you
Good morning and welcome to our morning show get together today on WRC radio.
We'll be going to a special interview we recorded earlier with Hannah Fry who represents Gilda's Club.
We'll give you some notes on that and what it is about and what it means to our community as well.
Coming up on today's morning show and also
the tie-in with greater Richland area cancer elimination.
So we kick off a busy week of morning show get-togethers here in just a moment.
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Today on the show, we introduce you to Hannah Fry.
We have snagged her.
She's a busy woman, but great to have her in the studio with us, representing Wisconsin Center for Education.
Hannah, lots of titles your way.
Maybe you can kind of explain what you do and what you're here for.
Yeah, thanks for having me, Phil.
My name is Hannah Fry.
I'm a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
I've been there for a number of years now.
And mostly what I do in that role is research.
And so I do primarily research on looking at cancer and employment, how people navigate employment after a cancer diagnosis, including how caregivers can support them and how caregivers manage their own employment after cancer.
And then I
Also do part-time work as a support group facilitator at Gildes Club, Wisconsin.
We recently changed the name.
And I do a weekly cancer support group.
It's a virtual one.
And so we have folks with all different kinds of cancers who join all stages, all ages pretty much.
And it's a place for them to get and receive.
support and feel a sense of community and not feel as alone during cancer because even with a big support group and even with supportive family and friends, it's a little different going through it yourself.
And so, yeah, on top of that, I do a monthly young adult cancer support group with Gilda's Club and that's
mostly how I spend my time.
Well,
let me ask you how you found Richland Center on the GPS or whatever and why you're passing through here today.
Oh, I use GPS and Google Maps for going to my house from work.
Yeah, I have to use it for everything.
But yeah, it's a beautiful drive out here, I gotta say.
The construction was a little...
disorienting, but oh it's beautiful.
And I'm here today to kind of talk about the work that I do and to invite folks here in the area to share their voice and their thoughts on.
how we can best support people with cancer after employment.
You'll be at the Richland Hospital for some upcoming events, won't you?
Yeah, yeah.
So we have two focus groups coming up.
So those are just research lingo for bringing people with certain types of lived experiences into a room and talking about their experiences and sharing their ideas for how to
influence the research that's going on.
So we're going to have five or six people at each focus group we're hoping for.
And it'll really just be talking about a job support program that I have put together and asking them, does this feel like it would be helpful?
And if so, how would it need to be
changed or adapted so that it's most helpful for people who are living in rural areas.
Yeah, that's pretty much it will have one in July.
That's coming up on Friday, July 10th from 10 to 1130 in the morning.
And then we'll have another one Monday.
August 17th and that'll be an evening time.
So we're hoping that between those two times folks can can join us and we'll have snacks and bribe people with good food and things like that so.
And who primarily are you looking for to attend these
Hannah?
Yeah, so we're looking for
adult cancer survivors or cancer patients who worked or are currently working during their cancer treatment or were also interested in folks who had to take a leave of absence after being diagnosed with cancer to be able to go through their cancer treatment and have since come back to work.
We're looking for folks who live in rural communities and that's pretty much the only things that you need to have had an interest in sharing your thoughts and contributing to research and I guess wanting to make a difference in the lives of people who are figuring out how to work after cancer I think is really important.
Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination is a unique program for our area and surrounding counties.
I know you've talked to Eileen Stevens, the president, but how did you hear about Grace?
Yeah, so I kind of vaguely mentioned, I guess, that I have put together this job support intervention program that we're hoping to run and
like tested out, I guess, in the next year or so.
And as I was putting that together with some collaborators at Gilda's Club and Carbone, my supervisor at Gilda's Club recommended Grace.
She knows Eileen from lots of different
cancer related events and she spoke really highly of Eileen and the work that they do with Grace.
And I just reached out to Eileen over email and she immediately was really excited and on board with moving forward with the project.
She called me from her car our first time and she didn't want to miss the meeting.
She was so excited.
And yeah, so it was just through contacts that got me to dial in and it just has kind of worked out from there.
Angie at the Richland Center Hospital has been incredibly helpful and now here with you, Phil.
There we are.
Yeah, here we
are.
Well, we hear about UW-Carbone because Grace, lots of times for research, will be donating some money and maybe you could talk about Carbone Center and maybe some things that that money has been utilized for.
Yeah, yeah.
