This newsletter was created by our team of oncologists and supportive service providers.

If you have a story idea, please let us know.

Free for Fall

The UVM Cancer Center supportive services team invites you to join these free integrative therapy programs - some of which kick off this month!

• Mindfulness Class (Free, Virtual): How it helps? Mindfulness, meditation, and relaxation tools reduce stress and anxiety, relieve symptoms, and encourage wellbeing for patients and caregivers. (Tuesdays, Sept. 13 - Nov. 1, 5:30-8 p.m.,  Link to Join)
• Weight Loss to Wellness Class (Free, Virtual): How it helps? Maintaining a healthy weight can help prevent some cancer recurrence and chronic health problems. (Wednesdays, Sept. 14 - Dec. 7, 6-7 p.m., Link to Inquiry Form) 
• Yoga Class (Free, Virtual): How it helps? This mind-body practice helps increase mobility, balance, and strength and decrease stress, anxiety, depression, and fatigue. (Join anytime - Wednesdays at Noon, Link to Join)
• Steps to Wellness (Free*, Virtual or In-Person): How it helps? A medically-based, supervised exercise program, through cardio and strength training you will regain stamina and decrease fatigue. (*12-week program is free, initial evaluation is billed to insurance, Link to Join)

Beginning this fall, acupuncture will be offered at no cost to inpatient hematology and oncology patients at the UVM Medical Center thanks to a new grant from the Victoria Buffum Fund. 

Learn more about the benefits of acupuncture to patients with cancer. 

The 25th annual Women's Health and Cancer Conference brings together patients, caregivers, clinical providers, and community members.

Join us to learn more about treatments, integrative therapies, and how the science has changed (and where it's going next). 

Do you have numbness, tingling, burning, or other symptoms in your hands or feet from your recent chemotherapy treatments? If so, you might have nerve damage called "neuropathy". 

This new clinical study uses close remote monitoring of symptoms so that treatment can be given as soon as it becomes necessary and can be adjusted as the symptoms change.  

What does your gut bacteria have to do with your cancer treatment? "Plenty," says Kim Dittus, MD who offers this recipe for Spicy Kimchi Slaw. 

"What we eat influences what bugs are found in our GI tract and in turn the impact of immunotherapy," said Dittus who is an oncologist at the Medical Center. "A high-quality diet rich in plant fiber also suggests a better response to immunotherapy."

Irene's Story 

When Irene Farrar was diagnosed with cancer, her husband, Steve, returned to painting.

The painting project, along with other steps the couple took, offer clues for how patients and caregivers can survive the emotional trauma of a cancer diagnosis.