Cancer Patients

It started on a fall day, when Judy D'Avanzo forgot someone's name. Then she couldn't keep track of her place in a novel, or whether she'd given her baby girl a bath. Soon, the journals she'd been given as gifts, the ones meant to record her feelings during breast cancer treatment, were instead inscribed with lists. Without writing down basic tasks and later crossing them off, the Timonium woman couldn't even remember if she'd taken her medicine. Cancer patients have a name for this: chemo brain or chemo curse.

The Finksburg Planning Area Council will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sandy Mount United Methodist Church. President Deborah Ridgely and Treasurer Martin Schmidt will make presentations and answer questions about the council's recommendations to the Finksburg Corridor Conservation Plan. Included in the council's proposal is reducing the amount of land zoned for conservation, rezoning some of it for agricultural use; preserving and improving stream buffers; and employment campus overlay development.

The Wellness Community is looking for contributions for its "Tree ofHope" to raise $200,000 to open a facility in Anne Arundel County.The mission of the non-profit organization is to help as many cancer patients as possible to recover to the greatest extent without letting money or insurance forms get in the way.The Wellness Community provides a place where cancer patients canlearn to fight for their recovery on the psychological and social front along with...

The Wellness Community named Dr. Cornelia Dettmer to its board of directors last month at the group's monthly meeting. Dettmer is currently the clinical director of radiation oncology at the Oncology Centerin Anne Arundel Medical Center, Annapolis.The mission of the non-profit organization is to help cancer patients recover to the greatest extent possible without letting money or insurance forms get in the way.Cancer patients learn to fight for their recovery on the psychological and social fronts with their doctors and health-care team.

A nonprofit community center for cancer patients and their families has lost the building it occupies and is seeking donated space in the community.CaRES, the Cancer Resource and Support Center, opened last summer at 523 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd. in Severna Park. Owner Cornelia M. Dettmer, chief radiation oncologist at Anne Arundel Oncology Center, offered the building for the group's free use. However, Dr. Dettmer is retiring and moving to Ohio, and the house is up for sale.CaRES must find another home by April, Executive Director Katherine Smith said.

"A Journey thru the New Decade in Fashion from Lingerie to Furs," the Soroptomist International Anne Arundel's 12th Annual Fashion Show, is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 3 at La Fountaine Bleu in Glen Burnie.The fashion show will benefit the Baltimore/Annapolis Wellness Community.Fashions for the show are from 11 area stores: Annapolis Woman, Athens Men's Formal Wear, August Max, Cameo Bridal & Formal, Cameo Lingerie, Caren Charles, Casual Corner, Expressions, Fur Vault, Hamburgers, LaPetite and Oak Tree.

Suzanne MitchellVolunteer work: Ms. Mitchell is the founder of Sharing and Coping, a support group for cancer patients and their families, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. She also volunteers as president of the board of directors and sits on the executive committee for the Cancer Resource and Support Center (CaRES) in Pasadena.About the volunteer: A resident of Kent Island, Ms. Mitchell has been a practicing psychologist for 19 years. She received a bachelor of arts degree from James Madison University and a master's degree from Loyola College.

Alexandra Adams of Millersville, a mother of two small children, fought her breast cancer until the day she died April 12 at the age of 35. Her story will last forever, if supporters of the Wellness Community of Anne Arundel County have their way.The non-profit organization wants to name the center in Alex Adams' memory if enough money israised to reach the organization's goal of more than $200,000."

Mission: To create a community of hope, learning and support for cancer patients and their loved ones. Established in 1993, the Wellness Community-Baltimore offers a comfortable meeting place away from the medical center where patients and other people dealing with cancer can support each other, explore new ways of dealing with the stresses of cancer and receive therapy. Offered are weekly group sessions led by licensed psychotherapists. In a typical month, the Wellness Community schedules more than 75 activities for cancer patients and their families.

As a radiation oncologist here in Bel Air, I wanted to share an issue that could affect the cancer treatment of a great many of our friends and neighbors. Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a change to the way free standing radiation oncology practices are reimbursed for their services. The end result is a $300 million cut to cancer care, which will have unfortunate consequences for patients who require radiation treatment. Most patients with cancer require radiation treatments in the course of their care.