Carbone Cancer Center, it's a
comprehensive cancer center.
It's actually the only one in the state of Wisconsin.
And so what that means is that they provide excellent clinical care for patients with cancer, but they also do quite a bit of research.
And there's research all the way from basic genetic testing
science that is beyond my understanding, all the way through survivorship and more like social science, which is more my world, but figuring out how people can live well after cancer or with cancer if it's not curable.
And so there's, oh gosh, tons of
resources being done.
The group that I work with is the palliative and supportive care team and so they're folks doing some really incredible research and figuring out how to support people living with pain or figuring out how to manage side effects and that come with cancer treatment that can be life-saving but can come with really debilitating
side effects that can stay with a person for the rest of their life.
Yeah, there's a lot of really incredible stuff going
on.
And that's where you come in.
You talk about in your role in kind of researching people who have to go back to work and things like that, living with pain and trying to cope with that.
Everybody's case is different, I'm sure, isn't it?
Oh, yeah, definitely.
Yes.
And so I think it's important to acknowledge that
Yes, everybody's case is different.
Everybody's physical health is unique.
And their employment situation is different depending on where they work and the work that they do.
For example, if somebody has peripheral neuropathy, like they can't, they're tingling sensations in their fingers.
For somebody who works on a computer like I do, that can be
really impactful in the work that they do and make it so that it's difficult to do the job that you're doing.
But for somebody who does more gross motor like physical work that may be less impactful.
And I think it's important to kind of backtrack a little and just say that cancer in general, we know it as an aging disease.
And so
A lot of people are diagnosed later in life.
But we also know that almost 50% of new cancer cases happened before age 65 in those prime working years.
And there's more and more happening younger and younger for a number of reasons.
And so there's more and more people who are needing to figure out how to
work with and after cancer, especially because insurance, very important as you're navigating cancer treatment, is typically tied to your employment status.
And some people don't have the luxury of leaving the workforce entirely to be able to manage their health and their cancer treatment.
And so
figuring out a plan for how to support somebody on the job site and to be able to continue to work and provide for themselves, their family is, I think, important.
And it's also employment can be a really nice diversion for people.
For some, no.
For some work is just kind of something you have to do.
But a lot of cancer patients and cancer survivors that I've talked to and that we see in the research want to work It's a nice place to leave the like the sick role at home And so figuring out best ways to support people I think is I mean that that's what That's what I get excited about and and really want to support and and I think there are people in the community with really important experiences that could
could really make a difference and share their experiences so that we can make a program that's really beneficial to folks moving forward.
Yeah, I think you bring up a good point about getting back to work.
And sometimes that's what people use it.
I think the mind is a powerful thing, but if you're focused on, I'm getting back to work, you're gonna, I think maybe that's better for your overall well-being is you've got a goal to strive for,
right?
Oh yeah, yeah, we see time again that
people who have a sense of purpose feel better and there's a connection between work and health.
We see there's the quote that I always use, which is, good work is good for health.
And so figuring out ways for people to
to get back to that can be a really powerful motivator, like you said, yeah.
And what would you hope to gain from these meetings in Richland Center and the notes that you will take and things like that?
What do you hope to gain?
Yeah, I'm really hoping that, so the job support program that we developed, it was developed by myself and
some folks from Gildes Club and community members in the Dane County area with lots of different experiences.
So there were seven folks on that on that project who were cancer survivors.
And they had different employment backgrounds, but primarily from more, I think Madison is urban.
But anyway, and so
So it was developed with the voices of cancer survivors.
And we know that there are lots of differences in the lives of people living in urban versus rural areas.
And the job market looks very different.
And so what we're hoping to do with this project is to hear from
rural community members about what a job support program would need to look like in order for them to want to do it and for it to actually be effective and provide some relief and benefit to them.
And so we're really just hoping to, we'll ask questions and just hear from their own
experiences of what would be most helpful for them so that we can then test it and be able to serve not just folks in urban areas but in rural areas as well.
We're very fortunate in the area to have health care, you know, in the UW hospital an hour away, basically, you know, I think we're very fortunate because I think a lot of research is going on there that's that's maybe turning the corner on this cancer thing,
right?
Oh, yeah.
And there are plenty of places in Wisconsin and in the Midwest and I mean, across the US that folks don't have access to
as quality of care.
