LEWISTON — A new cancer support group for men has been formed at the at Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing.

Women with cancer are routinely offered psychological support. But where do men turn?

Tom Fontaine (not his real name) still remembers the small coffee stain on the lab coat of the doctor who told him that he had leukemia and was facing a long road of treatment.

“I sat there are realized that my whole life was probably about to change. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to work through the treatment and had no idea how I was going to provide for my family. I wasn’t sure how sick the treatment or the cancer itself might make me.”

Three years later, Tom is in remission and able to look back on those early days after diagnosis with some wisdom and experience. He says he wishes that he had a support group of other men to talk to.

“Sitting in the treatment room, you’d see brochures for breast cancer groups. I went to a general cancer support group, but there were only two men and about 10 women, and I felt out of place. My wife was very supportive, and she’s really who got me through it, but there were times when it would have helped to just talk to other guys about some of what I was going through.”

Tom is not alone in this wish, according to Kerry Irish, LCSW, the psychosocial services manager at the Dempsey Center.

“Last fall, I had a number of male clients who I was providing counseling services to that asked whether the center would consider offering a men’s group, just as we do for women who are impacted by cancer. We created a survey to determine what the level of interest there was for this type of group, and found that the majority of men, both those who have cancer themselves, and those who have a loved one with cancer, were highly interested.”

Irish began working on a plan to launch a new group for men, recruiting an experienced counselor and men’s group facilitator, Shane Simpson, LCSW, to lead the group.

Starting on Thursday, Sept. 4, the Men’s Group will meet from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the first and third Thursdays of each month at the Dempsey Center, 29 Lowell St., fifth floor.

The group is open to any man who has been impacted by cancer (their own or that of a loved one), at any point along their journey. As with all services offered by the Dempsey Center, the group is offered for free. Interested individuals may call the center at 795-8250 for more information.