Building a Community Around Cancer

Cancer Support Sonoma

By David Bolling

Cancer is the Bad Boy of human disease, arriving on a chopped Harley in a studded, black leather jacket, staring right at you as you try to avert your gaze, a big red ‘C’ on the back of his vest which you try not to look at.

Cancer is Voldemort, he who shall not be named.

Cancer is the shadow in the corner of the closet in your mind waiting for you to open the door and shout BOO!!!

Or it was.

Cancer may still be the second leading death-dealing disease in the United States (heart disease is number one), but the odds of it killing you have steadily declined.

According to the American Cancer Society, the cancer death rate in the U.S. has dropped by 34 percent since 1991. And five year survival rates have improved from 49 percent in the mid-1970s to 68 percent as of 2023.

The reasons are many and varied, but early detection is a major one, along with increasingly sophisticated use of new treatments, better drugs and, let’s face it, a lot fewer Americans are smoking.

And another reason for the decline in mortality may have something to do with the emergence of cancer support networks, agencies and nonprofits for cancer patients at every point of their cancer-defined journey. Places like Cancer Support Sonoma.

Kara Adanalian is a Sonoma graphic designer who celebrated her tenth anniversary of being cancer free on February 26. She is now 68. It was a major celebratory milestone because cancer had cast a shadow on her life since she found a breast lump at the age of 15.

That happened again when she was 16, and again at 17, when she had four lumps removed, and more when she was 21. Then, in 2014, a breast MRI revealed three lumps together, and then more growths in her lymph nodes. It was cancer, Stage II, requiring an aggressive response. That meant a single mastectomy followed by six months of chemotherapy and then weeks of radiation therapy that was both nauseating and blistered her skin with red and purple patches. “I looked like a Hiroshima victim,” she says.

If you’re not familiar with breast cancer treatment, you’re now saying to yourself, wow, good thing that’s over. But it was not.

Because, as Kara discovered, a final precautionary measure required taking an oral dose of Arimidex, an aromatase inhibitor to reduce estrogen production. The standard protocol is a pill a day, every day, for five years. The typical side effects? According to breastcancer.org, they include, hot flashes, weakness, joint pain, sore throat, high blood pressure, depression, nausea, vomiting and at least half a dozen other unpleasant reactions.

Kara Adanalian’s experience isn’t a perfect template for every woman’s breast cancer experience, but it touches most of the bases and reveals a universe of treatments, challenges, remedies and adverse reactions that men never experience and most are not unaware of.

For Kara, Cancer Support Sonoma filled a void of information, support, encouragement and inspiration that was literally transformative.

“It changed my life for the better,” says Adanalian, who discovered the organization toward the tail-end of her cancer treatment. “I’ve met so many amazing people, I’ve learned how to take care of myself. The support in the cancer community was incredible.”

To be clear, Cancer Support Sonoma is not just focused on breast cancer, and is not just for women. It offers a menu of services to fulfill the organization’s eloquent mission, “to physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually support people in our community who are facing cancer treatment, celebrating recovery or entering their end of life due to cancer. We accomplish this by providing integrative, complementary therapies on a sliding scale.​”

Those services include massage, reflexology, oncology yoga, community acupuncture (available to anyone, with or without cancer), naturapathic consultation, ayurveda consultation, ayurveda reflexology, Jin Shen Jyutsu, medical chigong, biodynamic craniosacral therapy, individual counseling, in-person support groups, and an end of life Doula providing emotional, physical and spiritual support.

CSS also connects clients with the broader universe of community resources, like the Ceres Community Project that delivers organic meals tailored for patients with chronic illnesses; the North Bay Cancer Alliance and four other hospital-based cancer support programs. All the CSS services are offered on a sliding scale fee structure, and no one is turned away.

All the practitioners providing services are experienced in oncology care, and are certified, licensed and veteran healers in their respective disciplines.

CSS has its roots in a three-year research partnership between the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation and the North Bay Cancer Alliance to assess the effects of complementary therapies on cancer patients. When the study came to an end, patients and care providers all asked for the program to continue.

It has since transitioned through a series of offices to a spacious suite on First Street West just off the Sonoma Plaza. During much of its gestational growth, Cancer Support Sonoma was led by the energy, vision and sheer determination of Teri Adolfo, a pro bono executive director who doubled as a gifted practitioner with a Master’s degree in community health and organizational development, as well s a master’s degree n traditional Chinese medicine and a certified Ayurveda Practitioner.

“Teri,” says Kara Adanalian, “is a powerhouse, a five-foot-tall bulldozer. If it weren’t for Teri, none of this would be happening.”

Former Board Chair Chris Argenziano says the public should understand an important quality about Cancer Support Sonoma. “This group is not just about cancer,” she says. “It’s about your life, and getting through it. It’s about support groups for the whole family. It’s real support, not just treatment. You’re here for health and support. And all the providers here have skin in the game.”

And speaking of skin, Kara Adanalian, ever the graphic designer, decided to use some of hers as a symbolic declaration of her survival, growth and emerging enlightenment by designing a tattoo to cover the scarred and tortured canvas of her chest.

The design was applied by a local tattoo artist over the course of three very painful hours, a consequence of all the scarred skin. The pain, she says, was utterly worth every minute.

“It is,” she explains with deep reverence, “one of the most transformative experiences I’ve ever gone through.”

Cancer Support Sonoma is kicking off a 10-Year Anniversary WalkAThon With A Purpose on April 12, that will extend to June 21. The activity is both a classic fundraiser and a way to honor loved ones, support community members dealing with cancer and a celebration of life. Walkers can join walking teams, or just start walking on their own, keeping track of miles and dollars pledged. Participants can join an official kick-off April 12 with a free, guided, 2.5-mile walk at Jack London State Park from 9 to 11 a.m. Then, on June 21, there will be a last-mile celebration at Catarina Gardens, in Sangiacomo Family Vineyards, with food vendors, wellness offerings, information tables, and of course wine.

For more information go to cancersupportsonoma.org. To access their services, call 707.509.3549, or drop in at 585 First Street West, Sonoma.

Photo by Steven Krause