| OCR Text |
Show Al0 The Salt Lake Tribune UTAH Sunday, Ne After the ‘Cure’ Comes The Healing vember 25, 2001 Kelly Graves gets @ supportive hug from Image Rebom,Co-founder Pam Cofer,left, and Monica Hunt, right. Through emotional release therapy taught at the retreat, Graves leamed of negative patterns in herlife and how to let them go. Photos by Leah Hogsten‘7 Anotherparticipant, 11-month cancer survivor Pearl Holdaway, enjoys an hourlong massageduring a four-day weekend retreat held by Image Reborn Foundation. The free programis designedto offer breastcancersurvivors in Utah the meansto discuss andlive and cope with the manydebilitating side effectsof the disease andits treatments. @ Continued from A-1 list for retreat participants. “They come here scared and_ feeling alone, so others comfort them, then they're introduced to the idea that it’s OK to have your ownwants and needs.” Cofer plans to keep theretreats small but increase the number from every few months to about 10 ayear. The current programoffers events like professional-led group counseling sessions, meditation seminars, art and musictherapy, messages and other services mostly donated free by local busi: nesses or therapists to the foundation As the concept evolves, Cofer says, the re could add other services or cater to certain patient needs. ‘The shiningcontributor, so far, is the local faniily who loans out their 10,000-square-foot, furnished home for the retreat. Perched over a scenicvalley, the secluded and rustic residence hasplentyof bed rooms, large gathering places and adining room that seats twelve. Shedeclines to ly's name, reveal the fami: at their request, to s guard privacy andprotecttheresidence, which serves as a second home. “Some of us hiked or biked,” Diane Cole, a Utah breast ncer patient who attended an mer. e Reborn retreat this sum She applauds the retreat home's lodge-like feeling and surroundingnatural beauty. “We got impromptu dance and makeup lessons from talented members of our group, and we sang with the [home's] playerpi anointo the wee hours ofourlast night together,” Colesays. ° felt like talking, we could. If we didn't, we could take a walk or watch thewildlife,” Loss of controlis actuallyoneof the first feelings women take on after becoming a breast cancer pa- tient. Often they do get to choose between lump myor mastecto- my, but lumpectomies spot removal of tumors are usuallyfollowed by weeksof radiation. Also, if there are any signs the cancer has spread to ‘the lymph nodes, thenintravenous chemotherapy is likely to lead to baldness, debilitating nausea, painful mouth sores and possible anemia, “Cancer is not your fault,” writes breast cancer survivor, At the retreats, women are encouragedto reclaim their sense of personal power. In the midstof heartfelt discussions to promote healing, retreat participants take a breakfor fun. Pearl Holdaway andElaine Pierce,right, dance to anold tune from the playerpianoasthe others sing along. Texas multi-millionaire and author Dee Simmons, “Youcertainl did notsignonforit, It chose you he latest healing techniques n integral part of a post- ancer movementled by doctors, ‘nurses andprofessors including Rachiel Naomi Remen, a mind-bodyhealth guruandclinical professor of medicine atsthe Univer California, San says diagnosis of a se like cancer forces priorities to change, usuallyfor the better. Money or material things tendto lose out to more important concerns; family, friends, love and nature, Remengot her training at Cornell and Stanford universities but believes it takes far more than medicines or modern surgery to ¥ fully heal people. She prescribes spiritual therapies, including prayer, support groups, yoga and massage. “You can he riglht up until the moment you die,” Remen insists. Listeningto patients’ emotional needsis actually what spawnedthe ongoing renaissance in breast cancer therapy. Before Remen, Betty Ford, Rose Kushner, Betty Fol and other pioneer patients out, the disease was an une cret that sufferers, evenclo ily, often refused totalk about. Today, the disease is openly discussed, And the fight against breast cancer now is arguably the biggest non-terrorism medical woe on America’s cultural map, See IMAGE REBORN,Page A-12 © Breast cancer Survivors can optfor tram-flap surgery to construct a new breast from abdominal muscles andfat. The process involves making anincision from stemum to lower abdomen, intersecting anotherincision that transverses hipto hip, |
