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When Breast Cancer Strikes Close to Home.
A New Home Video Provides Critical and Creative Ways Friends and Family Can Help Patients Through the Crisis.
"Beyond Flowers: What To Say and Do When Someone You Know Has Breast Cancer" funded by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Breast Cancer Focus Inc. of Alaska
ANCHORAGE - August 18, 2003 - An estimated 211,300 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. Chances are one of them may be a member of your family or a close friend, co-worker, or neighbor.
If breast cancer strikes someone in your life, are you prepared to help her through the initial shock and subsequent months of surgery and treatment? Most of us aren't. Thus the reason why the non-profit Affinityfilms has just released the new home video, "Beyond Flowers: What to Say and Do When Someone You Know Has Breast Cancer," with tips and insights on the most effective ways to help her face her battle with this life-threatening disease.
"We all say we want to do the right thing or want to do something, but most of us are uncertain about how to proceed," says Mary Katzke, the award-winning director of "Beyond Flowers" and a ten-year breast cancer survivor. (Katzke also lost her mother to the disease.)
"Often we feel inadequate about how we can be comforting without overwhelming the patient. Sometimes we're simply frozen by our own fears of the disease, based on having already lost a loved one. So there's a tendency to withdraw for fear of offending or intruding, leaving the woman in crisis with too little or no support. Yet we know that emotional support is a critical element to her psychological well-being."
The first resource of its kind, "Beyond Flowers" was made possible with major funding from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Breast Cancer Focus Inc. of Alaska.
Designed to be spiritually-uplifting as well as informative, "Beyond Flowers" features breathtaking views of Alaskan wilderness as the backdrop to several of the personal stories portrayed - as well as the haunting vocals of Beth Nielson Chapman, a breast cancer survivor whose song, "Sand and Water," was performed by Elton John at his concerts in memory of Princess Diana.
Poignant as well as moving, the video is rich with first-hand accounts, ideas, and practical, meaningful advice from women diagnosed with the disease, families and friends, medical professionals and family therapists from around the country.
Among those featured are: Lucy Guzman and her daughter Eliz as they journey by small plane to Anchorage for Lucy's first chemo treatment; child psychologist Deb Ward and her young son in their garden, discussing how he is coping with the fear of losing his mother; Team Towanda of Hartford, Conn., who became the self-appointed "Casserole Cavalry" for Judith Melchreit during her six months of treatment; Bob Vonderhaar relating the fears he felt when his wife, Wanda (President of Bosom Buddies in Phoenix), was diagnosed 26 years ago; and Carole O'Toole, author of Healing Outside the Margins, on how she got through the ordeal with her boss's insistence on driving her to appointments, among other things.
Insights from those who work in the field were provided by such professionals as Lillie Shockney, a nurse at Johns Hopkins Breast Center and a survivor; Dr. Carolyn Hendricks, an oncologist in Bethesda, Maryland; nurse educator in mammography Shelley Coolidge; and Dr. Jason Harmon, a naturopathic physician.
The resulting film tackles such sensitive issues as:
- What to say to someone who's newly-diagnosed;
- The emotional stages patients and those around them may realistically go through;
- The importance of allowing and respecting grief, as well as instilling hope;
- The types of help and assistance women need while undergoing treatment;
- Novel solutions to what to do when she says, "Oh, I don't need anything," but you know she does;
- Inexpensive ways to create an oasis of serenity to relieve her stress and anxiety;
- And the critical role families in particular can play in boosting her spirit and outlook through the ordeal.
VHS copies of "Beyond Flowers" are available for $19.95 each (plus shipping and handling) by ordering online at www.beyondflowers.org or calling 1-888-353-HEAL. Quantity discounts are also available for breast cancer treatment centers that would like to distribute them free to their patients.
About Affinityfilms, Inc.
Founded in 1983, Affinityfilms is currently celebrating 20 years of award-winning documentaries on subjects that have touched millions of lives. Among them have been: "Between Us" to assist breast cancer patients through the traumatic first days following diagnosis (broadcast on the PBS affiliate WNET-TV in New York and now available as a home video from www.betweenus.org). "Sea of Oil" about the social and emotional impact of the 11,000-square mile Exxon Valdez Oil Spill on the town that served as the base of operations for the lengthy clean-up (shown on PBS' "POV Showcase" and screened at the Sundance Festival). "No Word for Rape," the first film to discuss sexual assault in Alaska (aired on PBS in Alaska). And "Intuition," a powerful three-part series narrated by Roy Scheider, which explores how our instincts have played a significant and vital role in terms of inventions, science, art, sports, business, medicine, and the growing consciousness movement (aired on PBS and the Discovery Channel).
Mary Katzke, the award-winning director for each project, is the recipient of a MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Department of Film and Television. Her work has been screened at numerous festivals around the world, as well as the Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center in New York.
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For more information or photos, please contact:
Lyla Foggia
Foggia+Associates
Public Relations
(661) 259-6561
lfoggia@sbcglobal.net
Affinityfilms
Mary Katzke
(907) 677-7970
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