Page 11 - Wellspring What's On - Westerkirk House

What’s On: May - August 2014 p11 CAREGIVERS CONNECT SUPPORT GROUP As any person with cancer knows, a cancer diagnosis also affects your family members, friends and caregivers. Oftentimes, the anxiety, worries and fears can be as overwhelming for them as they are for the patient. Wellspring understands that these stresses have the potential to change the way patients and their caregivers relate to one another, and that is why Wellspring provides supportive care to anyone living with cancer AND their loved ones. Caregivers Connect is a support group specifically for caregivers and family and friends of a member who is living with cancer. This drop in program provides an opportunity for caregivers to meet other caregivers, share concerns, gain ideas for coping and receive much needed support. Carol attended the Caregivers Connect group at Westerkirk House and is now a co-facilitator for the group. Carol’s accidental discovery of Wellspring was serendipitous because at the time she was one of the primary caregivers for a friend who was going through a cancer journey. Carol was able to encourage her friend to attend the Patients Connect support group that happened to be on the same night that Carol wanted to try the Caregivers Connect support group. Carol, like many caregivers was feeling exhausted and overwhelmed with stress, fear and anxiety, but she also felt guilty for feeling this way since she was not the one with the cancer diagnosis. It only took one Caregivers Connect session for Carol to end up falling in love with the group. She thought it was “wonderful for someone (the facilitator) to validate that her heart was breaking, that she was terrified of losing her friend and that it is normal to be so distressed, feel sick and have no energy.” Carol said “people were voicing the same emotions and thoughts” and she felt a sense of relief that other people were feeling the same way. Carol found refuge in the Caregivers Connect group for the next six months “talking, venting and sharing ways of coping”. Carol is a true believer in the Caregivers Connect group so much so that she now co-facilitates the Caregivers Connect Support Group at Wellspring Westerkirk House, and finds satisfaction in helping people come together and find some peace while they are in the group. Caregivers Connect Program Times Wellspring Westerkirk House - Every 4th Tuesday of each month, 6 - 7:30 p.m. To read the full article please go to Wellspring’s blog, Pass It On: http://blog.wellspring.ca