Like I said, I mean, UW-Carbonne is a leader in the field and you also have Mayo Clinic, if you want a second opinion, that's not too far away, relatively speaking, but there are plenty of people who don't have the luxury of such prestigious
health care institutions and yeah and again that's why we're really hoping to learn more from rural areas to be able to to be able to best support them as they figure out cancer and health and employment.
Hannah Fry is our guest representing the Wisconsin Center for Education and UW Carbone in Madison and
Gilda's Club of Wisconsin.
We're going to talk about that next when the morning show continues.
Hannah Fry is our guest and WRCO coordinated through the Richland Hospital and Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination.
I want to ask you, Hannah, about Gilda's Club of Wisconsin.
The name changed earlier this year.
It did.
It did.
And earlier in April, I think it was officially the name changed.
So we realized that especially after the pandemic, you can't get away from it.
During the pandemic, there was a big switch to or transition to
online supports and virtual meetings.
And what we found was that there were quite a few folks who were coming from further out from outside of Dane County to access some of those virtual cancer support groups.
And there was a lot of interest.
And so as the years have passed since then, we've continued to offer
virtual programming.
So a lot of psycho education, social events are even happening online as well.
And then the psycho social support groups.
And since we are already serving much of the state, it changed from Gildes Club Madison to Gildes Club Wisconsin.
We of course offer in-person programming and the clubhouse is the
the building where it's housed is beautiful.
And I would highly recommend anybody.
If you're in town in Madison for treatment or getting labs done or whatnot, you can always stop by and just go lounge in the beautiful building.
But yeah, it changed to Gilles Club Wisconsin recently just to really reflect that we're actually serving much of Wisconsin.
Yeah.
down a lot of history.
It goes back to the famous Saturday Night Live comedian, Gilda Radner.
Yes, yes, we have a couple.
The rooms are named after some of her famous characters.
And yeah, yeah, there's a number of locations, many locations across the US.
And we're lucky enough to serve folks in Wisconsin.
Is there a Roseanne, Rosanna Dana room?
Is there?
Yep, yep, yep.
one upstairs.
We're
trying to think of Emily Lutella.
Is there one of those or not?
I don't think that was the- Putting you on the spot here.
I know and
you're putting me on.
Oh gosh.
Rosanna Dan is for sure.
I bet that has to be number one.
Well, tell me about Gilda's Club and some of the services that you provide.
Yeah, so Gilda's Club Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization that provides
support for anybody affected by cancer.
So we have, like I mentioned, psychoeducational events.
So we have researchers and clinicians come from all over, especially Carbone, to talk about the research they're doing or to talk about a specific topic that might be of interest to
to folks.
So we recently had somebody come and talk about physical activity as you're navigating cancer treatment.
So how to stay active during cancer treatment.
We also have social events.
So there are social events for families.
We have every year noogie fest.
It's like for our Halloween.
And it's a really beautiful fun
time.
That's a nod to Gilda right there.
And it's a really beautiful time.
Everybody dresses up and the kids really just, again, another opportunity for them to not feel so alone and isolated as a kid with cancer or as a kid with a parent with cancer.
So we have social events, and then we have what I do primarily, which is the emotional support piece of that.
So we have weekly groups, and that's for people who are in the thick of it, are going through treatment or kind of phasing out of it, and really need that weekly support, really need
to learn from other people who are going through that or have gone through it before, to ask like, is this thing that I'm feeling normal?
Or to ask about like, you know, my family is really supportive and they mean well, but I just, I'm not getting what I need from them.
How can I find that?
support from other people.
So we have those weekly groups.
We also have monthly groups and those are more targeted for like age range or cancer experiences.
So we have like a breast cancer support group.
We have a blood cancer support group.
We have a prostate cancer group, a gynecological cancer group.
We also have metastatic
or recurrent cancer groups.
So that's folks who have later stage or have had a recurrence in their cancer.
So they had it and went away, came back.
And just because you deal with different things when
It's later stage.
We also have an early stage group because again, they're very different experiences and the things that you're dealing with in your life are different for metastatic when you might be wanting to prepare for end of life and have conversations about Quality versus quantity of life and how you make those decisions about when to end cancer life extending treatment
Whereas you know our early stage cancer group They're thinking about like well, how do I get back to you know, normal quote-unquote life as I'm Recovering from cancer treatment we have an LGBTQ Support group and then we have that young adult cancer support group like I mentioned before that I that I facilitate because again cancer
at any age is terrible.
