Insights Counseling Center Inc

Surviving and Thriving after Breast Cancer: An interview with breast cancer thriver Angelyn Rhode!

I met Angelyn Rhode through a personal development group called “I am 50 Million”. They focus on personal growth through personal training and improv and so charity work. When I read the people they were quoting such as Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, etc. I thought, “This is the group for me.” I have met many wonderful new friends in this organization including Angelyn. Her personal victory over cancer is powerful and one to share with the world.

Angelyn was only in her early 20’ies when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Due to her young age and the type of cancer she had it was obvious that she needed a double mastectomy or the cancer would most likely return. Also due to her young age it was recommended that reconstructive plastic surgery was performed during the mastectomy surgery all at once. The type of reconstructive surgery that was recommended was one where the lymph node muscle would be wrapped around her chest to help support the implants. She was told that this type of surgery was brutal. As Angelyn discovered, they were not lying! It WAS brutal! “My mother couldn’t watch me because I was in so much pain.” For an entire month Angelyn had to sleep on the couch surrounded by pillows at a 90 degree angle and walking was almost impossible.

Physical therapy post surgery was not required. She was informed that her movements would come back naturally. Angelyn was given a brochure with some exercises to do on her own. She was unable to rotate her arms because of the chemo ports. At the time, she was working at Disney which was a very physical job as a performer. Her body felt very different with no sensation in the chest area and numbness on the sides due to the muscle being moved to around her chest. One day in warm ups when she was back at work, they were supposed to do push ups. Now before the surgery push ups had been a challenge, however, now she was completely unable to do any because the muscle was not where it was supposed to be in her body. Many movements were and felt very different for her and was impossible or difficult for her to do.

One year ago (and 3 years post surgery) she went to check out the “I am 50 Million” group. She went to the Saturday work out at Red Bug Lake Park and went through the work out. The next day she was so sore. That particular day Carlos Marrero led the work out. After that, master personal trainer, Dane Marrero took over the group. Angelyn kept coming to the work outs and she felt sore but felt better and also really enjoyed the social aspects of the group making new friends in a different environment. Then Fit Club started within the 50 Million group. “It was very scary doing one on one training even though they were my friends.” As Angelyn stuck with the group, Dane engaged in conversation with Angelyn about what her circumstances were and how different movements affected her body. Dane took the time to get to know Angelyn and her situation. He never gave her an exercise she could not do. Instead he found exercises and modified them to what she was capable of doing while still pushing her a little farther along the way. And little by little she got better.  By November of last year she was feeling so good and realized her clothes were loose!!!

Last month during the Saturday exercises Dane asked her to demonstrate an Australian row. This year it was easy for her to do and suddenly she remembered that last year at the very first meeting she attended, they had done this exercise as well. And a year ago she needed assistance to complete the exercise!

“So many people give excuses such as knee issues to NOT exercise yet I am physically and mentally in such a great place 4 years later because of working out with Dane. It is incredible to see how far I have come.”

Congratulations Angelyn for not only surviving but THRIVING post cancer. Physical disabilities can be overcome or at least reduced when working with a knowledgeable trainer such as Dane Marrero. This helps increase self-esteem while reducing anxiety and depression that frequently comes after surgery and surviving a life threatening illness.

Dane Marrero is the personal trainer who is part of the new program we are starting in 2015 called “The 6 Pillars of Health.” He will be having a workshop in January talking about how to create a special work out program for your particular brain chemistry and you will walk out of the workshop with your own training program.

Insights Counseling Center, Inc. PHONE: 386-492-0778

2425 S. Volusia Ave , B2, Orange City, Fl 32763

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From an Oncologist's Perspective

I was fortunate to have access to a friend of mine who is also an oncology nurse, Teal Stocker, Quality Assurance Manager, RN, BSN, OCN, CCRP. She was gracious enough to accept taking time out to answer some questions I had about cancer treatment.

Reactions at Initial diagnosis

When a person is initially diagnosed with cancer, universally they feel  numb. Once a person is given the diagnosis of cancer, they don't hear anything else that is said after that during that doctor's visit. Because of this, Teal recommends bringing a friend or a family member with you to the doctor's office who is able to collect the information given at the time the test results come in.

Changes of Emotions Through Treatment

Other emotions that Teal sees patients go through are disbelief, anger, depression, and questioning 'why me?� Eventually most people come to a place of acceptance. One of the biggest issues is that the patient feels as though their life is out of control. In the medical field the term 'stabile� is good yet can be discouraging because what is means is that the person still has cancer. It just is not growing.

