Manila-based foundation holds first "cancer chat"

"I Can Serve", a Manila-based foundation, will conduct the country's first ever cancer chat at the Ayala Cebu Entertainment Center, starting at 9 a.m. today.

The cancer chat is not only for women but also for men, two percent of whom have been diagnosed as breast cancer patients. It involves the sharing of tips from cancer patients themselves on facts about cancer that one does not usually hear from doctors or read from books.

One such tip, said Mary Anne Solomon, a cancer survivor, is that staging in cancer is just to determine how toxic your medication is. It doesn't really say how near you are to dying. No tears, no serious talks; just plain chatting with cancer survivors.

There will be an open forum and testimonials from cancer survivors and their relatives. Among the speaker is councilor Nestor Archival whose mother died after going through cancer for 14 years.

There will also be a video showing on the rights of cancer patients, and resource speakers will talk about the various aspects of the ailment.

Among the speakers are Dr. Romulo de Villa, founder of the Molecular Oncology Society of the Philippines, and Dr. Francisco Lopez, chief of hematology and the bone marrow transplant program of Asian Hospital and Medical Center, as well as chairman of the Oncology Center of Victor R. Potenciano Medical Center.

De Villa will talk on the "traffic light of nutrition "while Lopez will discuss Cancer 101.

Cancer is the third leading killer disease in the country today, and the leading cause of death among women. According to recent studies, 80 percent of known cancer types is lifestyle-related or resulting in poor and unhealthy living choices and conditions.

To heighten awareness against cancer, Archival has earlier proposed an ordinance creating the Interim Cebu City Council for the Protection and Welfare of Persons with Cancer.

Archival's measure hinges on the necessity of enforcing strictly national laws and local ordinances for a clean environment to make Cebu City a healthy city, which provides an environment that is friendly to persons with cancer.

Cancer patients, and their families and friends have formed support and advocacy groups in Cebu to help patients positively cope with the disease. And these groups need the help of the local governments.

The mission of "I Can Serve" is to strengthen women in their fight against breast cancer, to inform others on breast care, and to provide access to special services that will help cancer survivors' recovery and effective healing.

The foundation, which was established in 1999, has been working to conduct information campaigns on breast cancer. It has been an advocacy group with networks of breast cancer survivors and support groups in the country.

The foundation can be reached through its counseling hotline (032) 687-3942 or its e-mail, [email protected] that survivors will be manning. Callers or letter senders will stay anonymous and everything will still be made confidential. - Cheryl T. Baldicantos