And when you get it, when you're in your 20s, you're just starting to live as an adult and live independently in form of family potentially and really establishing your career.
And there's just different things that you go through.
And so sometimes that
more specific monthly group might be more helpful for people than those weekly and vice versa.
There are plenty of folks who just attend the weekly groups, but yeah.
The goal of all Gilda's clubs is so that nobody has to face cancer alone and people can come with their partners.
I forgot to mention that we have weekly support groups for caregivers or family members, family and friends groups, we call them.
Because they're going through, again, a fundamentally different experience, parallel to their person with cancer, but they're dealing with the idea of the loss of a loved one.
And so they have their own support group as well.
When you talk about support groups, people from the area can drive to Madison to be a part of it.
Do you have a virtual part of it as well?
Yeah.
Oh, definitely.
Yep.
Yep.
Um, you're welcome to drive.
Uh, it is a bit of a hike, although it is on the West side, so maybe a little bit less.
But, um, yeah.
So we have, uh, uh, my weekly virtual cancer support group, um, uh, that folks joined from, um,
all across the state.
And then we have other virtual options as well.
Pretty much all of the monthly groups are virtual exclusively.
So folks join virtually anyway.
And again, there's lots of options for...
hybrid as well, if there's like a particular educational event that you're really excited about, just reach out and we can see what we can do about getting you a Zoom link to be able to join.
I think it's especially important for the
this population because a lot of folks who are going through cancer treatment are immunocompromised and so we think that it's important to offer that virtual option as well so that you don't have to risk your health just to get support.
So, oh yeah, if you're interested in attending a support group or learning more, there's the Gildes Club
Wisconsin website, and just call and say that you'd like to join.
Membership is free.
You do go through a new member orientation.
It's very low stakes.
It's very easy.
And we do ask that you fill out some information about yourself, your family, those who are going to be attending.
Then you have access to the weekly, monthly support groups.
We also offer a number of other services as well.
So there's a short-term individual counseling.
So we can offer up to six sessions for free with a licensed counselor or therapist who can talk to you about
whatever it is that's on your mind that has to do with your cancer experience.
And then we have some programming for folks who speak Spanish.
Yeah, there's a lot.
Look at the website.
The calendar is always bursting with activities and things that we have going on.
I can tell that this is rewarding work for you.
You know, maybe not the easiest work.
Is it difficult to not take your work home with you and whatnot?
Well, I mean, I do a lot of my work from home because I do the virtual group.
Yeah, it's definitely been a learning curve.
So I've been a counselor for
Again, what's about 10 years now?
And I'm still learning how to do that.
You get close to the people who are in your group.
And I think support groups can feel a little intimidating for people, especially joining in a virtual space.
But I've really found that we get to
really get to know each other and feel the community even over a screen.
I mean, just the nature of the beast is that we do have people who pass away from our group and it's very sad.
And that's a very, it's too simple of a way to say it, but it is,
sad and it's heartbreaking that we lose people and it's also a really beautiful opportunity to come together as a group and reflect on what they learned from that person and to keep them with us in group.
We regularly bring up, if we're reminded of something of a member who's passed,
bring it up and we share, like, oh, this made me think of Sandy or whoever it is.
And she would have said this.
And I wonder if those words of encouragement might be helpful for you now.
I think having a supportive team, the team at Gilda's Club is really wonderful.
And the other facilitators there, we
We meet regularly and Talk through if we're having challenges with group or if we're struggling with The loss of somebody or something that somebody's going through in our group and so It's a really supportive environment there Yeah, it's it's hard and it's really rewarding and I look forward every week to my Tuesday nights.
That's my
the time I set aside and again we talk about really meaningful things that you don't always talk about you know what is what is your meaning in life what is important for you and what how do you want to spend your time and how how do you want your end of life to look like and there's lots of
scary, uncertain things that, um, that folks deal with and they're really brave and, um, it's beautiful to,
to be
part
of, to be a part of
it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because I know you probably could have gotten a lot of different ways with, with your degree and things like that.
Uh, what attracted you to, you know, Carbone and Gilda's club and things like that initially.
Yeah, I've worked in a number of other different settings, but as a counselor and I think there's, you know, a personal and then there's like a professional reason to it, you know, personally, the connections I've had with family members with cancer was
something that initially drove me to want to do an internship with Gildus Club and learn more about it and learn more about how I could have or how I could support my family members.
