The Dempsey Center Celebrates First Year by Nancy McCallum When Jacqueline Webb walks through the doors of The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at Central Maine Medical Center, she is greeted with warm hugs. Those hugs mean the world to Webb, who at 65, has just recovered from cancer surgery. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in January at the Sam & Jennie Breast Care Center at CMMC, she was overwhelmed by the diagnosis. It is the third time she has had cancer; she's had a previous breast cancer diagnosis, and also Hodgkins Disease. “I was so topsy-turvy,” Webb says. She began to right herself after going to the Dempsey Center. “Just going there is healing in itself,” she says. Webb, who lives in Poland, says she has been helped tremendously by the resources and the warmth of the staff at the center, which opened its doors just over a year ago, in March of 2008. She first went there for a counseling session, to help her through her initial distress. Since then she has received massages and now is accessing yoga and exercise at CMMC's Wellness Center, which works with the Center. Even her husband visited the Center, attending a caregivers' meeting. Webb's experience is exactly what actor Patrick Dempsey, a native of nearby Buckfield, had hoped for when he provided the funds to start the center. Dempsey, 43, is a television and movie star who shot to fame as “Dr. McDreamy” in the hit television series “Grey's Anatomy.” Now he is touching lives at a deeper level through the center, where his sister Mary plays an integral role as the volunter manager and Center coordinator. Dempsey says he started the center as a way to thank CMMC for the help and support it had given his own mother, Amanda, when she successfully dealt with ovarian cancer. She was first diagnosed in 1997, and then had two recurrences. Today she is well. Through his mother's experiences, Dempsey recognized the importance of support and access to resources while dealing with a life-threatening illness. The Center provided more than 6,000 direct service contacts in its first year. That number does not include the hundreds who have attended workshops and support groups. All of the services provided are free. Located at 10 High Street, the Center includes a suite of rooms and a staff of six, plus volunteers. Staff warmly welcome visitors and listen to their needs. They have a wealth of resources to offer, including workshops, support groups and informational programs. Last year, nearly 100 workshops were offered; many addressed health and wellness topics, while some were more hands-on, offering therapeutic arts and crafts activities. A room is available for people receiving massage, which helps reduce stress and enhance well-being during a difficult time. The Center offers thirteen support and social groups, plus it links visitors to informational resources such as the regular cancer teleconferences it hosts. The conferences, sponsored by CancerCare Connect, feature national oncology specialists who address specific topics. Neil Bement of Auburn called in on a teleconference when the topic was colon cancer. At 52, Bement has had two bouts of colon cancer. He was diagnosed at 48,and then again late last year. Bement, who is an emergency room technician in CMMC's ER, has also benefited from massage, which is available for free to patients who are undergoing treatment. He was hit hard by the treatment he received this time, and spent three months recovering. The Center was one of his supports, along with the unceasing care he has received from his wife, he says. When he went to the Center, he knew he would receive the compassion he needed, as he struggled to recover. The feeling he got from the staff, he says, was “ 'We understand.' ” “I tell anyone who has been diagnosed, call this number (1-877-336-7287),” Bement says. “They can point you in the right direction and be a sympathetic ear.” Now that he is cancer-free and on the mend, Bement says he wants to work with the Center to develop more support programs for men, who may be more reticent about seeking support. “It's empowering to give something back,” Bement says. Kerry Irish, an oncology social worker who is the Center's Director, notes that from the start, the Center has received huge support from the community, plus ongoing support from CMMC. “The outpouring of support from the community has been incredible,” she says. “We've logged over 1,000 volunteer hours in the Center itself, separate from the hundreds of hours that our volunteer sewers and knitters have given, creating quilts, lap blankets, prayer shawls, turbans and hats for cancer patients throughout the region. The generosity of our community members is simply inspiring.” The Center has also received support through grants. The AVON Foundation provided a $500,000 grant late last year, which allowed CMMC to upgrade digital mammography units at Bridgton Hospital and Rumford Hospital and hire a breast nurse navigator. A $25,000 grant from the Tallen Kane Foundation has allowed the Center to hire a Cancer Health Outreach Educator. Patrick Dempsey also actively continues to lend his support. “I've been blown away by Patrick's continued strong level of commitment and involvement,” says Irish. “Despite the demands of his work, he remains very closely connected to the Center, regularly calling to check in and to provide input into the Center's programs. He's just been incredibly generous with his time and support. ” Dempsey will be an integral part of the upcoming Dempsey Challenge, a major fundraiser being held October 4. The event includes cycling tours of 10, 25, 50 and 100 miles and a 5K run/walk. Dempsey will ride and also meet with top fundraisers at a special reception.  (For more information, visit www.dempseychallenge.org.) Mary Dempsey says the first year has exceeded her expectations. “We accomplished more then I could have ever expected or hoped for,” she says. “Many patients and families come into the center expressing warm gratitude for all the hard work and services we provide. Many families wish to send a huge 'Thank You' to Patrick for his generous donation.” Dempsey notes that because of the huge response, the Center is already outgrowing its space. Irish sees the Center's success not just in terms of the numbers, but also in the experiences of its visitors. “While I find it gratifying to look back at the volume of patients/caregivers who have used the Center's services in this past year, it's the personal stories that really touch my heart,” she says. “On one of our program evaluations, a participant wrote, 'This is the first time since being diagnosed with lung cancer that I have felt a true sense of hope.' Another person recently told us that he would have never believed that he could have looked back on his cancer diagnosis as a blessing in disguise, but since he started attending one of the support groups, he's experienced a real shift in his perspective on life.” Like Bement, Webb has also felt moved by her experiences at the Center and now wants to give in return. “I'm in a position now where I want to start giving back,” she says. “I know how important it is to let people know it (cancer) doesn't have to have dire results.”