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Mind over matter
Coping with cancer through psychosocial support
When Elliot Shatsky first learned he had been targeted by cancer,
he fully expected to fight back on the battlefield of his body. But
in preparing to counterattack, he soon discovered that the battleground
had grown to encompass his mind. Sadness, stress, doubt, worry…
If he allowed himself to be overwhelmed by the negative emotions that his
mind generated, fighting the disease might become even tougher than he
anticipated.
What Mr. Shatsky needed was
“a place where my mind could
go—where it could sometimes
get out of the way for a while, and
let the doctors do their work.”
That refuge is what he found
with the help of self-hypnosis,
through counselling by Dr. Sylvain
Néron, a psychologist with a
speciality in oncology, and a team
member in the Louise Granofsky
Psychosocial Oncology Program
at the JGH Segal Cancer Centre.
More and more healthcare
professionals are now coming to
realize that medical treatment for
the body, though central in the
struggle against cancer, sometimes
needs to be complemented
by support for the emotions and
spirit. “Cancer affects the way patients see
themselves, think about themselves and
interact with their spouses, children, relatives
and friends,” says Dr. Zeev Rosberger,
Director of the Psychosocial Oncology
Program and Chief of the JGH Division of
Psychology.
“That’s why our program complements
the efforts of oncologists by drawing on the
expertise of social workers, psychologists,
psychiatrists, nurses, sex therapists, couple
and family therapists, and chaplains. Our
team helps to alleviate the significant levels
of stress that 35 to 40 per cent of cancer
patients experience before, during and after
their bodies have been treated.”
For Mr. Shatsky, the stress took hold in
fall 2007, when he was diagnosed with lung
cancer. Treatment began with intravenous
chemotherapy, followed by oral chemotherapy
and, in spring 2009, surgery to remove
a lung. For more than a year, everything
seemed fine, but last summer, the reappearance
of cancer was confirmed and Mr.
Shatsky was put back on intravenous chemotherapy.
14 spriNG 2011
During chemotherapy, Elliot Shatsky chats with Dr. Sylvain Néron about
coping with cancer-related stress.
These broad changes in his medical condition,
as well as day-to-day ups and downs
at all stages of his diagnosis, testing and
treatment, have led to what Mr. Shatsky
calls “the roller-coaster effect. When someone
gets in your face and tells you that you
have cancer, it utterly changes you. It’s overwhelming.
I’ve never experienced a faster
life-change than that. You begin living from
scan to scan. One bad scan and—boom!—
you’re down low. One good scan and—
zoom!—you’re up high. These emotions
can be really hard to manage.”
When help was offered through the Psychosocial
Oncology Program, Mr. Shatsky
took it and, after a couple of sessions, felt that
he and Dr. Néron had forged “a tremendous
relationship, which is why I consider him a
friend. Early on, he didn’t say, ‘Don’t worry,
everything will be okay.’ He dealt head-on
with reality, counselled me and taught me
how to ride the roller-coaster.”
Prior to surgery, Dr. Néron proposed
using hypnosis to calm Mr. Shatsky’s particularly
frazzled nerves—“and to be honest,
I thought it wasn’t working, but I was
Care for all.
To contact the Louise Granofsky
Psychosocial Oncology Program
at the JGH Segal Cancer Centre,
please phone 514-340-8222,
extension 3223, or e-mail
tgreenidge@jgh.mcgill.ca
willing to go along. He asked me
to create a safe haven in my mind,
somewhere warm and protected
where I’ve already been or would
like to be. In hindsight, I now
know the hypnosis worked so
well that, at the time, I wasn’t
even aware of the seriousness of
the surgery until it was over.
“The main thing that Dr.
Néron instilled in me is an attitude
of ‘Keep living; don’t stop.’
It pretty well sums up the caring
philosophy and the support
of everyone on the staff of this
hospital. Their warmth is contagious.”
The existence of such a program
may, at first, seem redundant
in a hospital like the JGH
which is known for compassionate care and
for treating the patient as an individual,
rather than as a collection of symptoms.
However, Dr. Rosberger explains that when
it comes to cancer, patients need more from
a hospital than a warm, positive approach;
they require help from specific types of
healthcare experts within a structured program.
For this reason, Dr. Rosberger began collaborating
in the early to mid-2000s with
Allan Ptack, Director of the JGH Department
of Social Services, to work more closely
with cancer patients. They also began
mapping out plans for what was formally
inaugurated in 2008 as the Louise Granofsky
Psychosocial Oncology Program.
Dr. Rosberger notes that patients also
derive great benefits from the wide array
of volunteer-based services that Hope &
Cope provides. However, in its solidly clinical
focus, the Psychosocial Oncology Program
functions as a “sister program” that
draws on a staff of professional counsellors.
Patients can be referred by nurses, doctors,
Continued … please turn to page 24.