FOH’s Riordan attends SWCCC meeting
Pine Island nonprofit From Our Hearts Inc. was invited to participate in the quarterly meeting of the Southwest Florida Cancer Control Collaborative hosted on Nov. 1 by Lee Regional Cancer Center. Twenty people attended the meeting and another 15 participated via a Go To Meeting conference call. Secretary/Treasurer Barb Riordan represented From Our Hearts at the important forum.
SWCCC is a volunteer collaborative made up of individuals, representatives from agencies and organizations that provide cancer-related services, or are interested in reducing the cancer burden in Southwest Florida. SWCCC is one of six regional collaboratives in Florida that promote the implementation of the Florida Cancer Plan.
Valerie Butram MS is the oncology education coordinator and she introduced her team at the Lee Health Breast Cancer program. Presenters discussed the transition from breast cancer patient to breast cancer survivor, including the need for regular follow-up and possible long-term effects of the illness or cancer treatment. Nutritional and rehabilitation aspects of survivorship care are available at the Lee Regional Cancer Center with experts in this important aspect of cancer survivorship care.
Riordan gave an overview of who FOH is and how FOH raises funds to provide breast cancer screening and treatment for residents of Pine Island. FOH is in partnership with Partners for Breast Cancer Care Inc. and the Regional Cancer Center of Lee Health. Riordon described the successful fundraisers which are enthusiastically supported by Pine Island residents and that in the first 8 months of 2016, FOH funded diagnostics and treatment for 21 island residents. Transportation is a constant need for people traveling from Pine Island to the cancer center.
The morning’s presentation concluded with presenter Ellen Ballard RN, who spoke on cancer survivorship and the need for breast cancer patients and survivors for natural disaster planning in Southwest Florida. Ballard received a national award in 2011 for Survivorship Advocacy from the Oncology Nursing Society and is a member of the SWCCC planning team. She focused on the importance of building a personal medical record and shared websites as well as mobile apps that could be of assistance. Wallet cards from the National Cancer Institute were distributed.
At the conclusion of the program, Valerie Butram took attendees on a tour of the Regional Cancer Center. Riordan and breast cancer navigator Tammy Zinn RN demonstrated the popular FOH bags used by Pine Island residents who receive breast cancer care at Lee Regional Cancer Center.
Riordan put her new knowledge on breast cancer survivorship care to work the very next day when she assisted a woman who called FOH with physical and financial concerns five years after finishing her treatment. Riordan described the benefits of a cancer survivorship program and connected this caller with Zinn at Lee Cancer Center.
The From Our Hearts website is www.fromourheart.org, and phone number is 239-233-7437. For more information on the Regional Cancer Center, call 239-343-9500 or visit www.SWFLCancerCenter.org. For more information on Southwest Florida Cancer Control Collaborative, visit its website at www.swflcancernetwork.org.