How Spirituality Can Help People With Breast Cancer

Jamie DePolo: Hello. As always, thanks for listening. Our guest today is Dianne Hyman, an oncology nurse at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey. Dianne founded Sister Will You Help Me, a breast cancer support group for women of faith and color, nearly 22 years ago. She joins us today to talk about how spirituality and prayer can help people diagnosed with breast cancer. Dianne, welcome to the podcast.

Dianne Hyman: Hi. Good morning. Thank you.

Jamie DePolo: We're so excited to talk to you. So, I want to ask first, how did you come to create this support group?

Dianne Hyman: In 2000, I was hired as the coordinator for the Camden County screening project here at Cooper Hospital, and I worked closely with our breast oncology team. And we know that Camden was once rated as one of the poorest cities in the nation, and over 90% of community members are minorities who frequently deal with disparities in care. And it was during this time through my work that I really began to see the depth of breast cancer disparity and its impact in minority women, and my desire to really address the need for this particular patient population really, became my passion. And it really was giving me that in-depth take at what breast health disparity looked like. And we actually held a focus group with our patients to better understand what we could do to, to support them. And it was out of the focus groups that the need for support was evident and became vital, and they all stated that they didn't have enough resources. And so, at the time, I was new to oncology and wasn't quite sure how to structure a group, but I knew that I had to do something.

And I remember clearly. I went on a women's retreat with my church, and I heard ladies sharing their stories of being diagnosed with cancer. And it was surprising as I didn't know these women had had cancer. Again, in the Black community, it wasn't something readily shared, but in this intimate church retreat environment, they were sharing their, their, their testimonies. And as I'm hearing this, it really just resonated with me. And one evening, the speaker addressed the title of her message, Sister Will You Help Me, and instantly, that was confirmation for me that, yes, I had to do something, and that, yes, I could do this. And so, I excitedly went back to work. I wrote everything down, our mission, when we would meet, every detail, and I presented it to leadership, and I was given the green light to start Sister Will You Help Me. And I developed it to be a place to come and be able to share, gather resources, be educated, not only on breast cancer and treatment, but also other cancers, information on healthy living, diet, exercise. And it just really blossomed into a place of refuge for so many women over these years.

Jamie DePolo: That sounds wonderful. Do you know how many women have been a part of the group throughout the years …and are there any women who joined at the beginning and are still a part of it? 

Dianne Hyman: Yes. Many, many women have encountered, Sister Will You Help Me in one form or another, directly by attending our meetings or connecting with me over the phone or through our outreach initiatives. And so, that reach really has been vast, and I, I wouldn't be exaggerating to say perhaps a couple hundred women have filtered through over these 20 years. And yes, it's very, interesting that some women come when they're newly diagnosed and they may stay for a short while as they're undergoing their treatments and everything, and then, other women come after, two or three years later. For whatever reason, they feel that need for that support, and so, yes, to, to answer to your question, several women have been a part of the group for years.

Jamie DePolo: That's wonderful. Why was it important to you to include an aspect of faith in this support group?

Dianne Hyman: Facilitating a faith-based group was extremely important for me, being a woman of faith. As a woman of faith, and I, I know the magnitude of spirituality and the impact of one's faith, especially in the Black community, and so, I felt that it was extremely important because faith is important part of our culture. Being diagnosed with cancer, women are vulnerable, anxious, hopeless, all of those feelings, come into play, and um, I know, and research shows that women that have a level of faith or spirituality, as they're undergoing treatment, you know, studies support that it improves a sense of well-being, their overall mental health, and, and really impact their ability to cope. And so, for me that was, that was imperative in a sense, to, to have that, that faith-based, uh, component in the group.

Jamie DePolo: So, from your viewpoint, you've done this focus group for more than 20 years, and I know you just mentioned a couple of ways that spirituality and faith can help people who've been diagnosed with breast cancer, but in the group have you seen any other benefits or some more personal benefits that it's offered to the women in your group?

