September 17, 2024
North Huntingdon cancer survivor’s nonprofit offers support, resources to other patients
by Jeff Himler | Sept. 17, 2024
The Celebration Circle online support group for cancer patients became smaller Aug. 1.
That’s when participant Kathy Casey, 66, of New Kensington lost her four-year battle with the disease.
Her husband, Bill, credits the support group co-founded by North Huntingdon resident and cancer survivor Lori Ball with giving his wife an extra boost she needed during her health struggle.
When Kathy Casey first was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, her husband said, “She went to a very dark place. She was walking around her flower bed and gardens and questioned why she was planting bulbs she might never see bloom.”
Early in her treatment at UPMC Magee Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, Kathy Casey learned about Ball and the support group that is among services offered to cancer patients through Ball’s nonprofit, Faith & Gratitude.
“Very quickly, her outlook did a 180-degree change,” Bill Casey said of his wife. “Everything wasn’t so doom-and-gloom. There was optimism.”
He said his wife, whose cancer later spread to other parts of her body, benefited from the relationships she developed with other female cancer patients in the support group.
“They have such a fierce bond among themselves,” he said. “It’s just uplifting.
“A lot of these women I’ve come to know myself,” including when they met in person at a Christmas event and at a surprise birthday party he organized for Kathy.
”Lori and those ladies are responsible for giving my wife back to me for as long as the Good Lord intended,” he said.
Before incorporating Faith & Gratitude in June 2017, Ball got the bad news of her own ovarian cancer diagnosis shortly before Christmas 2015.
She recalled feeling overwhelmed as she tried to make decisions about her treatment. She found that the information and emotional support she needed was lacking.
Faith & Gratitude is meant to help fill that gap by educating and empowering cancer patients to face diagnosis, treatment and life after cancer with courage and resilience.
While not replacing advice from a health care provider, Ball said the nonprofit offers patients insight into holistic therapies that can complement traditional medical cancer treatments.
“My immune system was not getting rid of the cancer cells,” she concluded regarding her own experience with the disease. “That’s when I totally embraced the whole mind-body-spirit connection.”
Twice a month, Ball hosts online Celebration Circle support group sessions.
Faith & Gratitude also produces a series of periodic video presentations by integrative cancer care professionals and advocates. The videos are initially released to more than 600 registered online viewers and eventually are posted on the organization’s website, faithandgratitude.org, where they are found under the “Resources” heading.
Among the speakers to date is Dr. Mark Rosenberg, a researcher, clinician and medical director of Advanced Medical Therapeutics, a cancer treatment center in Boca Raton, Fla.
Of the more than 1,500 people Faith & Gratitude has helped to date, most live in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Ball said. But, she added, “The Speaker Series pushes our reach to anyone who has a connection to the internet who may follow us.”
Ball’s nonprofit also distributes free cancer resource guides for patients. The guides include mind-strengthening techniques and nutrition tips for building immunity while providing pages for tracking medications and recording health care appointment notes and blood work results.
Faith & Gratitude also partners with other organizations to offer wellness outreach events. On Oct. 13, participants who register through the nonprofit’s website for one of a limited number of appointments will be able to pick out a free wig with the help of fitting consultants at Studio Seven in Washington.
“It will allow the people who are coming to have more of a sense of normalcy and a day of pampering,” Ball said of the wig event. “Everyone will be able to choose another head covering, a nice soft cap to keep their head warm, and we have a pair of earrings they can choose just to make them feel sort of like themselves.”
Under the “Events” heading of the website, people also can register to attend a Sept. 23 sporting clays shoot Faith & Gratitude is holding at Highlands Sporting Clays near Seven Springs Mountain Resort. The fundraiser will benefit cancer patients, according to Ball.
During the event, Ball will recognize Kathy Casey and other group members whose life journeys recently came to an end.
“In our Celebration Circle, we lost eight people this year,” Ball said. “Cancer can be messy. Some people don’t come out the other side, and we’re respectful of that.”