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Cancer survivor clinic planned

BY KAREN SHIDELER

The Wichita Eagle

A new Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinic could begin offering services and support to patients by early next year.

The clinic, which will help patients return to normal life, is a partnership of the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita and the Mid-Kansas Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

It will be patterned after a similar clinic at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. That clinic opened in November, and Peggy Johnson of the Mid-Kansas Affiliate said it already has a waiting list.

The Wichita clinic will focus on services a woman -- or man -- needs after treatment. That may include helping women deal with the loss of a vital body part or with family issues, Johnson said. It also will help provide access to clinical trials to prevent recurrence of breast cancer and will provide support groups, information on exercise and conditioning, and nutritional advice.

Oncologist Tom Schulz said, "We won't be taking care of them. We'll just be focusing on these issues" and working with the patients' oncologists and primary-care doctors. Schulz is an assistant professor at the medical school and the first recipient of its Gaines Professorship to boost cancer research.

Schulz said the clinic's location hasn't been determined, but it probably won't be associated with a cancer treatment facility.

Much of the initial funding will come from the sale of the KSN Dream House for the Cure, being built in the Oaks Golf Course Community in Derby. Proceeds from the sale will go to the Mid-Kansas Affiliate, which has committed to using a significant portion of the money for the clinic.

The Survivorship Clinic was announced along with Mid-Kansas Affiliate grant recipients for 2007-2008. The Sedgwick County Health Department will get $73,800 for its Early Detection Works initiative; the Reno County Health Department will get $2,500 for its Breast Cancer Project; and the state Early Detection Works program will get $138,000.

Other recipients are the Clay County Health Department, the Crawford County Health Department, United Methodist Mexican-American Ministries in Garden City and Via Christi Outreach in McPherson.

Grant money comes mostly from the annual Race for the Cure. This year's is Sept. 27.

For more information about the Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinic, call the Mid-Kansas Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure at 316- 683-8510.

Reach Karen Shideler at 316-268-6674 or kshideler@wichitaeagle.com.