More than a year ago, NCC brought together partners from across the state to form a task force focusing on survivorship and palliative care. That first meeting was a hit, and partners were thrilled to be working together on a portion of the cancer continuum that's so vital yet we felt was a weak point for our state. Shortly after, NCC staff and our counterpart at the State of Nevada Comprehensive Cancer Control Program attended the National Cancer Survivorship Research Conference in Washington D.C. and learned that Nevada wasn't behind at all.

“It is the best thing you will ever do for yourself. And the trainers—they are amazing. They are just great no matter what type of cancer you have. They’re just great! It’s a huge resource.”

“A lot of it is recuperative care rather than just muscle building.”

These are just a few of the comments shared with NCC during our survivor focus groups, each praising the Cancer Rehabilitation Program at the Saint Mary’s Fitness Center in Reno.

During Spring 2017 NCC hosted a series of focus groups with cancer survivors to learn more about their experiences: both negative and positive. One program that elicited positive feedback which resulted in several participants planning to enroll in the program was Cancer: Thriving and Surviving. This evidence-based six-week workshop developed by the Stanford University School of Medicine is offered in both Reno and Las Vegas. Our hope is that with greater enrollment the program could spread to additional communities and locations throughout the state.

My name is Sharon Nagel. I am a survivor of two different cancers.

I was diagnosed with the first cancer in 1979 when I was 23 years old. One morning I awoke with an egg-sized lump in my neck that turned out to be thyroid cancer. I was a single mother of two children under 5 years old and had no insurance. After two surgeries and countless medical bills, I had to file bankruptcy because I was unable to work for almost a year.

Have you ever been reading a report on cancer or looked for cancer data and when you got to Nevada you found that there was footnote, “Data not available”? Usually this is joined by, “Rates are not shown if the state did not meet USCS publication criteria or if the state did not submit data to the CDC.”

by Christine Thompson

Most of us of Nevadans – nearly 85 percent to be exact – don’t smoke. We appreciate working and eating and being entertained in the clean air environments that (most) workplaces and public venues are required by state law to provide. Some companies go even further to explicitly prohibit tobacco use and/or vaping in company vehicles, on company grounds, or during work-related events.

June 4 is National Cancer Survivors Day, an opportunity to focus on celebrating the many cancer survivors, recognizing the abundance of life after cancer, and promoting quality of life for anyone diagnosed with cancer. We’re using the day to kick off a full month of posts and information about cancer survivorship, starting with LIVESTRONG at the Y.

First, Michael Wranick shares his LIVESTRONG at the Y story. Scroll down after Michael’s story to read more about the LIVESTRONG at the Y program.

by Christine Thompson

Most of us of Nevadans – nearly 85 percent to be exact – don’t smoke. We appreciate working and eating in the clean air environments that (most) workplaces and public venues are required by state law to provide. Some companies go even further to explicitly prohibit tobacco use and/or vaping in company vehicles, on company grounds, or during work-related events.

Students at Lucille S. Rogers Elementary School will be made in the shade on the school’s playground with the recent donation of seven shade trees, plus an additional $3,000 to purchase more. The donations were provided as part of the school’s involvement with the Sun Smart Schools program, a statewide sun safety and skin cancer prevention program for students in pre-K through 12^th grade. The trees will be dedicated at a school assembly Thursday, May 11 at 10:55 a.m.

Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month kicks off May 1 with Melanoma Monday, and continues throughout the month to encourage sun safety and skin cancer prevention.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, the number of Americans who have had skin cancer at some point in the last three decades is estimated to be higher than the number for all other cancers combined. And melanoma has become one of the most common cancers among the nation’s adolescents and young adults.