Dianne Hyman: Some of the women find that cancer brings more meaning to their faith. Some people find that, …others find that their faith may be challenged. They may struggle with understanding why they have cancer. Some may question their relationship with God, and I know within the group, their faith may allow that person to be able to find peace as they're going through. Prayer is a very powerful tool, that women utilize, you know, communing with their God, believing that God hears their prayers and is answering their prayers. An individual's faith can impact them, you know, even in terms of their life expectancy or the potentiality of that being shortened, and so, I believe that the women who are prayerful, and, and especially in the group, the women that are prayerful, they consider themselves, to be spiritual and have faith, that they cope better overall, and they are able to find meaning and joy, in their lives in spite of their circumstances.

Jamie DePolo: Okay, thank you. I'm also thinking that faith and spirituality can mean slightly different things to different people, and that people may have different beliefs depending on which particular church they belong to or what their, what they call their religion. So, how does that work in your support group? I am assuming that everyone's very respectful, but do people disagree sometimes, and how, how does that work in terms of faith?

Dianne Hyman: We don't necessarily agree or disagree in that sense, but I do know that the different religious beliefs may have them see things differently, you know, from a different perspective, but our interactions are always respectful, of course. I had a former classmate of mine who is Muslim who resides in another state and she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she reached out to me when she heard about Sister Will You Help Me, and I was able to share with her and encourage her to actually share her story within her, her community of faith, within her mosque, or reach out to her religious leader because I, you know, was sure her that there were other women, you know, of Muslim faith that are undergoing breast cancer. And although we have different religious beliefs, that common denominator is the breast cancer and how we can best support each other. And so, we focus on that being a common denominator on how we can best support each other as, as the women are going through. But of course there are different perspectives, and we're just always respectful of one another in that aspect.

Jamie DePolo: That makes sense. I do want to ask a follow-up question there about, is it possible that people of different faiths…You mentioned they have a different perspective. Does that…In a way, that seems like that could be helpful to different people. So, if, if I have one faith and somebody else in the group has another faith and sort of discuss the, the viewpoints and how it interacts with being diagnosed with breast cancer. Has that happened where people get sort of, a new awareness or, or a different viewpoint helps them?

Dianne Hyman: Yes. That's…I believe that that is extremely helpful. And just when they share their testimonies of how they believe their particular, you know, relationship with, with God or how their diagnosis has challenged their faith or increased their faith, or you know, helped them through their journey, and as they share those perspectives, I believe that it does, it encourages the next, survivor for sure.

Jamie DePolo: Oh, that's wonderful, and then finally I want to ask, how would you describe the impact of the support group, both on you as the founder and the leader, and also on the members? How do you think it's changed you, and how do you think it's changed the women who participate?

Dianne Hyman: Yes. The, the impact on me has been tremendous for sure. It, it has been a labor of love all of these years. When I'm able to see my vocation as a registered nurse line up with ministry so to speak, you know, as a woman of faith, ministry really is serving. And so, I'm able to clearly see the impact of what God has allowed me to do, you know, to touch many lives, to advocate and assist all of these women, you know, throughout their journeys. It's extremely humbling for me. And, and I'm grateful to be used in this capacity. Has it drained me at times over all of these years? Yes. I would say, to constantly pour out, and you know, not to mention that I've been to my share of funerals, unfortunately. So, it can be, it can be overwhelming if I allow it to be, but I had to learn how to not, how to not carry that burden, but that took years for me to get to where I am today.

Jamie DePolo: Sure.

Dianne Hyman: And as for, as for the members, I would think that they would agree that I've been a source of strength for them, a great advocate, you know, someone that they can come to for any and everything. I consider myself that sister, that daughter, that friend to them all, and so, it truly has been, a win-win combination all of these years for sure.

Jamie DePolo: That's wonderful. Dianne, thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate your insights, and I wish you 20, 30, 40 more successful years of, of Sister Will You Help Me and, and your support. Thank you again.

Dianne Hyman: Thank you.