Tag: Cancer

with Danielle Ferris, MS, OTR/L, CLT

45-minute Group Exercise class. Pump It Up PINK! Features a full body workout set to upbeat music. Using The Strength ABC program, based on the PAL Trial, participants will participate in progressive weightlifting through a series of core, upper body and lower body exercises using light weights. Exercises involve mat work on the floor level and in standing. Modifications to exercises are available based on individual needs. Following the class, participants will participate in informal education session with tips for management of lymphedema, risk reduction tips and Q&A.

Pump It Up PINK! Is a 45 minute full body group exercise class created from the Strength ABC program. The Strength ABC program is based on the Physical Activity and Lymphedema (PAL) Trial which assessed the safety and efficacy of slowly progressive weightlifting for breast cancer survivors with or at risk for lymphedema. The results of the PAL trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology among other peer-reviewed scientific journals. This weightlifting intervention decreased lymphedema exacerbations by 50%; decreased the onset of lymphedema by 70% (among women with 5+ nodes removed); improved body composition, body image, and upper body symptoms; and prevented the decline in physical function that is observed to occur in breast cancer survivors.

Upcoming Classes:

  • March 11

Suggested Donation: $10

 

About Danielle Ferris, MS, OTR/L, CLT

Danielle Ferris is an Occupational Therapist with a speciality in oncology rehabilitation. She provides one on one treatment sessions to clients at Body Wellness DC in Dupont Circle. She has experience in evaluating and treating differential diagnosis related to pre/post breast cancer treatments. Danielle is recognized by the Norton School of Lymphatic Therapy as a Certified Lymphedema Therapist (CLT). She has also completed training through Klose Training related to breast cancer rehabilitation, and is certified to implement and train individuals in the Strength After Breast Cancer exercise program.

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom.

with Deidre Orceyre, ND, MSOM, L.Ac.

Dr. Orceyre is offering short (30m), healthy living consultations for members of the Smith Center community who may be unable to access medical integrative services in a clinical setting due to cost limitations. By Appointment Only.

Naturopathic Consultations are offered in 30-minute sessions, monthly on Thursdays from 5:00-7:00pm. By appointment only. Please call (202) 483-8600 or email programs@smithcenter.org to schedule an appointment.

Suggested Donation: $10-$40 on a sliding-scale basis

Priority will be given to participants scheduling their first appointment.

Upcoming Dates:

  • March 26
  • April 16
  • May 7
  • June 25

 

About Deirdre Orceyre, ND, MSOM, L.Ac.

Dr. Deirdre Orceyre is a Naturopathic Physician and Acupuncturist with over 10 years in clinical practice in Washington DC. She specializes in integrative oncology, thyroid, adrenal, women’s health (and more) using diet, naturopathic lifestyle and supplement recommendations.

Dr. Deirdre Orceyre, ND, MSOM, L.Ac., is a graduate of the National College of Natural Medicine, a leading institution in natural health education in the U.S. In 2004, she graduated cum laude with a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and a Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine. Following her medical training, Dr. Orceyre participated for two years in a full-time residency program focusing on internal naturopathic medicine, with special rotations in women’s health, endocrinology and integrative cancer care. Dr. Orceyre has undergone extensive national examinations and is a board certified licensed naturopathic physician and licensed acupuncturist in the District of Columbia.

Dr. Orceyre currently sees patients at GWCIM on Monday afternoons, and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. In addition, twice a  month she works at the GW Breast Center. She offers both naturopathic office visits and acupuncture for her patients. She welcomes patients with all conditions, with the  goal to work with the patients to determine the causes of their imbalance. Dr. Orceyre sees herself as a guide and a coach, with the patient being the true healer. She uses many treatment modalities, such as nutrition and lifestyle modifications, nutritional supplementation, Western and Chinese herbal medicines, acupuncture, flower essences, homeopathy, qigong healing and craniosacral therapies.

with Deidre Orceyre, ND, MSOM, L.Ac.

Dr. Orceyre is offering short (30m), healthy living consultations for members of the Smith Center community who may be unable to access medical integrative services in a clinical setting due to cost limitations. By Appointment Only.

Naturopathic Consultations are offered in 30-minute sessions, monthly on Thursdays from 5:00-7:00pm. By appointment only. Please call (202) 483-8600 or email programs@smithcenter.org to schedule an appointment.

