- Faith: 1 | 2 | 3 | Related story: When helping others brings healing
For Robin Feldman, hope comes in a "keshet" bag filled with spiritual items she carries to Dana-Farber visits and treatments.
Many resources
Spiritual comfort comes in many forms for Dana-Farber patients. Robin Feldman, who has endured two bouts with breast cancer, has found it in the "keshet" (or connection) bag filled with stones, shells, and notes from friends that she carries into surgeries, CAT scans, and "any appointments I'm not feeling good about." She sees the items as tokens of the personal prayers others are making for her and is confident the hope instilled in this ancient Jewish tradition will help keep her cancer from spreading.
"When I had breast cancer the first time, I wasn't spiritually motivated at all; I just figured you got your treatment, took your medicine, and became a survivor," explains the 51-year-old teacher. "So when it came back after four years in remission as metastatic disease, I was devastated. Looking back, I believe it was an outside force and the prayers said by friends in synagogues and churches that got me through those dark days. Now I've worked out my own prayer and meditation techniques that incorporate the thought that I am in God's hands. I believe God will protect me, and this reflection helps take me to another spiritual level."
Pictured here in the DFCI chapel, Rev. Walter Moczynski, MDiv, MTS, has led the Institute's Pastoral Care Department since its formation.
The religious and spiritual resources now available to Brids, Feldman, and others treated at Dana-Farber have evolved. When Moczynski came to the Institute from Wisconsin in 1988 as DFCI's first in-house chaplain, he brought a diversified background in parish and hospital experience. Dana-Farber was then utilizing chaplains from other hospitals; he set about creating an internal Pastoral Care Department. Over time, the program expanded with support from patients such as Jeffrey Forbes, the Friends of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (for the interfaith chapel), and former staff member Ray Carmichael. "People began to realize," Moczynski says, "that pastoral care is not just an auxiliary service, but an integral part of treatment."
Today the department is a community of employees, volunteers, and interns, including clinically trained chaplains from a variety of religious disciplines available for consultations. There is also access as needed to outside clerics and spiritual leaders representing more than 20 different faiths, crucial at an institution whose diverse staff and patient populations include Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and just about every other tradition imaginable. A variety of religious and spiritual services are also available for patients through the department.
"When you are faced with a life-threatening illness, what you believe in is an important part of your healing or coping process."
—Rev. Walter Moczynski, MDiv, MTS
Whether someone needs a Bible, prayer rug, rosary beads, help with an ethical dilemma, or just somebody to talk to, assistance is close at hand. Programs and resources offered through DFCI's Eleanor and Maxwell Blum Patient and Family Resource Center and its satellites also help patients and staff satisfy their needs in this area. The center has a "spiritual corner" featuring books on faith and cancer care, and its Creative Arts Program has activities to help people heal by tapping their creativity.
Dana-Farber's growing partnership in recent years with partnering Children's and Brigham and Women's hospitals have brought added benefits. Chaplaincy staff from these institutions share pastoral care privileges, which allow chaplains to visit patients at all three facilities — thus enhancing continuity of care.
"At DFCI, a chaplain is defined as an integral part of the interdisciplinary medical team," explains Moczynski. "The fact that together we have many inpatients and ambulatory patients is a big challenge, and we need to be flexible about when and where we meet with people. Some patients want a prayer or a quick word just before they go into chemotherapy, radiation, or other treatment, while others want to talk during their treatment. No matter where they are, we are always available to listen to their stories, offer support, and provide a personal presence for them and their families."
- Next: Finding strength
- Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | Related story: When helping others brings healing
