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Pictures of Health: Art Can Help Cancer Patients Cope

Posted on: Monday, 27 March 2006, 06:00 CST

The plainly dressed woman depicted in the drawing has short red hair and is weighed down by the six bags she lugs. Clothing falls from the suitcase in her right hand.

Beside it, the same woman now wears red socks. She's dressed like a superhero and has a lightning bolt across her chest that's as bright as the smile on her face.

It's the gray-haired woman with the red socks, deemed "cartoon me" by Leslie Giordano, that best represents her life after treatment for large-B-cell lymphoma, or cancer of the immune system.

"I didn't realize it until afterwards, but whenever I went for treatment or to a doctor visit, I would wear red socks," said Giordano, 61, of Milwaukee. "To me, it became a sign of strength and tenacity to remind me that I could beat this."

Giordano is among cancer patients who use art therapy to cope with their diagnosis and treatment.

Many hospitals offer workshops. Some also offer individual sessions and group workshops with family or friends of cancer patients.

"There are no judgments about the technical aspects," said Jyl Brentano, a graduate student at Mount Mary College who is interning an art therapist at Froedtert hospital.

"The value can come from throwing around color or making a collage or just through being around other patients," she said. "It's just about expressing yourself through another medium, not about being a Picasso."

Although the idea of using art to ease feelings of hopelessness or distress is not new, its effectiveness compared with traditional support groups is not clearly understood.

However, more and more studies published in specialized cancer journals _ including Psychooncology and the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management _ are finding that art can improve quality of life by providing an outlet for patients to express their feelings about what's happening to them.

"Art therapy is a means of expressing yourself without having to talk," said Ruth Seider, an art therapist with St. Luke's. "By using simple lines, shapes and colors, patients can express things that are held inside them, things that could help them heal."

Still, the thought of drawing or using collage may seem intimidating to many.

"I'm no good at it, so I just did clippings," said Bill Mundt, 72, of Butler, Wis.

Mundt was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2004.

He opted for surgical removal of his tumors, followed by radiation.

Mundt, who says his faith keeps his spirits high, had never considered art therapy until he received an invitation to take classes last summer at a five-week session sponsored by Froedtert and the Medical College and Community Memorial Hospital, where he was treated.

"It was such an inspiration," he said. "I was there with gals who had their heads shaved, some who had one breast, some who had thyroid cancer _ I just felt like I really didn't belong in this class because of my lousy prostate cancer, because it didn't really compare to what the girls in there had been through."

Barbara Denton, an art therapist with Community Memorial, typically works with people who have alcohol and drug addictions.

She says that cancer patients pose a unique challenge.

"Cancer patients are much more reluctant to go into their pain; they want to be hopeful," she said. "They don't want to talk about their sadness."

However, it usually only takes one session to get patients to open up and share their thoughts and feelings with others in their group, she said.

"We always start by saying that you can't do anything wrong, that there are no mistakes," Denton said. "Fears are normal because this is a different way of doing things."

Earlier this month, Froedtert unveiled artwork created by Mundt, Giordano and 10 other participants in a display along the skywalk that connects its hospital and clinics.

St. Luke's also displays patients' art at the entrance of its Vince Lombardi Cancer Center.

For more information on art therapy workshops, call the Cancer Counseling Center at St. Luke's Medical Center at (414) 649-6018 or the Living with Cancer art project sponsored by Froedtert and Community Memorial at (414) 805-3666, option 2.

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(c) 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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