What a Patient CAN control

Finding areas of the treatment that you can control feels empowering. Depending on the type of cancer there are different measurements that can be helpful such as with ovarian cancer, there is a test that looks for certain numbers which show the response rate. This is a factual number which, if in the 'right� end of the scale can be encouraging. Something to build hope when everything else may look bleak.

Doing research and asking questions. Teal does caution people going on line and believing everything they read there as this information is not all based on scientific facts. Some of the information found on the internet can be frightening and may not be based on truth. The last thing you need when already in a position of feeling out of control of your life, is more stress based on information that may not be accurate. Some things patients do have control over is their schedule, asking questions about what the standard of care is for their type of cancer. Each cancer is a very different type of cancer and requires different treatment. Hence knowing what questions to ask is important. Prepare and write down questions before going to visit your doctor is a good idea so you can gather your thoughts and use your time with your doctor most efficiently.

The Difference a Good Support System Makes in the Life of a Patient

There is a big difference in how patients make it through their treatment based on what their attitude is like. People who have a positive outlook and have strong positive support systems in their friends and family tend to fair better through treatment. Some people are just generally stronger and more resilient than others. Culture also plays a role as in whether or not family members want the patient to make their own decisions or not. Some attempt to keep information from the patient in order to protect the patient.

Support Systems Within and Outside of the Hospital Setting

Within the hospital setting there are 'Care Coordinators� who navigate the patient through the system. They enter the picture when the patient is given the diagnosis of cancer and they ensure the patient is funneled through to the correct places for the correct services.

Outside of the hospital setting there is a huge untapped resource in the American Cancer Society. They are part of the cancer support system. Some of the things the American Cancer Society assists with is transportation. They can help get mileage reimbursement,  and transportation insurance, they have support groups that can be very helpful for the patient to utilize. Just knowing that you are not alone in this endeavor and sharing your thoughts and emotions with other people who are going through the same thing can be very comforting.

Teal stresses that it is important for patients to let their support systems know that they need help and to be accepting of help. This also makes the life of the support system easier when they don't have to fight and argue with the patient to get done what needs to get done.

Care for the Care Takers

I asked Teal what are some things she does to take care of herself being a caretaker working in a field where she faces life and death every day. She stated that to protect herself, she attends very few funerals. Because she sees the patients every day for a long period of time, they get close and the patients get to know about her kids and she gets to know about their families. 'You are on their journey so learn from the patients and appreciate what you learn from them.� She also says that exercising is an essential part of her self-care along with her own support system in her family and friends. Some of her colleagues get hit hard when a patient of theirs dies. Teal states that the way she sees it is that the patient is no longer suffering. She has gained an appreciation for life and says 'life is perfect.� 'I can't complain about a bad hair day,� because at least she has hair. It has given her a new perspective on life.

Teal also reports that she has worked in oncology for 12 years. Currently she works in research and based on research results she has seen the standards and treatments change in the past 5 years especially. One of the biggest changes in the past 5 years is that there has been a shift going from in-patient to out-patient care. She finds it very rewarding to work in research as what she does today is going to help people in the future.

Thank you Teal Stocker for sharing your knowledge and insights with us here. This is valuable information that I am happy to share with our readers.

Some people think of October as being fall with the cooling down of temperatures and kids are back in school and pretty soon we will be revving up for the holiday season. Before we get to all of those festivities we manage to color the month of October PINK! As in breast cancer awareness month!

Most people have been touched by cancer of one form or another even if they themselves have not been diagnosed, rather have a family member or friend or co-worker who has had cancer or is currently battling cancer.

Fear is Our First Response

The first thing that occurs when someone receives a potentially life threatening diagnosis is fear. The mind goes blank while trying to wrap your brain around the concept of what this diagnosis means to you and how it will affect your life. How did this get there? What is going to happen to me? What is going to happen to my family? How will I be able to afford taking off from work? Do I have health insurance that will cover this? How painful is this going to be? Will I survive this? Will it come back later in my life?

Second Response: Fear leads to Emotions (Fear, Anxiety, Stress, Apprehension)

These are all legitimate questions that flow through the brain causing all sorts of emotions to flood your body. Fear, anxiety, stress, apprehension, and more fear.

Phases of Treatment: From Diagnosis to Surgery and Beyond

How you move on from the initial diagnosis through surgery and following treatment and finally recovery depends on many things such as your support system, your mental outlook in general and specifically with regards to how you look at your diagnosis.