And then once I was in the internship,
Again, some of the conversations we have are things that you just don't really talk about with people on a regular basis about.
And it was really beautiful to be able to have some of those frank conversations and just be witness and support folks in navigating the uncertainties, I think is.
really beautiful to bring delight some of the things that we Try to ignore I don't know it just it really resonated with me and And then the so the the that's my like clinical world and then for research just
I've always been very curious and wanting to know why people do things that they do and how we can help them do them better or and help them feel good while they're doing important things that they need to do on a day-to-day basis.
And so I quite honestly kind of landed the internship.
I had
asked for a different one and that didn't work out.
I asked for a different one that didn't work out.
And then Gildus was my third, my mentor was like, oh, have you heard of Gildus Club?
And I said, no.
And I kind of landed there
by
accident.
Yeah, yeah.
And I plan to be there.
I plan to be there for many, many more years.
So
that's awesome.
Yeah.
And I know that grace from our area, great original area, cancer elimination, um, it's a good tie in because I'm guessing that there are some people that they serve that maybe they can direct them toward guilders club of Wisconsin or whatever for some of the research that you have there too.
Oh, definitely.
Oh yeah.
No, this, this partnership has been really exciting.
Um, to get to talk to Eileen and learn more about what they do.
Um, I,
wish it could be expanded to the whole state because, yeah, the folks that come through Gilda's Club are looking for support and emotional, financial, really everything.
And knowing that for folks in this area who can
receive those supports from Grace.
It's such a relief to know that you don't have to worry about like that water bill or, you know, part of your rent.
When what your focus really should be on is your health, your wellness.
Getting better.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Going back to work.
Yeah.
Going back to work.
Yes.
Yes.
Where we started.
Yeah.
Everybody hopes that someday there'll be a cure for cancer.
I don't know if we'll see that in our lifetime or not.
We'll see.
I mean, there have been so many improvements just in the last decade for many different kinds of cancers.
There are some that people, I say this very facetiously, but consider like easy cancers again, quote unquote, but because our
treatments have really become that good.
And I think we'll continue to see that as the years go by.
I think another big area for research is how to live well.
during cancer treatment, because it is very hard on your body as it's fighting the cancer itself, but how do you live well as you're navigating those treatments and afterwards?
Because again, people live, are living longer with cancer at all stages of the disease.
But yeah, I think there's lots of
Lots of opportunity and lots of people who are who are motivated and passionate and People a lot smarter than me who are figuring out those cures.
So,
right?
Yeah, there is hope.
Oh, yeah
So again Hannah, you know tie in with the Richland Hospital I know that you want some people to possibly sign up for your upcoming sessions and maybe you could plug that again.
Yeah.
Yeah, so anybody who is a
adult cancer survivor or cancer patient who worked or is currently working during cancer treatment or has since returned to work after taking a leave of absence.
We're looking for you.
If you're wanting to share your thoughts on how to support other people navigating cancer and employment, please reach out.
a one-time focus group.
So there are 90 minutes each.
Again, the first one will be July 10th.
That's a Friday from 10 to 1130.
And the other one will be Monday, August 17th from 5.30 to 7.
And you'll come one time, get some food.
sharing in some conversations and we do offer reimbursement for your time so each person will get $75 for the 90 minutes that they're there.
If you're interested feel free to reach out to me or either
by email my email is hfrihfry at whisk.edu wisc.edu or you can give me a call and that's 608-513-6961 and we can go from there to see if you're a good fit for for the focus group or and which which day would be best for you but
Wonderful.
And if someone is interested in Gilda's Club of Wisconsin, certainly you have lots of things out in socials about that as well.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Just look up Gilda's Club of Wisconsin and you'll find us.
And it's again, quick and painless to become a member and then you have access to all the support services and can attend those virtual meetings or in person again, if you're interested.
Even family members.
Cancer's not a prerequisite for you individually, if you're a family member, a caregiver or whatever.
Yeah,
yeah.
Yep.
A friend, family member, son, daughter, parent, whoever.
Sibling, yeah.
Great.
Well, keep up the good work.
It's nice to meet you.
Thank you, Phil.
Yeah, you too.
Hannah Fry joining us here representing the Wisconsin Center for Education, Carbone Center, Cancer Center in Madison, and the Gildes Club of Wisconsin on today's morning show.