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More than 15,000 patients have turned to Looking Forward over the years. And it has grown.
The “boutique” once crammed into a tiny office stacked high with hats, scarves, fliers and
books, is now a spacious shop in the
McGivney Center lobby. The program, originally staffed by volunteers, now has a full-time
manager with an office for private counseling. Looking Forward also now offers yoga classes,
breast prostheses fittings, nutrition workshops and many other programs.
Forward growth
Looking Forward’s Life Enhancement Group has been one of the biggest comforts to Old Lyme
resident Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager, who by age 38 had been diagnosed with cancer three times.
click here to link to Laura's survivor story in
Better health
Life Enhancement is a wellness program
that incorporates healing rituals and relaxation training with patients’ spiritual beliefs.
“It’s been a unique experience. The group not only offers friendships and support, but a
spiritual dimension. We begin every session with a meditation,” says Laura, now 41.
Initially diagnosed with non-invasive breast cancer and treated at a cancer center in New
York City, Laura came to Saint Raphael’s in 2001. She and her husband, Paul, were in the
process of moving to Connecticut. But just before the move, Laura’s oncologist found that
her cancer had recurred. Radiation therapy and hormone therapy followed.
Today, however, Laura looks toward a full life with Paul, her career as a child speech
pathologist, and perhaps becoming an adoptive parent. She’s also working on a book about
herself and other cancer survivors. They include a 91-year-old who had a mastectomy 40
years ago, and a 32-year-old who gave birth to a baby boy five years after her mastectomy.
“To hear how other women with cancer found health, and spiritual support for the future,
helps me find my story. Saint Raphael’s has been an incredible community for my family and me.
During prior treatment I had in New York, I had to wait for hours and felt more like a number
than a name. My experience at Saint Raphael’s has been very personal,” says Laura, who’s also
taken advantage of individual counseling and wellness sessions, as well Looking Forward’s
Expressive Painting class.
“All of the treatments and resources I’ve received have played a huge part in my healing,”
Laura adds. “Saint Raphael’s and Looking Forward offer something different. Their emphasis
really is on caring for the whole person. Thanks to them, I’m living life to the fullest and
open to whatever lies ahead.” click here read more about Laura's survivor story in the Better
health archives
The seed of an idea
North Haven resident Ellen Swirsky, an 11-year breast cancer survivor, founded Looking Forward
toward the end of her last round of radiation in 1994. She was at the McGivney Center for a
radiation treatment when she met a woman crying in a treatment dressing room. The woman had
lost most her hair and was unhappy with her wig.
”So I offered to bring in my ‘bag of tricks’ and show her some alternatives,” remembers Ellen,
now 47.
The next day, the two met again in the McGivney Center dressing room, and Ellen pulled out the
multicolored scarves, hats and turbans she had used for more than a year. “I found having a wig
wasn’t really that comfortable, especially being at home with three small children,” Ellen
remembers. “So I tried scarves and turbans instead. We used to joke that with my bald head, I
looked like our baby – and my other two children became very comfortable with it.”
As she was showing the woman the headpieces, other cancer patients gathered around, asking
Where did you learn that? How did you think of that idea?
That’s when a light bulb went on, Ellen says, and the idea of recovered or “more experienced”
cancer patients helping others came to mind. “I believed I had much to share with others who may
be traveling the same road. I envisioned a place, within the magnificent new cancer center, where
people living with cancer could obtain support and resources while receiving the finest clinical
care possible. It would be a place that would minister to hearts and souls at the most vulnerable
time of their life.” Hoping Saint Raphael nurses would start this kind of program, she mentioned it
to nurses she became friendly with during her treatment.
“They all said, ‘We can’t do this. You need to do it. You’ve had every treatment available.’ And
they were right. I had the experience. I had surgery, radiation, a bone marrow transplant and
chemotherapy. I lost all my hair and know how this disease not just affects patients, but whole
families. I always felt that the cancer may have landed on me physically, but my friends and family
got it emotionally.”
Indeed, in 1993, when Ellen was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, she had a 6-week-old daughter,
3-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter at home. She relied on her husband, mother and other family
members to help care for her children and keep the household running.
Then, all her hair fell out: “But I wanted to look as best I could, especially for my kids. I never
wanted them to be scared about what was happening to mommy, and believe me, at times – it was pretty
scary.”
That’s when Ellen turned to hats, scarves and turbans – and learned the skills that would lead to
Looking Forward. “At the time, I never imagined that what I was doing for myself could help other
people. It was startling when Looking Forward became a reality in 1994, and it’s even more startling
as I look at all it’s become.” While the program itself was Ellen’s idea, several other Saint Raphael
cancer patients helped make it a reality.
Swiftly moving ahead
An open house in 1994 marked Looking Forward’s official start. Potential patients, Saint Raphael
staff and volunteers, and folks from community cancer groups and programs were invited. It was the
opening year of Saint Raphael’s McGivney Center, too, and the event included an informal fashion show
of turbans and scarves – the precursor to the now annual Looking Forward Fashion Show. A
much-anticipated event, it sells out every year and draws hundreds from throughout the community.
A donation from the Saint Raphael Auxiliary gave Looking Forward the funds it needed to get started.
The Cardiology Group donated an antique vanity to give the Looking Forward room a warm, non-medical
feeling. And as good things often do, the program slowly began to expand: classes were added,
additional support groups formed; a full-time director was hired and more space added.
Recognition also grew. Kudos came from regional and national organizations like Y-Me, the American
Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen Cancer Foundation. Indeed, the Connecticut affiliate of the
renowned Komen cancer education and advocacy organization has given Looking Forward more than $60,000
over the past two years. The grants were awarded for Looking Forward’s “innovative programs,”
specifically those that provide integrative medicine services. Part of these funds were used to hire
a breast cancer health educator who focuses on early intervention; following women through treatment;
offering support and education; and helping facilitate retreats and other programs.
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