Conference Summary – GI Cancer Patient Summit Sponsored by Hope Connections and

GI Cancer Patient Summit Sponsored by Hope Connections and The Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers.

Date Attended -June 16, 2018
Location of Conference -Bethesda, MD
Attendee(s) -Jerilyn Christensen
Purpose for attending -CCF Representative

Identify 3-5 things you learned or highlights from the conference.

1 – According to the NCI there are 2.8 million caregivers in the United States. These caregivers spend an average of 30 hours per week with cancer patients. The following is some advise for caregivers:

Learn as much as you can about the disease from credible sources. Avoid “Dr. Google”. Information related gastrointestinal cancers is changing so rapidly that sources need to be within the past year;

Serve as another set of eyes and ears during doctor’s appointments. Provide the doctor with a copy of questions and assist in accurately communicating patient’s symptoms;

Make decisions together, but recognize that the ultimate treatment decision must be made by the patient;

Try to live life as normal as possible. Use physical, mental and breathing exercises to take a break from cancer. Recognize that having feelings of guilt is normal;

Accept help from others by being specific about one thing that could be taken off your plate; and

Consider journaling, participating in a support group or making web-based connections.

2 – The ABC’s of Relaxation Techniques includes: Awareness, Breathing, and Compassion:

Awareness – Mindfulness is being in the present. You are not in the present if you are worried about the past or the future. We need to practice being fascinated or seeing things like a child. Try to see yourself from a different perspective. Give your situation detail by considering what you see, hear, feel, or smell. Teach your brain to recognize tension and relaxation.

Breathing – Try rhythmic breathing to relax (breathe in for a count of 4, hold your breath for a count of 7 and breathe out for a count of 8);

Compassion – Don’t be so hard on yourself. Compassion does not mean that you are being selfish. Use an “act as if” approach.

3 – Cutting Edge Science Information – Immunotherapy in Combination with Chemotherapy, Precision Medicine or Targeted Therapies, Checkpoint Inhibitors with Another Drug

Researchers are trying to find better biomarkers that will indicate whether a patient will do well with immunotherapy.

The question is how to measure immunotherapy success. Does success mean that the tumor shrinks? Does success mean that the tumor stabilizes for a period? Should success be measured by how long a patient remains alive?

Any follow-up or actionable items? – The Ruesch Center will hold a conference on November 29-December 1, 2018

Is it worth attending next year/next time? – Yes

Any recommendations about who should attend next time or if there should be a specific agenda / questions to present / ask. – Cholangiocarcinoma patients living in the DC area

Rate your overall experience from 1 to 5, with 1 being not good and 5 being excellent. – 4.

Massive thanks to Jerilyn for attending the conference and for doing this report, thank you!

Gavin