More of what cancer patients need

Early diagnoses and advancements in treatment mean cancer patients can expect to live years, even decades, longer than people diagnosed with the disease in the past. That's something to celebrate.

But living with cancer creates challenges that range far beyond patients' physical health - affecting aspects of their lives ranging from finances to family relationships to emotional well-being.

“It is a psychological issue they deal with on a daily basis,” Kimberly Ivester, director of Cancer Services for St. Luke's Hospital, told us.

Ivester, a former oncology nurse, said the medical community is often so focused on treating the cancer, it forgets about the other ways a patient's life is affected by the disease. To help fill that gap, she conceived of a wellness program that would help cancer patients with many challenges - physical, social and emotional - regardless of their financial status or where they are receiving treatment.

The program is a valuable model for other communities.

In the six months since St. Luke's Hospital launched the Cook Cancer Wellness Program, more than 70 people have enrolled in the free service - including exercise, nutritional and psychosocial supports uniquely tailored to their experience. The program is named after Jane Borg Cook, who died of breast cancer in 2008. Her family was a major donor to the project.

Cook lived for more than nine years with the disease, she felt, in part because of regular exercise and proper nutrition.

Medical research supports the premise that exercise, nutrition and support improves the quality of life for cancer patients and can possibly extend their lives.

The center is free to any cancer patient in Eastern Iowa, at any stage in treatment. For more information or to enroll, call (319) 369-7116 or visit www.stlukescr.org

The building, at 810 First Ave. NE, includes two gyms, massage and counseling and education rooms in a soothing environment. Coaches and counselors are specially trained to understand the unique needs and struggles of cancer survivors.

“It's not a fancy gym,” said Amy Johnson Boyle, vice president of St. Luke's Health Care Foundation. “It's a comfortable, safe, nurturing environment.”

The center also provides a sense of community - helping clients understand that while their struggles are daunting, they are not alone.

So far, the foundation has raised nearly $125,000 to ensure the service continues, and Boyle said she's hopeful that large national organizations will chip in to help sustain it well into the future.

We hope local donors continue to back this worthy project, as well.

As Shannon Duval, president of St. Luke's Health Care Foundation, told us: “Cancer patients and survivors already have enough on their plate.”