Por Margarita Persico
(Encuentre la versión en español abajo)
Ana Valdez had an erroneous believe about cancer that laid a heavy emotional burden.
«I thought it was something enormous and people would reject me because of my cancer,» says Valdez, who is on remission from lymphatic cancer.
One day when she was very depressed, Valdez says as her eyes welled up, she called her physician’s secretary who recommended Valdez to join a recently formed support group. Assuring she would meet other Spanish-speaking women in similar situations, Valdez, who is from the Dominican Republic, joined the group.
Valdez’s position is not unique, which is why Dana Farber Cancer Institute launched a support group just for Spanish-speaking cancer patients and survivors.
«We identified the need for the Latina patients at Dana Farber who needed additional support in terms of how they were dealing with their cancer diagnosis,» says Magnolia Contreras, director of community benefits and co-facilitator of the support group.
For several years, this institution has been interested in providing a whole array of services to the Latino community with cancer who went for treatment and care, says Contreras, one of these is the cancer support group in Spanish. It is the perfect time for this, since Dana Farber has now the human resources necessary for this task, she says – many employees are bilingual and bicultural.
Contreras and Dr. Verónica Sánchez-Valera, a colleague at Dana Farber, started this program for Latina patients in December of 2008. The support group is held in Spanish, which is a good thing, says Valdez, since she would not attend an English-speaking support group because Spanish is her native language.
Before launching this support group, they look at what other support groups were doing nationally. One of them was run by Californian psychologist Carmen Ortiz. The support group, Círculo de Vida, has been operating since 1992.
«She really wrote the book, literally, on how effective support groups are for women who were dealing with cancer,» says Contreras. «Hers was in specifi c to breast cancer. We broaden ours [support group] to all cancers because we believe that many of the issues that Latina women face are issues that they can relate with.»
Much of the support they give these women happens on an individual basis, Contreras adds. They help them connect with each other on commonalities besides their diagnosis – they deal with the issue of race, family, culture, and their limitations in this country when dealing with a serious disease. «When I fi rst came to the support group,» says Valdez in Spanish, «the moment I started speaking, I would start to cry, and I was very depressed, but time passed on and I met other people. It has fortified me.»
Valdez says the meetings with other women who have similar situation have been a pillar. With these women she has learned much about herself and in spite of her obstacles as a single mother also caring for her aging mother, she is now emotionally and even spiritually stronger, she asserts.
The Latina Dana Farber cancer support group meets monthly for an hour-and-a-half to educate members on common issues cancer patients face, though most of the meeting time is dedicated to patients sharing their stories and issues.
Eleven women are part of this support group that discusses all types of cancer. But the challenge is getting them all into the meetings at the same time, says Contreras who assures this keeps her up at night.
«These women have a lot of roles that they are trying to play while they a
