Cancer Care workshops open to everyone

The Cancer Care Center at Penobscot Bay Medical Center wants the public to know about a series of valuable workshops presented by national cancer care experts. People can participate from their own homes.

These Telephone Educational Workshops for Patients and Caregivers are offered by CancerCare, a national nonprofit organization providing free, professional support services for anyone affected by cancer. The workshops are free.

After pre-registering at the Cancer Care web site, cancercare.org, participants receive a packet of information about the workshop along with the call-in toll-free (800) phone number.

Each workshop lasts an hour, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on the day they are scheduled. The presenters are always physicians, who are leaders in their field of cancer treatments.

"These workshops provide valuable resources for cancer patients, their families and caregivers," said Ginny Vaitones, MSW, OSW-C, cancer care social worker at PBMC. "And they couldn't be more convenient because they are available anywhere there is a telephone."

Here is a schedule of upcoming workshops:

• Wednesday, March 5: Living with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium

• Tuesday, March 11: Caring for Your Bones When You Have Prostate Cancer

• Wednesday, April 2: Caring for Your Bones When You Have Multiple Myleoma

• Friday, April 11: Caring for Your Bones When You Have Breast Cancer

• Friday, April 25: Dental Health During Cancer Treatments

• Tuesday, May 13: The Sixth Annual Cancer Survivorship Series; Living With, Through and Beyond Cancer, Part II: Rediscovering Intimacy in Your Relationships Following Treatments

For more information about these telephone educational workshops please contact Ginny Vaitones at 596-8977. Find more information about the Cancer Care Center at Penobscot Bay Medical Center at pbmc.org/cancercare.