Support for Living with Cancer

Please visit our calendar to learn more about the upcoming support groups or you can call 630-323-5150 to speak with a Program Associate.

Cancer Support Group

This group is an opportunity to connect with other people who are also living life with cancer. By sharing both what they have in common as well as the unique ways cancer affects their lives, group members normalize the challenges they are facing together as well as the strategies that work in meeting those challenges. By participating in this Cancer Support Group, you will exchange support and learn valuable information and coping strategies.

Common topics in the group are understanding the diagnosis; coping with the side-effects of treatment; communicating with loved ones, friends and medical professionals; defining a “new normal” with new tasks, roles and responsibilities; experiencing mood changes; and changes in values and priorities. Groups are led by a facilitator trained at the Master’s or Doctoral level.

Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer

Join other women facing metastasis of their breast cancer. This weekly group will focus on the ongoing challenges that arise from dealing with treatment, relationships, and facing the future in the midst of metastatic breast cancer. Group support can provide a unique opportunity to focus on making sense of the cancer experience with others who share a similar history.

Women Connected from the Start

This group is designed for women who are starting on their cancer journey and would like to meet other recently diagnosed women to share experiences and ask questions of one another. Women who are in the midst of treatment or who have not yet started treatment are encouraged to drop in to this group for networking and sharing. Common topics in the group include information about various types of treatment; management of physical side effects; tools for coping with stress; and management of anxiety and depression.

Living with Recurrent or Metastatic Cancer

This group discusses the many unique issues faced by people with recurrent and/or metastatic cancer, from the life changes brought by living with cancer as a chronic illness, to existential and spiritual issues commonly experienced by people living with this stage of cancer. Life experiences, coping strategies and information are freely exchanged in this group in ways that support all members in living fully while living with cancer. Participants with cancer are welcome to attend alone or to bring family members as well. 

Networking Groups

There are two types of Networking Groups, Cancer Specific and Topic Specific. Cancer specific groups are an opportunity for people experiencing the same type of cancer to gather for support, share concerns and exchange information. Adult family members are encouraged to attend. Topic specific groups benefit participants in the same ways, but focus on particular issues that have proven useful to discuss in a group in order to support members in approaching these issues in ways that are satisfying and productive for them.

All networking groups are drop in style, no pre-registration is required.

Cancer specific groups

• Brain Tumor
• Breast Cancer
• Carcinoid
• Colon
• Leukemia and Lymphoma:
• Multiple Myeloma
• Ovarian
• Lung Cancer
• Pancreatic
• Prostate

Topic specific groups

• Young Adults with Cancer
• Older Adults with Cancer