SOUTH PORTLAND – Healthcare and service providers, including hospitals, home health agencies and physicians throughout Maine, have joined to offer the Cancer Connections Conference, a free complete workshop for cancer patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals on Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Sheraton Hotel.

“This conference is a must for anyone who is dealing with cancer, who has a loved one who is a caregiver, or is touched in any way by cancer,” said K.C. Morrell, a cancer patient and conference attendee. “When you get the devastating news that you have cancer, you feel so alone. The Cancer Connections Conference opens the doors so you can explore different treatment options and connect with other patients. It’s amazing.”

This year’s conference will have workshops on: nutritional options, coping with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, clinical trials and cancer research, affording medication, legal rights of cancer patients, breast cancer, leukemia/lymphoma, prostate cancer and HPV (leading cause of cervical cancer), hospice decisions and integrative medicine and demonstrations.

The keynote address, “The Self-Renewing Relationship,” will be delivered by Ralph and Barbara Alterowitz, authors of “Intimacy with Impotence: The Couple’s Guide to Better Sex after Prostate Disease.”

Registration will begin at 7:30 a.m. and workshops at 8:30 a.m. Participants are welcome to attend for the entire day or for just a few sessions. There is a $5 charge for lunch. To register, call 1-800-315-0143 or go online at www.cancerconnectionsmaine.org.