There are now more than 12 million men and women throughout the United States who are cancer survivors — and tens of thousands of them live in Maine.

In the past few decades, the focus of cancer research has rightly been on the medical aspects of the disease, with goals of prevention, diagnosis and treatment. But the impacts of cancer go well beyond the reach of medicine. After a cancer diagnosis, many people’s lives are never the same — and their challenge is to figure out their “new normal.”

Cancer comes in many varieties — lung, stomach, breast, blood, kidney, colorectal, prostate and many others — but survivors share a set of issues and questions. How, in particular, can people find healing, health and happiness after cancer? What are the barriers and what leads to success?

The Maine Coalition to Fight Prostate Cancer, a statewide, all-volunteer nonprofit organization is preparing a series of 30-minute videos about the quality of life after cancer treatment. The organization wants to explore the way cancer affects people’s lives and feelings and learn from the varied experiences of the many who have undergone treatment.

The first video will feature those whose treatments have concluded and are in remission. The second will consult professionals who work with survivors. The third will deal with those whose treatments are ongoing. The videos will be shown statewide in Maine and will be available on the MCFPC website.

MCFPC is reaching out to people whose lives have been impacted by cancer and is asking them to complete a survey. The link to the survey is available on the home page of its website.

The survey is not intended as academic research; rather, it will inform the program and help illustrate and understand the concerns, needs and successes of many different people. Responses to the survey will be totally anonymous, and participants will not be identified in any way. Survey results will be reported on the website and will be referenced on the program itself.

The Maine Coalition to Fight Prostate Cancer seeks input from a broad spectrum of cancer patients and survivors, encompassing as many different kinds of cancer as possible. 

FMI: www.mcfpc.org.