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In it Together: Wellness for Patients and Caregivers

Read Time: 3 minutes

Video transcript

Kimberly Walker: Welcome. This is a safe place. We're going to have a great experience today.

It’s really important that we listen to our bodies, that we modify the movement to fit our needs. So, anything that we do, it needs to feel good for your body. I'm going give each one of you a band, these are resistant bands.

Scott Wright: I ended up being involved and participating in the Wellness and Integrative Health Center, mainly, of course, through being a support person—a caregiver—for my spouse, Cheryl Wright.

And it all started with treatment, the intervention for her cancer diagnosis. We came to know about the support services that follow the medical side. Cheryl thought it would be best if we both got involved in this because it would really help carry that support from the Huntsman Cancer Institute back to our home and everywhere that we would go every day after that.

So, taking these classes that are being offered has really helped me out because there is a feeling of, and this is very important, reducing stress and anxiety. Physical exercise is good for the body, of course. But, Cheryl and I would agree that it is also a mental benefit. And that means being more calm, reducing the anxiety about the prognosis—what's going to happen next week, in the next month. That's all a tremendous benefit.

The experience with these classes, there was more than just a sense of like, okay, I am a spousal caregiver—I want to help out in every way possible. But, there was more of this feeling of like, we're in it together, and the positive effect of it lasted all day long. So, it really helped us see this as teamwork, and that made both of us feel better.

I highly recommend these courses at the Wellness Center. I was there at one point where I wasn't sure about it. And once I started, I stayed with it for the long term. I am an ambassador of saying how much these courses can be important for your role as a caregiver and for your wellness.

Learn more at huntsmancancer.org/wellness

Cancer touches all of us.