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MEDFORD Medford art program gives outlet to cancer survivors 'It's not an art class, it's a therapy group' Comment By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 28, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 28, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News It’s been nearly three years since his last cancer treatment, yet Roger Emry continues to be haunted by the pink swab nurses used to clean the sores in his mouth several times a day. The pain he’d experienced and the anger he felt after his diagnosis were somehow embodied in that small sponge. Emry, who lives in Talent, was diagnosed with stage 4 head and neck cancer on his 57th birthday, Oct. 9, 2011, and received daily radiation and chemotherapy treatments from Dec. 2, 2011 through February 2012. He recalls screaming when the nurses would come into his room with the hateful swab to clean sores caused by the treatments. “Think about having third-degree burns inside your mouth,” he said. Long after his last treatment, Emry, who is in remission, continued to be angry at cancer and the lack of a perfect, pain-free cure. But over the last few months, with the help of registered art therapist Delaine Due, Emry has been able to express these sentiments and the trauma he’d undergone visually with crayons, acrylics and oils sticks. In October, Due launched an art therapy program, Art for Life's Sake, funded by a $2,500 grant from the Haines Foundation and subsidized by the Providence Community Health Foundation. The program, which is now entirely funded by PCHF, is open to cancer survivors living in the Rogue Valley. “That could be someone who has been cancer-free for any number of years right up to people who received a diagnosis last week,” Due said. The therapy group meets once a week at Providence Medford Medical Center to work on art projects depicting each patient’s individual experience with cancer. No art experience is required. “It’s not an art class,” Due stresses, “it’s a therapy group. This is personal imagery about their internal experience. It’s not about learning to draw a vase of flowers accurately.” The art, Due said, provides relief from the pain and gives cancer survivors a new perspective on the fear and other emotions they experience. Due has conversations with participants as their artwork evolves and their feelings become evident. One patient who was resistant to getting chemotherapy drew a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon hanging around a woman’s neck like a noose. But a subsequent drawing showed the woman surrounded by a variety of cancer “treatments,” including supportive friends, healthy foods and chemotherapy. "Art is a gentle way to bring subconscious experiences to the surface," Due said. One of Emry’s early artworks depicted a large pink swab, but in consecutive drawings, the swab became smaller and less prominent. The faces of the nurses also became less beastly, Due said. Emry’s most recent painting, "Dead tree returns to life," is of a black tree with little green leaves, and the pink swab is nowhere to be found. “If I can put it (my feelings) on an image, then it’s out and no longer inside of me, “ Emry said Friday at an art show featuring works by 10 of the program participants. The support group, said Olivia Norris, Providence's radiation oncology office coordinator, is complementary to other forms of therapy and is open to cancer survivors throughout the region and not just those treated at Providence. Norris said she and the nurses at Providence have been impressed with the progress many of the cancer survivors have made since starting the program. “A lot of times they can’t express in words what they are feeling,” Norris said. “They are maybe angry, fearful or depressed, but somehow through art they are able to identify something going on deep within … and Delaine helps them work through that.” For more information about the program, see www.peoplesart.net. Reach reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt . By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 28, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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