Women create support
center for cancer patients

CORRECTION Saturday, January 22, 2005 » For information on the Turning Point Cancer Center, call 223-2533 or 291-3540. An article Thursday on Page A6 had an incorrect number. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

A Turning Point Cancer Center has been established by four women to help patients respond to cancer.

The center also is offering services to people caring for others. A second quarterly "Healing the Healers" seminar will start at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at Pohai Nani Retirement Community.

Organizers of the new nonprofit organization are Cheryl Lathan, breast cancer survivor; Suzanne Kosanke, a non-Hodgkins lymphoma survivor; Louise James, whose husband died last year of a brain tumor; and Laura Crites, former executive director of the Family Peace Center.

Crites said she became interested in a new resource to support cancer patients and their families after talking to a group of them last spring.

"All of them wanted someone to talk with about what they were feeling, and they all wanted more information on what they could do to actively participate in their own healing process."

She said the center offers services not available at the American Cancer Society or through support groups. They include individual counseling and home visits by James and herself, both experienced counselors, she said.

She said the center's name reflects the belief that cancer can be a turning point to a healthier, more balanced life.

She said the new center will begin a 10-session discussion group in February focusing on the concept of cancer as "a hero's journey."

The workshop "Healing the Healers" is dedicated to the needs of caregivers and health professionals.

The fee of $149 per person for the retreat, including lunch, is reduced to $120 for a group of two or more people.

One of the co-chairs of the Turning Point Cancer Center advisory board is Dr. Joni Kroll, former president of the Hawaii Acupuncture Association and founder of Kailua Acupuncture Clinic.

Kroll noted that she lost her father to cancer and has a "personal as well as a professional interest and desire to see that cancer patients and families of people with cancer have access to the resources to integrate all therapies available."

For more information on the Turning Point Cancer Center, call 233-2533 or 291-3540, or see www.turningpointcancercenter.com.

For more information on the healing workshop or to register, call 941-8253 or e-mail a registration form off the Web site.