By Katie Perry, NDAA staff writer
This summer, the Notre Dame Alumni Association will team up with the Malibu, Calif.- based Simonton Cancer Center for a special retreat on campus. The five-day program (held June 15-20) will provide an opportunity for patients and their support person or loved one to gather for solidarity and strength.
“The University and its campus environment is a natural setting for this retreat,” says Tony Haske ’87, who serves on the Simonton Center’s Board of Directors and helped coordinate the event. “Being diagnosed with cancer can be a lonely experience and to invite people back to campus is rather fitting. This is where a lot of people had some of the best times of their life. It really helps people focus on preparing for the fight ahead.”
Haske experienced the benefits of the Simonton Program firsthand when he was diagnosed with metastatic kidney cancer in 2003. His physician recommended he read Getting Well by Dr. O. Carl Simonton—and the Notre Dame grad quickly related to the themes covered in the book. “It hit home,” Haske says. “I felt like he was writing about me.”
Dr. Simonton’s program grew out years of work as a radiologist, where he discovered that the mental state of cancer patients played a large role in how well they responded to treatment. Haske says Getting Well was the only book he read that addressed such a relationship between psychological outlook and physiological treatment.
A cancer diagnosis carries with it a tremendous amount of fear, uncertainty, and pressure, says Haske. Dr. Simonton’s program focuses on replacing that fear with healthier beliefs, which can be challenging given the conventional perception of the illness.
“When someone hears they have cancer, that by itself produces a lot of anxiety,” Haske explains. “‘Cancer’ is a loaded term, and most messages from the media and conventional wisdom point to negative outcomes. It’s hard to maintain a healthy and positive outlook when you’re fighting against thoughts that are persistently telling you that treatment will involve suffering and that the odds are against you.
“Changing those thoughts is a very hard thing to do on your own,” Haske says. “The Simonton Program provided me with the practical support and tools I needed to replace those doubts and negative thoughts with the belief that I can and deserve to get well — and, now, to stay well.”
That’s why the Simonton program is dedicated to maintaining hope. “There’s a common understanding that we ‘shouldn’t get our hopes up’— but if you can’t get your hopes up, how can you believe you can become well again?” Haske asks.
In Dr. Simonton’s program, one of the keys to getting well is learning to enjoy yourself in spite of everything that is happening. The program also encourages patients to develop a practical health plan and perceive the illness in a healthier, non-negative way. To illustrate his point, Haske employed the analogy of two athletes with equal abilities and conditioning.
“If one is trying to avoid losing or avoid getting hurt and the other is playing to win, the [latter] will often be more successful,” he says. “The outlook changes their perception of the challenge, which influences their approach to meeting that challenge.”
Haske says the positive mentality does not merely affect the outcome. It also defines how one experiences the situation. The player trying to win is more likely to enjoy the game because they will not approach the challenge with a “sense of dread.”
“Cancer is considered to be one of the most difficult challenges a person can face — a challenge that also happens to have the most at stake,” Haske says. “Yet, it’s also a challenge where psychological preparedness is forgotten and, at best, an afterthought.”
According to Haske, the Simonton Center helped make his cancer experience more relaxed and less stressful.
“Without it, the experience would have been far, far more difficult,” Haske says. “Every cancer patient should have the chance to spend a few quiet days where they’re allowed to focus on preparing themselves psychologically for the challenge ahead.”
Haske also stressed that the workshop can be extremely beneficial to a patient’s loved ones.
To enroll in the Cancer Retreat Workshop or to receive more information, contact NDAA Senior Director of Spirituality and Service Kathleen M. Sullivan ‘82MA ‘87PhD at sullivan.6@nd.edu.
