Breast Cancer Program

Gynecology Oncology Program

Cancer Patient and Family Counseling (Sacramento)
Patients and families facing the stress of a cancer diagnosis and cancer treatments can take advantage of the counseling services and support groups offered through Sutter Cancer Centers. In Sacramento, oncology social workers provide individual and family counseling to assist in reducing the stress of the cancer experience and to enhance the patient's and family's skills in coping with the physical and emotional aspects of the illness. In Roseville, an oncology social worker and cancer survivor provides services in the support group setting.

Within a supportive and confidential environment, patients and families have the opportunity to:

• Learn valuable skills including stress reduction, deep relaxation, and visualization.
• Strengthen coping skills, improve self image, and gain new insights.
• Improve communications within the family, and gain a greater appreciation for each other and the effect cancer has on everyone in the family.
• Find out about community resources that may provide additional support.

Services are offered at no charge to patients and their families by a licensed clinical social worker with more than ten years of social work experience, with an emphasis on counseling patients and caregivers living with cancer or a life-threatening illness. While there is no fee, donations to the Sutter Cancer Center are welcomed. For more information about counseling services and support groups available in Sacramento, please call (916) 454-6866. For information on support groups available in Roseville, call (916) 781-1634.

Cancer Risk Program

Infusion Therapy

Lung Cancer Program

Oncology Nutrition
Sutter Cancer Centers provide individual and group counseling and Healthy Eating During Cancer for cancer patients who may experience difficulty eating and/or maintaining their weight. Please call (916) 454-6867 for more information.

Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento
Patients can obtain nutrition advice from a registered dietitian who specializes in counseling cancer patients. With the nutritionist's help, patients learn how to adjust their diet to help manage cancer therapy side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, constipation, mouth sores, loss of appetite, weight loss and/or weight gain. Patients can also learn the healing benefits of a proper diet.
There is no charge to Sutter Cancer Center patients for this service due to the generous support provided through donations to the Sutter Medical Center Foundation. Counseling is available by appointment. For information and scheduling, please contact Nutrition Counselor Sue Hazeghazam, R.D. at (916) 454-6867.

Sutter Cancer Center, Roseville
Patients can speak with a clinical dietician who can answer questions and provide suggestions and materials on proper nutrition during cancer treatments. To make arrangements or find out about other community resources, contact Oncology Social Worker C.J. Doran at (916) 781-1634.

Music Therapy (Sacramento)
Patients of Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento have access to music therapy services provided by music therapists credentialed by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT). The program is a free service, generously funded by the Sutter Medical Center Foundation.

Music Therapy is an established health service utilizing music experiences based on a therapeutic relationship that develops with the patient and their families to address physical, cognitive, psychological, emotional and social functioning for improved health and enhanced quality of life. Through this medium, patients and their families may experience benefits that include:

• A decrease in perception of pain and greater effectiveness of pain medication
• Opportunities to deal with grief and their feelings about life-altering events, disability or death
• Resolving conflicts with loved ones
• Ability to increase and foster a positive outlook
• Distraction from uncomfortable procedures
• Improved ability to handle stressors, with a reduction in depression, anxiety and insomnia
• Skills that enable them to use music to reframe difficult experiences and environments or tune out chaos and ambient electronic hospital noise

For information about Sutter's Music Therapy programs, call (916) 733-5824.

Hospice Care
Hospice care provides patients and their loved ones with compassionate support when a medical cure is no longer possible. Sutter Health acute care hospitals in the greater Sacramento region coordinate hospice care through a variety of programs. To find out more about the program closest to you, please follow the links below:

• Sutter Auburn Faith
• Sutter Davis Hospital
• Sutter Medical Center and Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento
• Sutter Roseville Medical Center and Sutter Cancer Center, Roseville

Additional information about hospice care in Sacramento and Roseville is available on the Sutter Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice Web site at www.suttervnaandhospice.org.