Suggested Donation: $10-$40 on a sliding-scale basis

Priority will be given to participants scheduling their first appointment.

Upcoming Dates:

  • February 13
  • March 26

 

About Deirdre Orceyre, ND, MSOM, L.Ac.

Dr. Deirdre Orceyre is a Naturopathic Physician and Acupuncturist with over 10 years in clinical practice in Washington DC. She specializes in integrative oncology, thyroid, adrenal, women’s health (and more) using diet, naturopathic lifestyle and supplement recommendations.

Dr. Deirdre Orceyre, ND, MSOM, L.Ac., is a graduate of the National College of Natural Medicine, a leading institution in natural health education in the U.S. In 2004, she graduated cum laude with a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and a Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine. Following her medical training, Dr. Orceyre participated for two years in a full-time residency program focusing on internal naturopathic medicine, with special rotations in women’s health, endocrinology and integrative cancer care. Dr. Orceyre has undergone extensive national examinations and is a board certified licensed naturopathic physician and licensed acupuncturist in the District of Columbia.

Dr. Orceyre currently sees patients at GWCIM on Monday afternoons, and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. In addition, twice a  month she works at the GW Breast Center. She offers both naturopathic office visits and acupuncture for her patients. She welcomes patients with all conditions, with the  goal to work with the patients to determine the causes of their imbalance. Dr. Orceyre sees herself as a guide and a coach, with the patient being the true healer. She uses many treatment modalities, such as nutrition and lifestyle modifications, nutritional supplementation, Western and Chinese herbal medicines, acupuncture, flower essences, homeopathy, qigong healing and craniosacral therapies.

with Johnathan Gilbert, L.Ac., NCCAOM

Nearly two thousand years ago a series of Chinese medical classics were written with the idea of not only treating illness but also exploring our place and meaning in the world. In this lecture Jonathan Gilbert will be looking at a few of these ideas and images and explain how they can be relevant to our lives today.

 

About Johnathan Gilbert, L.Ac., NCCAOM

Photo of Jonathan Gilbert, Acupuncturist

Mr. Gilbert’s journey into Asian philosophy began with martial arts at the age of 9. By 13 he began training in movement and meditation at the Kitaido School of Movement in England, under the guidance of Head Instructor Ken Waight. From the ages of 16-18 Jonathan also studied Shiatsu massage, a Japanese form of healing, and earned his diploma from the British School of Oriental Therapy and Movement in 1988.

In 1991, Jonathan Gilbert enrolled at the London Academy of Oriental Medicine London (LAOM), England, one of the foremost schools of Oriental Medicine in Europe. Graduating from the Vietnamese school in 1995, Mr. Gilbert pursued a masters study in “Stems and Branches Theory” with world-renowned Professor Truong Thin, the Director of Traditional Medicine for South Vietnam. Jonathan lived in Vietnam while completing his post-graduate training at The Traditional Medical Institute (TMI), a 500-bed state teaching hospital Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. At TMI, Jonathan worked in collaboration with Western-trained medical doctors, observing the blending of Oriental Medicine with Western medicine.

Jonathan’s first private practice as an Oriental Medicine physician began in London in 1996. In 1998, he moved to the United States and eventually set up practices in Towson, MD, and Arlington, VA. Board-certified in the U.S. in both acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM), Mr. Gilbert has served as the Senior Consultant of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Center for Integrative Medicine at University of Maryland in Baltimore.

Jonathan’s passion for creating an integrated medical clinic came to fruition in 2005, with the opening of The Gilbert Clinic in the Bethesda area, near Washington, D.C. The clinic blended Western Medicine with TCM and psychotherapy by using traditional Asian medical principles. For 5 years this model proved incredibly powerful in the treatment of chronic illness.

Since 2011, The Gilbert Clinic’s focus has been dedicated to providing excellent traditional Vietnamese / Chinese herbology and acupuncture, Jonathan’s Gilbert’s expertise and passion.

with Ravenna Raven & Jenny Hegland

Join poets Ravenna Raven and Jenny Hegland for a 5-15 minute conversation as they write custom poems that are composed, typewritten, and given to each participant.

Participants can arrive anytime between 12:00 and 3:00pm and wait their turn for a conversation with one of the poets. Tea and water are always available in the Nook while you wait.