Why a Support System Is Important for Stress Relief

What type of support system you have in place already is powerful. Having people around with whom you can talk about what is going on and who are able to distract you from your own challenges for a while makes a huge difference. Being able to think about other people and other things is a relief from the thoughts that otherwise tumble around in the brain on the non-stop cycle. This causes an increase in stress which does NOT promote healing from illnesses.

During the treatment phase of the illness you may feel as though you are stuck in the medical field as a body void of a personality with human emotions. All sorts of painful and uncomfortable things are being done to your body and all you can do is sit and watch and hope for the best. This can make you feel helpless and vulnerable.

During the recovery phase there may be a heightened awareness of physical sensations in the body. I have heard people talk about how every little sensation they notice causes fear or panic because 'does this mean that the cancer is back?� It is the feeling that 'my body cannot be trusted. It is not safe.� This does not promote wellbeing and rapid healing of the mind and body when constantly in a state of alertness. A remedy for this in psychotherapy is emdr. Here is why.

How EMDR Works to Help You Heal from Cancer

When we work with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) we identify the negative beliefs that are attached to events that caused high levels of negative emotion. Some possible negative beliefs are 'I am helpless,� 'my body cannot be trusted,� 'I am in danger,� 'I am going to die.� These negative beliefs can be triggered by smells (i.e. hospital smells), sights (i.e. seeing a white lab coat), sounds (of shoes shuffling along the hospital floor), physical sensations (tightening in the stomach),  which all will trigger the negative belief that we have attached to those experiences that go along with the memories formed in our minds from the experience.

Processing the experiences with emdr relieves the negative emotions so that they do not get pulled up every time something reminds you of your illness. Rather, the memories remain just that. Memories of something that happened in the past that you made it through and now you are on the other side of it. There is no need to continually live your life as though you are still just being diagnosed or still feeling nauseated from the treatment, or having to live the rest of your life or at the very least, waste a number of years, living in fear that the disease has returned every time you have a funny sensation in your body. See, there is a difference between being AWARE as opposed to living your life in fear. Awareness is positive and necessary to maintain a healthy life style. Living in fear promotes illness, physical and mental illness. Usually people withdraw from other people, and become depressed. Is that how you want to live your life? You have a choice and psychotherapy with emdr is not something that has to be a long drawn out process. It simply depends on how much you want to work on and how quickly you process while in therapy. What I do see is that people with whom I work who undergo EMDR therapy, see great changes in their lives because the processing detaches the negative emotions and belief from the memory and instead they begin to see how their experience taught them life lessons and survival skills. It becomes a new way of living your life without having to think about how 'I need to reframe that thought.�  It is as though a great burden has been lifted from their shoulders. Life is stressful enough as it is. Who needs more if there is a way to unburden yourself from this load. Why not?

"I have used Karin as my counselor off and on for two years now and have been very pleased with the results. Her insight, intellect, and knowledge have been invaluable to me during out sessions. She's helped me solve specific problems as well as move forward in all areas of my life. Recently I have also been asking her for help with performance enhancement through EMDR. Can't wait to see where this goes. Thank you, Karin. You're the best" - Nancy

2425 S. Volusia Ave., Suite B2, Orange City, Fl. 32763

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Primary Focus of the Provider

• Mix of Mental Health and Substance Abuse

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Type of Care

• Substance abuse treatment
• Accepts clients on opioid medication

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Facility Type

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Treatment Approaches

• Cognitive/behavioral therapy
• Dialectical behavioral therapy
• Substance abuse counseling approach
• Trauma-related counseling
• Rational emotive behavioral therapy

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Facility Smoking Policy

• Smoking not permitted

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Service Setting (e.g., Outpatient, Residential, etc.)

• Outpatient
• Regular outpatient treatment

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Facility Operation (e.g. Private, Public)

• Private organization
• State substance abuse agency
• State mental health department
• State department of health

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Payment/Insurance Accepted

• Cash or self-payment

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Emergency Mental Health Services

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Payment Assistance Available

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Language Services

• Spanish

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Ancillary Services

• Individual counseling offered
• Group counseling offered
• Marital/couples counseling offered
• Brief intervention approach
• Contingency management/motivational incentive
• Motivational interviewing
• Anger management
• Relapse prevention

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Age Groups Accepted

• Young adults
• Adults

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Gender Accepted

• Female
• Male

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Exclusive Services

• DUI/DWI clients

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