Out in the Mountains

Cancer Support Group Continues

Dear OITM,

I noticed with dismay that the Lesbian
Cancer Support Group is no longer listed in
your health resources guide. My first
thought was that this was due to uncon-
scious erasure, another example of societal
denial of the disease by ostracizing those
who have it. All of us in the group have
experienced this. Old friends are not heard
from. The group we used to hang out with
somehow never gets to us about an upcom-
ing party. Acquaintances will talk to us
about anything except to ask how we are
feeling. I have told people I had cancer and
then wondered if I had really said itbecause
that statement was totally ignored. I hope
your omission was not erasure, but a simple
error of some kind.

Cancer is not a lesbian or gay disease,
but we get itas surely as straight people. We
suffer the same consequences plus the extra
ones of being “other. " We must get a medi-
cal power of attorney for our lover so she/
he can be with us in the recovery room. We
have to constantly tell the medical profes-
sion “this is more than a good friend, this is
the essential person in my life.”

My partner and I started this group
because we felt the need for the kind of
support a group can offer, and we did not
have the time or energy to deal with the
homophobia, questions, and need for les-
bian and gay education we would face in a

straight group before we could be accepted.
Our group is for cancer patients, their part-
ners, singles, and women whose partners
with cancer can’t or won’t come. Our age
range is from the twenties to the fifties. Our
diagnoses vary. Some are facing final diag-
nosis and the choices and fears of treat-
ment. Some have completed treatment and
face the fear of recurrence. Others of us are
facing the surety of death from our disease;
we just don’t know exactly when or how.
All of us have cancer as an over-riding
concern in our lives.

We meet bimonthly in the Burlington
area at members’ homes in the evening.
Our meetings have no planned structure or
leader and are usually intense. We often
call each other between meetings if some-
thing unusual is happening or if we feel the
need for additional support. Our contact
phone number is 660-8386. 01 TM has been
our major source of new members. Please,
don’t erase us as straight society has tried
[and is still trying] to erase HIV and AIDS.

Sincerely,

Helen McHenry

Ed. note: The original notice of the group's
formation, listed in our December issue,
did not specify that the listing was to run
monthly. We apologize for the misunder-
standing and ask that groups keep us (and
our readers) up to date on such matters.

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