{"id":1501,"date":"2012-07-22T13:39:43","date_gmt":"2012-07-22T19:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=1501"},"modified":"2012-07-22T21:35:40","modified_gmt":"2012-07-23T03:35:40","slug":"in-a-new-network-cancer-survivors-are-finding-understanding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/in-a-new-network-cancer-survivors-are-finding-understanding\/","title":{"rendered":"In a new network, cancer survivors are finding understanding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By CHARLOTTE ANTHONY<\/p>\n<p>NEW YORK (JTA) &#8212; Roni Bibring was 15 when she was diagnosed with leukemia. Four years later, her treatment completed, she says her biggest challenge &#8212; having lost touch with many of her friends &#8212; is making new friends who understand what she\u2019s been through.\u00a0\u201cMost people don\u2019t even realize that they\u2019ve completely lost touch with you and that\u2019s the thing you need the most,\u201d said Bibring, of Englewood, N.J. \u201cThey think because you don\u2019t text them every day that you don\u2019t want them in your life, but you might not even be conscious,&#8221;\u00a0adding that &#8220;You could be asleep for days in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1503\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Robin-Burger-Roni-Bibring-Yonina-Teitelbaum_edit.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1503\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1503 lazyload\" title=\"Robin Burger Roni Bibring Yonina Teitelbaum_edit\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Robin-Burger-Roni-Bibring-Yonina-Teitelbaum_edit-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Robin-Burger-Roni-Bibring-Yonina-Teitelbaum_edit-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Robin-Burger-Roni-Bibring-Yonina-Teitelbaum_edit.jpg 596w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/201;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1503\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1503\" title=\"Robin Burger Roni Bibring Yonina Teitelbaum_edit\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Robin-Burger-Roni-Bibring-Yonina-Teitelbaum_edit-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Robin-Burger-Roni-Bibring-Yonina-Teitelbaum_edit-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Robin-Burger-Roni-Bibring-Yonina-Teitelbaum_edit.jpg 596w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1503\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left to right: R-Mission members Robin Burger, Roni Bibring, and Yonina Teitelbaum at inaugural event on June 3, 2012.(R-Mission)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Through R-Mission, a support network for Jewish cancer survivors that held its inaugural event in New York last month, Bibring is finding people who do understand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a lot of scars, and they would never judge me for it because they probably have similar things on their body, too,\u201d said Bibring, who is featured on the group\u2019s website. \u201cJust not having to be judged and to have friends that understand why you look a certain way is the best part.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cheryl Greenberger said her work as a psychologist at Chai Lifeline, which provides support and a camp for Jewish children with life-threatening illnesses, spurred her to create R-Mission &#8212; as in remission &#8212; as a Chai Lifeline program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat people were asking for and looking for was a way to connect with other people who could relate to them and understand them in a way that even close family members and close friends couldn\u2019t relate to them,\u201d Greenberger said.<\/p>\n<p>The group\u2019s website,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/r-mission.org\" target=\"_blank\">r-mission.org<\/a>, includes a discussion forum open only to those who have registered, as well as a resource section with links to everything from cancer research foundations to support groups to organizations that give scholarships to young people who have had cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Although events will be held in New York, Greenberg points out that the discussion forum can reach a global audience. More than 100 people already have registered, many of them from outside the United States.<\/p>\n<p>An online community, she says, gives \u201cpeople the opportunity to really be open and honest with the questions they had without publicly announcing themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bibring says she is glad to meet people who have had experiences similar to hers.\u00a0\u201cAll of us went through the same thing,\u201d she said. \u201cThey understand what you are going through and they are not going to ditch you. They are there for you when you aren&#8217;t feeling well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Melanie Kwestel, Chai Lifeline\u2019s director of communications, anticipates that R-Mission will draw its initial members from Chai Lifeline. But she says the goal \u201cis to reach people of all types of cancer beyond just pediatric cancer, and with online advertising we can reach a bigger audience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For now, the majority of those involved in R-Mission are Orthodox, but through online advertising and word of mouth, officials hope to reach Jews across the denominations.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1504\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/David-Pelcovitz_edit1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1504\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1504 lazyload\" title=\"David Pelcovitz_edit\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/David-Pelcovitz_edit1-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/David-Pelcovitz_edit1-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/David-Pelcovitz_edit1.jpg 596w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/201;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1504\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1504\" title=\"David Pelcovitz_edit\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/David-Pelcovitz_edit1-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/David-Pelcovitz_edit1-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/David-Pelcovitz_edit1.jpg 596w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1504\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Pelcovitz, professor of psychology and education at Yeshiva University\u2019s Azrieli Graduate School, speaking about the challenges of remission at the R-Mission inaugural event, June 3, 2012. (R-Mission)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>David Pelcovitz, a professor of psychology and education at Yeshiva University\u2019s Azrieli Graduate School and a member of the R-Mission advisory committee, said a stigma long surrounded cancer. In Yiddish, cancer was referred to as &#8220;yenem machla,&#8221; an affliction from the other world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was almost too dread a reality to even face and name,\u201d Pelcovitz said. \u201cWe\u2019ve come a long way since then, and this is another example of being able to openly discuss, openly support, and to openly name the monster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The stigma, however, remains and it is most prevalent in the Orthodox community, Kwestel said, pointing in particular to a culture in which matchmakers are common. Before the couples meet, they learn much about one another\u2019s background.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are people who aren\u2019t going to date someone who had cancer, but it\u2019s just not acceptable in the non-Orthodox community to say that,\u201d Kwestel said.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Sharsheret, a nonprofit founded a decade ago to focus on young Jewish women who have or were treated for breast and ovarian cancer, R-Mission is the first Jewish organization dedicated to connecting Jewish survivors with all types of cancer, according to Greenberger.<\/p>\n<p>Kwestel says that many who have survived cancer are seeking a sense of community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes people say I\u2019m not religious, I don\u2019t do Shabbos, I don\u2019t do kosher but I\u2019m Jewish,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s still this feeling of affiliation and there is a feeling that in any kind of traumatic situation, we look back to our families and community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bibring says that she is excited that R-Mission has been working closely with survivors to ascertain their needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like we are building our own organization by the means that we have. I think it\u2019s awesome; it\u2019s the best thing you can ask for,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Different people have different needs, so it\u2019s nice that they are asking us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greenberger wants R-Mission to be a program \u201cfor survivors by survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope that we will develop a strong community where no one will feel alone anymore when they complete treatment, and that people will feel like there is a place they can go where people understand them,\u201d she said. \u201cWe really want to empower survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"In%20a%20new%20network%2C%20cancer%20survivors%20are%20finding%20understanding\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[329,8790,8795,8788,328],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1501"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1524,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1501\/revisions\/1524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}