About the poets

Ravenna Raven is a poet, educator, and sewing artist living in Washington, D.C. She spent her childhood in a 250-year-old farmhouse in rural New Jersey, reading and writing stories to entertain herself. While studying poetry as a graduate student at the University of Maryland, she began developing and teaching courses for creative writing, reading development, and inquiry research. Ravenna is a listener poet with a nonprofit that promotes good listening in hospitals and healing spaces while supporting patient and staff wellbeing and the humanization of healthcare. Her upcoming projects will combine her love of language with a passion for sewing and garment design to create custom, one-of-a-kind wearable poems.

Jenny is a creative facilitator, coach, and social entrepreneur whose life’s work centers around community engagement, participatory leadership, and social justice. She moved to the greater DC area in 2018 after living in Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands) for three years, where she co-founded and led two disaster recovery nonprofits. Prior to that she worked in higher education for 10 years as a counselor, instructor, and partnership liaison. She holds a M.S. in counseling and a B.S. in communications.

Registration for the October 8 class is now full. If you would like to be added to the waitlist for this event, please email erin@smithcenter.org.

in Partnership with Sephora

Through this free, hands-on class for cancer patients and survivors, learn soothing skincare routines and make up tricks to help restore glow, and the appearance of brows and lashes that may be affected by cancer treatment. The goal is to leave the class feeling confident and empowered and there is no expectation for you to purchase products.

Location: Sephora Capitol Hill, 380 7th St SE, Washington, DC 20003

Upcoming Dates: 

  • October 8
  • October 15

Note: This class is limited to 6 participants. Priority registration will go to new participants that did not attend in spring 2019.

This class is now full. Please call (202) 483-8600 for any inquiries.

with Chef Kara Garrett

A healthy diet doesn’t mean you always have to skip the dessert! Join Chef Kara to explore wholesome and nutritious holiday desserts to enjoy without the guilt. Learn about sugar’s impact on your body, how to make healthier sugar substitutes in your desserts, and participate in a hands-on baking class of delicious vegan recipes to share with your family & friends. This is a great introductory class for anyone interested in learning the basics of vegan and/or gluten-free baking recipes.

Topics we will cover:

  • Substituting refined sugar for more natural sources such as fruits, honey, maple syrup, succanat, and coconut sugar
  • Replacing eggs with flax/chia seeds, fruit puree, and other alternatives
  • Tips for selecting butter and dairy milk replacements
  • Tips for baking with gluten-free flour blends

Menu*:

  • Jam-Filled Rugelach
  • Cinnamon-Spiced Baked Apples
  • Gingerbread Cake
  • Cranberry-Walnut Scones
    *Menu subject to change based on ingredient availability and class size. All recipes will be vegan. Some recipes may contain gluten and/or nuts. Please alert us to any allergies when registering for the class.

Suggested Donation: $25

This class is limited to 12 participants. Please sign up early to reserve your seat!

About Chef Kara Garrett

Kara is a health-supportive chef based in Washington, DC. Following her breast cancer diagnosis in 2013, she embraced the challenge of finding a balance between her foodie lifestyle and eating well with cancer. She has adopted a flexible diet plan that focuses on plant-based, sustainable whole foods, but does not restrict indulgences of things she loves. She is passionate about working with others to encourage healthier food choices that energize the body and the soul.

Kara graduated in August 2017 from the Chef Training Program at Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC and spent one month as the sous chef at The Ananda Ashram Yoga Society of New York in Monroe, NY. She is currently enrolled in the Developing Healthy Communities: Nutrition, Behavior, and Physical Activity graduate program at Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

with Priya Shamsundar, NP

Please join us for an engaging presentation that reviews palliative care medicine as a medical specialty that improves quality of life and helps to relieve symptoms at home for people of any age, at any stage of an advanced illness, whether that illness is curable, chronic, or life limiting. The underlying premise of this discussion is supported by the belief there should be a holistic and spiritual infusion with approach to conventional medicine.

About Priya Shamsundar

Priya Shamsundar is a Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner that works with Capital Caring. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Stony Brook University and her Master’s degree from Pace University in 2013. Her specialties include Urology, Pain Management and of course Palliative Care. Her aim as a Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner is to provide holistic care with a collaborative approach to patients with chronic and long term illnesses such as cancer and end stage illnesses. She is well versed in initiating discussions that address advance care planning and insight to questions that may arise when dealing with any chronic or long term prognosis. She currently cares for patients in the community of the District of Columbia and is one of the only Palliative Care providers that makes home visits. She continues to show commitment to her patients with hopes that her expertise will ease the journey and anxieties that comes along with managing a chronic or life impacting illness.

