One-Year Anniversary of Local Cancer Center

In 1997, when Mary Dempsey found out that her mother, Amanda, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she used all her resources from her work at the Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) to find her mother the best treatment and to keep her family well-informed. Today, after three rounds of cancer, her mother is healthy and the cancer is in remission.  Actor Patrick Dempsey, Mary’s brother, recognized his sister’s vital role as a liaison between their family and the medical world during the cancer treatment.  When he asked Mary what other cancer patients and families would do without medical knowledge, she responded that most people would have to dig for information themselves. 
Recognizing the burden this could be on families, Mary and Patrick brainstormed a way that they could use what they learned from their mother’s experience with cancer to help other cancer patients and their families.
Mary has worked for 28 years at CMMC, the same hospital where she and Patrick were born. The two Turner natives turned to CMMC for help in forming what is now the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing.  Patrick is the founder and Mary is the center coordinator alongside Program Director Kerry Irish. 
“When you’re given a diagnosis of cancer a lot of your power is taken away,” Mary said.  “What happens is here you come in and we give you the resources and information that you need, so it’s giving you a little bit of your power back and giving you some knowledge.”
The center plays a vital role in cancer care at CMMC and has been operating for a year now, offering free high-quality education, support and wellness services to cancer patients. Some of the services include providing cancer information, counseling, financial counseling, integrative medicine programming, a toll-free cancer assistance line, spa services, yoga classes, art courses and other activities. There is a modest fee for certain services such as massage therapy.  More information on the center is available at www.dempseycenter.org.
Since its opening on March 31, 2008, the center has expanded and outgrown its space, having to spread some of its operations to the main hospital at CMMC.  The center also provides services internationally to cancer patients as far away as Australia and Spain. The Dempseys look to raise money to construct a building to house the cancer center under one roof.
Mary and Patrick grew up in Turner, Maine – the town known to Batesies as the home of Nezinscot Farm – and later moved to Buckfield after Mary and her sister graduated from high school.  Patrick attended St. Dom’s High School for a couple of years and as Lewiston is the closest city to Turner, his family would often come into town to shop.  CMMC also draws many out-of-towners to L/A because it is one of the only main hospitals in a 40-mile radius.
“It’s amazing to see what’s happened in the city,” Patrick said, noting the area’s development over the years. “There’s potential for that city, especially in the downtown area, to blossom again.”
He currently owns a home in Harpswell, Maine, near Brunswick, where he stays when he returns home. Currently living in Los Angeles, Patrick misses Maine. 
“It’s like any place you grow up.  You want to get away from it when you hit 18 and explore the world.  The older you get, and having children, I really miss living there,” Patrick said.  “I really want my children to have that experience.  I certainly don’t miss it in January and February though.  But I do miss it.  It’s who I am.” 
Patrick rarely has time to come home due to his busy schedule with “Grey’s Anatomy,” as shooting lasts from July until May.  A good portion of the Bates population watches “Grey’s Anatomy” on Thursday evenings, and Mary is also a fan of her brother’s show.
“Sometimes because of my career in the emergency room, it’s hard for me to watch it because if my brother gets hurt or gets picked on [in an episode], I want to help him,” Mary said.  “But I actually really like the show.  If I didn’t, I would tell him, ‘This isn’t my cup of tea.  You’re doing a great job in your career.’ But I do like the series.”
Patrick finds that his involvement in the cancer center and his mentality of wanting to aid the community helps him to play Dr. Derek Shepherd on “Grey’s Anatomy.”  Patrick is humble about his celebrity status, but finds it fulfilling that he is able to use his celebrity image to help other people and do good in the community.
Community is, after all, the main reason the Dempseys opened the cancer center in the first place.
“I think the impact of the community has been quite positive, which was the goal anyway,” Patrick said.  “I want to make sure that we keep listening to what the community needs and that we fulfill those needs.” 
The Dempseys have gotten positive feedback from cancer patients and their families.
