TOLEDO, Ohio — February marks the start of National Cancer Prevention Month.
Whether you're just beginning your fight, or you're in remission, it's important to know where you can get support.
One of the places that people turn to in Toledo is the Victory Center, a non-profit that offers wellness services for cancer patients at no-cost.
The Victory Center is partnered with both Mercy and ProMedica, and together, they service the local area, helping people who have been newly diagnosed with cancer.
"So if someone is diagnosed with cancer, one of the best things for them to do, after they have gotten their diagnosis and they know what their treatment plan is with their physician, is to give the victory center a call," said Dianne Brandt, Executive Director of the Victory Center. "From there, it's really easy. You don't need a doctor's referral or anything like that. They just come meet with us and we do a welcome orientation with them where we explain all these different free services we have and how to get involved. It's that easy."
Brandt works with individuals to help them find relief during their time of need. She says everyone knows someone who has been impacted by cancer or is a survivor themselves.
One of the first faces patients will see when they come to the Victory Center is breast cancer survivor and administrative assistant volunteer Lori Knous.
Knous first began visiting the Victory Center in 2007 to attend a support group. She said that she quickly began to volunteer and took on a position in 2020. She says part of the joy in the job is being able to help others.
"Letting people know when they come in the door. They're very tearful. They don't know what to do, they don't know what to think, they don't know how to navigate things. So being able to reassure them and tell them that things are going to be okay, and just be positive," said Knous. "It helps them when they’re going through things. Maybe their body is aching from treatments. Or even counseling. Sometimes, you need to talk to people about what's going and not try to deal with it all yourself."
Brandt said that those who attend go through a lot, and that the center acts as a major benefit due to the amount of resources they provide.
"We have a lot of people who are dealing with all sorts of emotions about their diagnosis. So, we have a clinical psychologist who does therapy here. We also have a couple of therapists and counselors. So, also for free, any survivor can come and meet with one of the counselors.
Brandt says family members can also take advantage of the counseling. "We try to help the whole family through it," said Brandt.
Cancer patients can also participate in massage therapy, reflexology, reiki and more at no cost.
Knous said that prevention is something she wishes she would have had more knowledge of prior to her diagnosis.
"You want to eat healthy. Had I known in hindsight, had we known what we know now, we could've been doing a lot more. But, here again, as babies in the cancer world and things like that, we're learning. We're learning a little late, but we can still implement the better foods, look at some of the toxicities in our foods and eliminate those in our diet. I think that's becoming very important to a lot of people," said Knous.
Brandt said that while visitors are at the center, they can grow their knowledge on prevention.
"I think one of the things that a lot of our cancer patients are afraid of is reoccurrence and so we have classes about nutrition, about aromatherapy, about exercise, about meditation, you know, things that are thought to help prevent cancer," said Brandt.
Besides a clean diet, Knous said being positive helps as well as being part of a support group. She says she looks forward to being able to continue to help others who visit the center and wants to let others know that they are not alone.
Knous said the Victory Center acts as a great way for people to get connected who have been there and that as a cancer survivor, it helped to give her a purpose to not sit at home and "lose her (my) mind."
The Victory Center is available at multiple locations in and around Toledo.
"We are an independent non-profit but we work with all of the systems in town, they are all very supportive of what we do. With Mercy in particular, we have a facility inside their Mercy Health Hospital in Perrysburg. With ProMedica, we just opened another satellite location inside the Defiance Regional Hospital," said Brandt.
Click here if you would like more information on the Victory Center.
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