice.

Although not many conflicts arise between golfers and other park visitors, there are occasional incidences. “People do not consider the disc golfers for the most part,” said RJ Anderson, an avid golfer. “Sometimes people will walk slowly right in front of us.” Anderson did mention this problem could be due to the course not being labeled well. There is only one sign indicating where the course is set up said Anderson. The 19-year-old has been disc golfing for three years and plays at Cornwall Park at least four times a week.

Other golfers share his concerns. Caleb Brown, 29, expressed his concerns about the awareness of the course. “It’s unfair really. People just don’t understand that it’s a course,” he said. Some people do not even understand what the game entails or that they could be walking in front of the target said Brown. This has caused several accidents in the park with discs hitting people and cars.

For the most part, the community of Cornwall Park has been kind and respectful said Brown and his teammates. There were a few instances of mischief such as a basket from hole seven being stolen. Another time Brown placed a light for night golfing on hole five and it was stolen after the group had finished only four holes.  “It was probably just some kids trying to screw us up just to be funny,” said Matt Jellum, one of Brown’s teammates.

The Parks and Recreation Department receives complaints less than once a month said Carleen Strasser, employee of the department. There were more complaints when the course was originally set up but a new crowd of golfers settled into the park. At first, there were issues with beer bottles and litter covering the course but as a more “serious and clean cut” group of golfers came into the area, the environment has changed Strasser said.

The former director of the Parks and Recreation Department came in to work one warm summer morning at Cornwall Park around 8 a.m. and found a couple of men playing out on the course while on his morning rounds. The men had just got off from the night shift where they worked and were happy to have a place to “blow off steam” said Strasser.

            The disc golf community is active year-long. Every Tuesday and Friday night, there is night golf played with glow in the dark discs. These tournaments are only held during the winter because the sun goes down earlier, allowing for more hours to play said Brown. Every Sunday morning there is a couple’s tournament starting around 10 a.m. said disc golfer, Aaron Vandiver.

            Vandiver, a loyal “frolfer” for seven years participates in most events held in Cornwall Park for disc golf. His golf bag, filled with close to fifteen discs ranging from putters to drivers and in almost every color, has become part of his everyday attire said Vandiver. He considers himself a serious golfer and hopes to work hard enough to become pro someday.

            The 2^nd-annual Ice Bowl tournament, along with other tournaments held in Cornwall Park, is privately run by the Whatcom Disc Golf Association. The tournament goal will be raising $200 and seventy-five pounds of food to donate to the Bellingham Food Bank. The event will be produced by Cosmic Comics.