Debra Polischuk from the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) recognizes that stress is prevalent in today’s world.
It’s a particularly big issue for those who are battling cancer, she said, and it’s also a challenge for the loved ones of cancer patients. The CCS has decided to include stress management among the topics for their Living Well with Cancer retreats.
Polischuk, a director for cancer support services at the CCS’s southern Saskatchewan office, was the guest speaker at a retreat on Saturday at the Days Inn's Taylorton Room. Nearly 40 cancer survivors and caregivers attended the workshop.
She talked about her personal battles with stress and how she managed to cope.
“People that are diagnosed with cancer, or any life-threatening disease, have (their stress levels increase),” Polischuk told the Mercury. “There's a new word that's out in the community, and out in self-help groups, and that word is mindfulness.”
Polischuk, who is well-versed in yoga, discussed how yoga has applied to mindfulness and how it can be used to reduce stress. She employed a 10-minute exercise, in which people pictured a peaceful situation to relax.
“Very rarely are we ever just in the present moment where, usually, everything is pretty okay,” said Polischuk.
Polischuk said the CCS will offer seven or eight retreats each year. They had their first retreat four years ago, and ever since they've become very popular. Four retreats have happened in Estevan in the last two years.
“I feel very, very fortunate, because I've gotten to know many of the survivors in the Estevan community,” Polischuk said. “People are interested in knowledge. They're interested in community – getting together with other survivors in the community, sharing stories and meeting new people.”
Living Well with Cancer retreats cover such topics as exercise, nutrition and meditation.
The session also allowed cancer survivors and their caregivers to connect and discuss their experiences with the disease.
Mary Antonenko, who co-chairs the Estevan Relay for Life survivor committee, said the retreats have proven to be very popular over the last couple of years. The survivors really appreciate having the event in Estevan.
“The cancer society used to do one large one every year, and it was all weekend long,” said Antonenko. “They quit doing that. So now they go out to the communities.”
Antonenko noted that in 2012, she went to one of the weekend-long retreats in Saskatoon with her husband, Dave. There was one other cancer survivor from Estevan at that session.
“Since we've been doing them here, we've been getting a minimum of 30 survivors coming out,” said Antonenko.
Survivors and caregivers love the events, she said.
“When I run into people here throughout the year, they're still talking about our last retreat,” said Antonenko.
The retreat was held three weeks before Estevan’s Relay for Life, which is scheduled to take place from 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 13, to 5 a.m. on Sunday, June 14. This year's relay will be at Affinity Place.
Event chair Kathryn Gilliss said the survivors are very important people for the relay. She views the opening survivor laps as very moving.
She noted they plan to make good use of Affinity Place, and in particular its centre ice scoreboard. They will display photos of the survivors on the scoreboard's video panels during the survivor celebrations at the start of the Relay. There will also be photos of the luminary bags shown on the video panels during the luminary ceremony.
Honourary co-chairs Carol McKay and Delaine Kendall shared their respective battles with cancer during the retreat and the support they received from the Canadian Cancer Society. McKay was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1981 and breast cancer in 2008. Kendall fought breast cancer in 2010 and 2011.
Antonenko urged the cancer survivors to attend the Relay for Life. It’s a great event, she said, and it’s wonderful to be in the presence of so many survivors each year.