“The one thing that patients and families do say when they come here is that they wish we had this sooner to be able to help them through other cancer treatments that they already had to experience,” Mary said. “They were extremely grateful to my brother for opening up [the center].” 
The Dempseys turn to the community for fundraising by organizing events that bring people together for the cause of raising cancer awareness, as the disease not only affects cancer patients but also those around them. 
On Oct. 3 and 4, Patrick will return home to organize the Dempsey Challenge, a walking, running and cycling event that will start and end at Simard-Payne Police Memorial Park in Lewiston. The cycling trail is a 100-mile loop that winds through various Maine scenic landscapes such as Poland Springs. Five-time Olympian cyclist George Hincapie and other top competitors from the Tour de California have registered to participate. Those who aren’t as into cycling can bike as few as 10 miles, tailoring the race to their endurance level.  A five-kilometer walk/run will also take place.  More information about the Challenge is available at www.dempseychallenge.org.
All of the proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward raising cancer awareness and building a new cancer center.  Since the Dempsey Center’s services are gratuitous for patients and their families, the funding for the program stems from the seed money that Patrick donated to the center, philanthropic sources, donations and fundraising. 
“Everything’s contingent upon fundraising and you want to come up with fun ways and interesting ways and strong ways to get people involved in hopes to promote wellness and taking care of oneself,” Patrick said. “For me, exercise and cycling is most enjoyable.  I wanted to share that and the Challenge seemed to be the right way to go about doing that.” 
Patrick finds exercise to be the best form of preventative medicine.  He tries to cycle daily, depending on his shooting schedule for “Grey’s Anatomy,” and is training for the Dempsey Challenge.  Currently comfortable riding 40 miles, Patrick hopes to build his way up to the full 100 miles.
Depending on the turnout for this year’s event, Patrick hopes to make the Dempsey Challenge an annual event and to organize a larger festival event in downtown Lewiston that brings the community together.
Besides the typical treatment for cancer, The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing also aims to heal through artwork.  Mary supervises the craft support group that the center offers, making hats, scarves, gloves and quilts for cancer patients and their families.
In addition to supervising the craft support groups, Mary runs a quilt project that serves as an “In Memory of” and “In Honor of” gesture that allows family members to honor and commemorate loved ones who experienced cancer.  The money made from the memoriam quilts goes directly to the transportation needs fund that will provide transportation for cancer patients outside of the Lewiston area.
The Dempsey Center partnered with Bates to put on the “Paint Your Heart Out: Embracing Art and Healing” exhibit in Chase Hall.  The display of water color paintings were created by adults in the Lewiston/Auburn community who took part in the “Paint Your Heart Out” course at the Dempsey Center.  Artist-educator Elaine Tselikis and Cindy Visbaras – a Bates health educator and expressive arts facilitator – led the course, assisted by Kelly Gollogly ’10, Adam Goodwin ’09 and Brynne Underhill ’10.  The Harward Center for Community Partnerships funded the program.
Volunteers are welcome at The Dempsey Center.  Senior Devin Wigler did research for her psychology service-learning thesis at the center, analyzing distress levels and psychosocial needs of newly diagnosed cancer patients to evaluate their overall levels of distress and needs in relation to previous surveys and demographics.  The center social workers will use the results of Wigler’s research to further develop psychosocial interventions that tailor to the patients’ specific needs and manage the distress of cancer patients.
Mary and Patrick have both visited Bates.  Mary enjoys the Bates Museum and her daughter, Nicole, used to play basketball in a camp at Bates.  Patrick visited the campus when he was younger and had some friends who were enrolled in the College.
“I used to [visit Bates] all the time as a kid,” he said.  “It’s a pretty campus…. It always surprised me to see such a world-class college in Lewiston/Auburn.”
The Dempseys encourage Batesies to get involved in raising cancer awareness and to attend The Dempsey Challenge in October.
“I know that that’s a busy weekend for Bates, but we encourage everyone to come out and participate,” Mary said. “We encourage everyone to get involved.  It will be a lot of fun.”
 

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out