Cancer Care Program

Mission Statement
The Cancer Program Annual Report is dedicated to all the caregivers watching over the well-being of oncology patients and their families who visit Whidbey General Hospital System and the Medical Ambulatory Care & Oncology Clinic.

Carla Jolley, ARNP, MN, AOCN

Cancer Survivors — people who are living with a diagnosis of cancer — know that meeting the challenges of cancer takes strength, courage, and good information. The search for information to help make decisions often starts with a cancer diagnosis. Information provides answers to the many questions that inevitably arise about the diagnosis, treatment options, emotional support, and what to expect. Sometimes information is needed just to form the questions one needs to ask of the health care team.

by Carla Jolley, ARNP, MN, AOCN

Cancer develops when a single cell runs amuck in its programming. This process is called carcinogenesis. Carcinogenesis is complicated and more is learned about this multi-step process daily.

An Overview and Update
by Kenny Koo MD, FRCS (Edin), FACS

Cancer of the large intestine is the fourth most common malignancy in the United States, with approximately 130,000 new cases diagnosed annually. However, colorectal cancer has become the second leading cause of all cancer-related deaths in recent years after lung cancer, surpassing prostate cancer in the male and breast cancer in the female.

Erin Simms, RD, CD, CNSD, Nutrition Services

Fiber has been known for many years as the "scrub brush" of the colon. Its effectiveness in the fight to prevent colon cancer, however, has recently come under critical review. Both the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet have published studies this year that refute earlier contentions that a diet high in fiber reduces colon cancer risk. So, in light of this new evidence, should you abandon fiber altogether? Certainly not.