This event has been postponed until the Spring 2020 season. Please check back for new dates in the spring!

Participants are expected to attend both classes, beginning on Saturday, October 26th. Please click here to register for this series.

with Kay Chernush

A 2-day photography immersion designed to help participants see with new eyes and in new ways, and to improve their picture-taking skills.
The course is designed for people living with cancer and facing the chaos, uncertainty and fear that that disease or any life-threatening disease brings. Armed with cameras, participants will begin a process of learning “how to see,” gaining new understandings of themselves and the possibilities around them. The workshop will help you discover your “inner eye,” tap into your own creativity and to look at things from different perspectives. Subjects for discussion, reflection and shooting might include:
• Point of View
• Facing Another
• Stop Action, Pan and Blur
• Shallow and Deep
• Shadows and Reflections
• Beauty and the Unbeautiful

Participants are asked to bring their own lunches. Digital point-and-shoot camera will be provided if you do not have one.

About Kay Chernush

Kay Chernush is an award-winning photographer with more than 30 years experience in commercial and fine art photography.  Based in the Washington, DC area, her assignments have taken her all over the world   for major magazines, Fortune 500 corporations, and both nonprofit and governmental agencies. Her fine art work includes an exploration of prejudice and empathy, “The Us & The They,” and a series of self-portraits entitled “Self-Examination,” a meditation in words and images of her experience with breast cancer.

Kay earned a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and was the recipient of a Fulbright grant to India. Prior to becoming a professional photographer, she worked for the New Yorker Magazine, the New York Times Paris bureau, the Peace Corps and the US Agency for International Development.  It was while on an assignment for the Peace Corps in West Africa that she fell in love with photography.  Self-taught, she considers her career an on-going process of learning how to see.

In 2005 an assignment for the U.S. State Department brought her face to face with the evils of human trafficking and modern slavery. Challenged and appalled by this gross human rights atrocity, Kay began working with individual survivors and anti-trafficking organizations in cities around the world. The innovative approach she developed uses collaged and constructed imagery to dignify trafficked persons and re-frame how their stories are portrayed.

Kay founded ArtWorks for Freedom in July 2011. A unique non-profit organization that uses the power of art in the fight against human trafficking, ArtWorks for Freedom builds awareness, amplifies the voices of survivors, and inspires anti-trafficking activism against this worldwide crime against humanity.

Her fine art work is included in the permanent collections of the World Bank, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and the National Institutes of Health, private collections both in this country and abroad, and has been exhibited widely in solo and juried group shows.

Kay’s images can be viewed at www.kaychernush.com and www.artworksforfreedom.org

 

Participants are encouraged to attend all 4 classes, beginning on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Please click here to register for this series.

with Stacie Marinelli

October 30, 6:30-8:00pm – Poetry Performance!

Please join us in hearing and supporting the poetry developed throughout this month-long workshop by our fantastic participants. All are welcome. Free to attend.

Having cancer brings up so many new emotions and its trials test our stamina and strength. Writing about what we go through can release some of the trauma and allow us to view our path with new eyes. This is a four-session writing workshop for writers at all levels that will culminate in a reading of our work. Together we will share what we have to say about living with cancer from diagnosis to survivorship and generate new work through spontaneous writing using various prompts. Bring a notebook or laptop to the sessions.

Suggested Donation: $30 (includes all 4 classes)

Our programs are open to the community, and tailored to meet the needs of people affected by cancer. Classes and workshops are free or low cost on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring that our programs are accessible to everyone.

About Stacie Marinelli

Stacie Marinelli is a local writer, researcher and storyteller who became involved with the Smith Center after her diagnosis of tongue & neck cancer in 2012. Words about the experience tumbled out in journal entries and poems which allowed her to better accept her cancer. She has blogged about her sense of community during cancer treatment and on being a peer mentor for the cancer-support group Imerman Angels. In Boston and DC, she led workshops on writing practice based on the books of Natalie Goldberg, on writing about one’s life as a heroic journey, and on creative memoir. She served as the managing editor of a New England storytelling newsletter for many years and her writing and editing work includes poems and articles published in anthologies and magazines.