The Caring Place an invaluable space
The smell always gets you. That clear, disinfectant odor of drugs mixed with fear. You can’t avoid it. There is no special corridor, no secret passageway, no singular escape by which to circumvent the scent.
Hospitals scare us this way. They always have.
“I’ve been through chemotherapy,” JD Fripp said. “I’ve been through radiation. I’ve been through a stem cell bone marrow transplant. I lie on that table every three months and stare across at someone who tells me if I’m going to live or die.
“I know all the smells that bring back the memories of a hospital, of waiting for those test results. And when you leave there after hours of chemotherapy, it is critical you have a place to come and focus on the mind, body and spirit part of your treatment. To get away from the anxiety and depression and confusion.
“This is that place.”
Fripp is executive director of The Caring Place, the realization of a dream born from a woman with cancer and a local oncologist intent on enhancing the quality of life for those diagnosed with the disease and family members who take the frightening journey with them.
Connie Bernstein felt that bolt of lightning when she was identified as having stage four breast cancer in 2003. Her son Wes was 4 at the time. Her husband, longtime boxing commentator Al Bernstein, couldn’t have imagined a tougher fight for someone to encounter.
But through the guidance of Dr. Mary Ann Allison, Connie learned ways to better cope with the treatment process. That through such methods as massage and yoga and Reiki and tai chi and art therapy, through the professional direction of nutritionists and psychologists, cancer also can be fought away from all the IV drips.
This is what happens at The Caring Place, a 4,000-square-foot nonprofit oasis of hope on Jones Boulevard. It opened 17 weeks ago and has already welcomed 700 cancer patients, ranging in age from 4 to 89. It is not a replacement for medical treatment, but rather a haven in which to heal spiritually.
It is free of charge, from the resource library to group exercise sessions to the educational seminars to countless other support services to the special room for children whose parents are ill.
Here’s the thing: It’s OK as sports fans to become fixated on where Brett Favre might take his next snap or to live and die with how you’re faring in the NCAA Tournament office pool or to spend hours arguing that critical and highly profound debate: Danica Patrick or Maria Sharapova?
It’s OK to be a little obsessed about the games we watch and the athletes who play them.
But perspective is the elixir that returns us to reality. What people such as the Bernsteins and Fripp and Dr. Allison and their board of directors have created reminds us how insignificant our passion for sports can be.
It’s why for the third straight year, KBAD-AM (1100) on Friday will broadcast a 24-hour radiothon from the Palms to benefit The Caring Place, why the Maloof family that evening will again host a reception and silent auction, why a company such as Ashley Furniture donates $50,000 of merchandise that defines the facility’s comfortable and serene setting.
Places like this matter, because the line of those breathing whose lives haven’t been touched by cancer is growing shorter than those purchasing SUVs.
“My career in broadcasting and entertainment has always been about pushing and advancing the agenda,” said Al Bernstein, his voice cracking through sobs. “Sure, you’re bringing joy to people. But in comparison to this, to helping change the lives of those with cancer in such a meaningful way. … It’s by far above anything I have ever done.”
His wife will always have cancer. She will show up for treatment every third week the rest of her life. She has had tumors on her breast and brain and ovaries and liver and pelvis. She has been to hell and back more than a few times.
“A friend once told me that I could live five years with bitterness in my heart or live one day with happiness,” Connie said. “I turn 50 on Aug. 3. No one thought I would make it except my doctor. My son is about to turn 9. God, I feel like I’m going to beat the cancer down. I’m here. I’m happy.
“To have a place like this to meet others in the same situation, for maybe just an hour go to a different place in your mind, away from the doctors and treatments and cancer …”
Her voice trailed off, her mind racing back to that terrifying smell.
Here’s the thing: Sports are fun to watch and debate. Places like this are invaluable to society.
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The Caring Place is located at 4425 S. Jones Blvd., Suite 1. For more information, call (702) 871-7333 or go to www.
thecaringplacenv.org.
Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.