Sutter Visiting Nurses Association/Home Care Services
Patients who need support and nursing assistance beyond what the family can provide can access skilled nursing care through Sutter Visiting Nurses Association. Families can coordinate home care through discharge planning staff at Sutter General Hospital (adult cancer services), Sutter Memorial Hospital (children's cancer services) or Sutter Roseville Medical Center. To speak to discharge planning staff, please call:

• Sutter General Hospital : (916) 454-2222 or extension 33008 from within the hospital
• Sutter Memorial Hospital : (916) 733-3070 or extension 31018 from within the hospital
• Sutter Roseville Hospital : (916) 781-1614

Each of the Sutter-affiliated hospitals in the greater Sacramento region offers access to home health services. To find out more about the program closest to you, please follow the links below:

• Sutter Auburn Faith
• Sutter Davis Hospital
• Sutter Medical Center and Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento
• Sutter Roseville Medical Center and Sutter Cancer Center, Roseville

Additional information about home health care in Sacramento and Roseville is available on the Sutter Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice Web site at www.suttervnaandhospice.org.

Lodging
There are a number of hotels close to Sutter Cancer Centers' locations in Sacramento and Roseville. These locations may offer discounted rates to hospital patients and their families. When you call for reservations, be sure to ask about a hospital rate. Limited accommodations are also available at The Sharing Place located near the children's cancer program at Sutter Memorial Hospital.

The Sharing Place
The Sharing Place hospitality house provides lodging for out-of-town pediatric and adult cancer patients and their families, as well as other families whose loved ones are receiving medical treatment at any Sacramento hospital.

Outpatients must be able to independently perform daily activities and are encouraged to have a support person with them, if possible. Patients and/or families who reside approximately 50 miles outside of Sacramento may make reservations through their doctor's office, the hospital social work department or other hospital staff. Reservations are not accepted without a referral.

The home has 15 private bedrooms with private baths and telephones. Community rooms include a living room with fireplace, family room with TV/VCR, kitchen, dining room, laundry room and a well-stocked playroom. A quiet courtyard, playground and three RV spaces are also available. Guests prepare their own meals and maintain their bedrooms during their stay. The atmosphere is supportive and restful.

The Sharing Place has a minimal per night charge per room. Should guests not be able to afford these charges, optional payment arrangements may be available.

The Sharing Place is not affiliated with any hospital or other agency and is funded through the Swing at Cancer Golf Tournament and other donations made to the home.

The Sharing Place is located at 5105 F Street (on the Sutter Memorial Hospital Campus), Sacramento, CA 95819. For more information, please call (916) 452-HOME (4663).

Palliative Care
Sutter Health Sac Sierra Region's Palliative Care Program's are designed to help patients and their families facing difficult issues and decisions near the end of life. The goal of palliative care is to manage the transition from active treatment toward end-of-life care for patients with life-limiting illness. Palliative care is a holistic program that encompasses the patient and family's emotional and spiritual needs and provides compassionate support during this difficult time.

Palliative Care nurse evaluates patients referred to the program to determine the patient's status and needs. The nurse works with doctors, other health professionals and family members to create a plan of treatment. Each week, a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains and others meet to discuss individual patient's status and determine additional steps that can be taken to provide greater comfort.

More information is available in the palliative care topic of our Health Information Library. Additional information is also available from the National Cancer Institute www.cancer.gov and the American Cancer Society www.cancer.org.

Spiritual/Pastoral Care
In keeping with Sutter's philosophy of total care, Spiritual Care Services in Sacramento and the Pastoral Care Department in Roseville address the spiritual concerns raised during times of illness and meet the spiritual and emotional needs of patients and their families. The staff visits with patients and families to support them during crisis, grief or stress, and when making difficult medical decisions. During that time, a Chaplain may listen, talk with patients about the impact of illness and its meaning for their lives, and if requested, offer prayer, anointings or blessings, and religious reading material. The programs support all faith traditions.

In Sacramento, patients and families who would like a chaplain to visit can speak with their nurse or call extension 38848 or (916) 733-8848 from outside the hospital. In Roseville, patients and families can ask the nurse to page a chaplain or call (916) 781-1177 from outside the hospital. Chaplains provide routine visits Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Sacramento and 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Roseville. On-call emergency services are provided seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Chapels are available at Sutter General Hospital, Sutter Memorial Hospitals and Sutter Roseville Medical Center for prayer and quiet reflection. Religious reading material is also available.

For more information visit our Spiritual Care Services in Sacramento or Pastoral Care Department in Roseville.