Cancer Support
Live better during and after cancer treatment thanks to Owensboro Health’s extensive support services for you and your family.
Support Groups
Owensboro Health Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center offers three professionally moderated topical support groups that are free and open to any individual diagnosed with cancer. Both groups meet monthly to focus on a topic relative to cancer care through guest speakers, activities and special events, but they’re each aimed at different audiences.
Warriors: Supporting Each Other One Day at a Time
The Warriors program is specifically for patients with advanced or metastatic cancer. The group meets on the third Thursday of each month from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center.
These cancer support groups exist to empower individuals as they navigate through the challenges of a cancer diagnosis. Research has shown that support groups improve the ability of patients to adjust and cope with their cancer diagnosis.
Support groups are known to:
- Improve the patient’s quality of life
- Build confidence
- Offer educational support
- Improve outcomes and treatment adherence
- Allow individuals to receive support from other survivors
If you have questions about the support groups or resources available, contact Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center Outpatient Counselor Heather Gray at 270-688-3675 or
Heather.Gray@OwensboroHealth.org, Oncology Nurse Navigator Colleen Brey at 270-688-3691 or Colleen.Brey@OwensboroHealth.org or Oncology Nurse Navigator Deanna Young at 270-688-3567 or Deanna.Young@OwensboroHealth.org.
Financial Aid
Ask your case manager or patient navigator about resources that make cancer care more affordable and accessible. You may qualify for:
- General financial assistance and counseling
- A grant from Owensboro Health Foundation’s medication fund, which provides short-term coverage of cancer medications
- Touched By Cancer Scholarship, which gives educational assistance to students who have experienced cancer
- Free mammograms for under-insured women, thanks to a grant from the Susan G. Komen Foundation Greater Evansville Affiliate
Survivorship Plan
After completing cancer treatment, ask your physician or patient navigator if a survivorship plan is available for your type of cancer. Your personalized plan will tell you:
- When to get certain tests and screenings in the coming years to monitor your health
- What healthy habits to adopt and maintain
- What cancer-related signs and symptoms to watch for
Your plan also will summarize your treatment and list your care providers. Share a copy of the document you receive with your primary care doctor and work with him or her to stay as healthy as possible long-term.
Comprehensive Cancer Support
Compassionate professionals in a variety of specialties can help you stay as healthy as possible in mind and body. Take advantage of:
- Behavioral Health Services – Assist you and your loved ones in coping with your condition
- Free Genetic Counseling – Helps you and your family understand your inherited risk of cancer, coordinate genetic testing and determine what screenings and preventive techniques would benefit you or your children
- Healthpark – Provides massage therapy, yoga, a warm-water therapy pool and more to help you feel better and reduce stress
- Heart and Lung Rehab – Build strength before and after surgeries, especially in the case of lung cancer
- Home Care – Offers nursing services, personal care, therapy and more in the place you feel most comfortable
- Lymphedema Therapy – Manages swelling that may result from cancer or some cancer treatments
- Nutrition Counseling – Guides you in choosing nutritious, easy-to-eat foods
- Pain Management - Uses medications,
injections and other treatments to relieve discomfort - Pastoral Care – Offers spiritual advice and comfort
- Physical therapy – Helps you gain strength,
energy and mobility during or after treatment - Smoking Cessation – Give strategies for kicking the habit and improving your body’s ability to fight cancer
- Speech-Language Therapy – Teaches you how to communicate and swallow better, especially after cancer affecting your head, mouth or neck