It started with a bridge game.

Eileen Grossman tells the story:
Yes, a bridge game. I knew my friends were going to receive chemo in the Lucy DiPerna Treatment Room at 125 Lattimore Road, and I wanted to help them pass the time. The nurses said, "Sure, why not?"
It took a table, cards, chocolate snacks, and a friend to be our fourth. It was a diversion for my friends, and - to my surprise - other patients wanted in on the game.

That bridge game planted a seed, but it would never have taken root without the support of Drs. Angel and DuBeshter, whose gynecologic oncology practice includes that treatment room. As physicians who are concerned about their patients' quality of life, they gave me a thumbs up for anything that might make their time receiving chemo less stressful.

So -- a bridge game among friends planted the seed of the Cancer Wellness Spa, the doctors and nurses watered it, and our volunteers faithfully till the soil, and patients reap the benefits every day. Making the chemotherapy treatment more pleasant creates a more positive attitude toward treatment and gives patients an increasingly positive attitude about themselves.