Save this Episode! FREE Resources for Those Impacted by Cancer

A cancer diagnosis changes everything. While medical treatment targets the disease, what about the person—their fears, their appearance, their family, their spirit? Laurin Scanlon from AHN's Integrative Oncology Division reveals the extraordinary support system maybe you never knew existed.

The program, fully launched in 2023 after years of development, focuses on four pillars: health and fitness, diet and nutrition, image and appearance, and mind and body. What makes these services extra special is their accessibility—most are completely free and available to anyone with cancer, regardless of where they receive treatment or what insurance they carry. Even more impressive, many services are offered virtually, allowing patients to participate from home when they don't feel well enough to travel.

Laurin shares details about their award-winning wig salon that serves all genders, races, and hair types; cooking classes that welcome entire families including children; vouchers for services like massage and acupuncture; and gentle movement classes. The program doesn't just support patients either—it embraces caregivers, family members, and friends who are also profoundly affected by a loved one's diagnosis.

Behind these services are dedicated volunteers who contribute thousands of hours annually. From therapy dogs bringing joy during treatment to behind-the-scenes volunteers crafting dignity gowns and comfort items, these individuals become part of the patient's journey. For Laurin, whose grandfather received cancer treatment at AHN facilities, the mission is deeply personal—a way to honor his memory by helping others navigate their own cancer journeys with more support and dignity. For Sherry, whose father inspired the birth of this podcast also received cancer treatment at AHN. Cohost Jodi's mom also received cancer treatment at AHN. We are grateful for the opportunity to honor our loved ones and all those fighting cancer. 

Whether you're facing cancer yourself or standing beside someone who is, one phone call to 412-330-4045 connects you with this comprehensive support system. No referrals needed, no insurance requirements—just human-centered care that acknowledges healing involves much more than medicine alone.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Whole-Person Cancer Care
• 3:36 Understanding Integrative Oncology
• 5:56 Making Support Accessible Anywhere
• 12:55 Free Services: Wigs, Classes, and More
• 19:14 Volunteer Opportunities and Impact
• 25:46 Self-Care Tips for Patients and Caregivers
• 29:41 Final Resources and Contact Information

Transcript

Sherry Ehrin: 0:00

Welcome back to the place where we're getting through the hard stuff by connecting you with the people, the tools, the services and the inspiration to keep you going. But when life throws you something as heavy and life-changing as a cancer diagnosis, it can be so hard to find your way through. So, right from the start, today we want you to know that this episode is about real support, including mostly free and lesser known and newer resources that are designed to care for the whole person, not just the illness, as well as their caretakers, family and friends. So, whether you're walking through treatment yourself or standing beside someone who is, this conversation is for you. On this episode, we're talking about the kind of care that tends to your whole self mind, body and spirit and helps you take meaningful steps toward healing and hope.

Sherry Ehrin: 0:52

Our guest today is Lauren Scanlon, program Manager at AHN Cancer Institute Integrative Oncology Division. Lauren's work brings healing support to patients, caregivers and volunteers through calming spaces, therapy services and meaningful connections. She's here to share what's available, what's possible and how to access resources that you might not even know exist. You don't have to face this alone, so let's get into it. Welcome, Lauren. Thanks for joining us today. I was hoping that you could start by helping our listeners understand what integrative oncology really means and how it's different from and complements, traditional cancer treatment.

Laurin Scanlon: 1:31

Yeah, thank you so much for having me so excited to share our resources. Our program is relatively new, although we've been building bits and pieces here at Allegheny Health Network since 2019. Our integrative oncology program really got its legs under it to stand up in 2023 when we opened up our integrative oncology clinic with Dr Sarah Miller and our patients that have cancer go through so many different doctors, so many different suggestions and ultimately they come up with a plan of care. Our goal in integrative is to help support that plan of care plan of care. So what we do is we really try to focus on treating the whole person and not just their disease. As an integrative oncology patient, we give our folks the opportunity to build a team of experts to enhance their well-being.

Laurin Scanlon: 2:19

The practice of integrated medicine itself caring for your health at all levels mental, physical, social and spiritual has been around for a little while. But what we try to do is to go a step further, complementing conventional cancer care. We try to provide additional support that bolsters the standards of treatment that is prescribed, without alternating the medical or the radiation oncologist's main plan of care. Whenever we meet with our patients. We discuss disease and treatment-related side effects and then explore different ways that our therapies or programs can help support that. Our main goal is we try to combat side effects without the use of medication.

Laurin Scanlon: 3:02

Our treatment focuses on four main pillars health and fitness, diet and nutrition, image and appearance, and mind and body.

Laurin Scanlon: 3:12

So throughout those four different pillars we really try to enhance the quality of life of our patients, no matter what part of their journey they're in, whether they're just starting and overwhelmed they've been through a cycle or two of treatment or they're coming out of surgery and combating what's next, or if they're starting the new, you know unknown into survivorship. There's a lot of questions and challenges patients have and our goal is to try to just enhance that experience through knowledge, experience using people locally in our community and I think that's what I'm very proud of with our program is that we have a lot of wonderful local, community-based resources throughout Western Pennsylvania. With our partnership we make all of our programs accessible to patients, no matter where they're at, and we've taken a lot of our programs and put them on Zoom platforms so when you're not feeling good after you've had treatment or surgery, you don't necessarily need to come in to get all this great information. You could do it from the comfort of your home, while you're eating dinner in your pajama pants.

Sherry Ehrin: 4:20

You don't know what you're going to face or feel like when you wake up that day, and sometimes you know that would result in someone canceling an appointment or just maybe not even scheduling one in the first place. So that's one good thing Access remotely.

Laurin Scanlon: 4:35

Yeah, and we find a lot of our patients also commonly have a feeling of isolation. So really kind of breaking that barrier, overcoming that hurdle of, you know, not feeling good and missing out on a great thing. We try to put patients together in our programs that are all going through a similar thing or maybe just went through it to kind of help. And with that we've actually found groups of patients that kind of stick together and they say, oh, now that we've done this together, it was like a little bonding experience. Did you do this other program yet or are you going to that one? And we find that these groups of folks just kind of stick together and do like a little bit of everything on our menu of services, which is really nice. We find that more so with our cooking classes.

Laurin Scanlon: 5:18

That was something that we just launched. Last year we did a pilot and again, you know, my family was affected by cancer and it's not just the patient that's affected, it's the whole team, it's the caregiver, it's the friend, it's the coworker, the neighbor, the kids, even grandkids. So what we've tried to do is create experiences not just for patients, not just their caregivers, but their entire family and their entire support system.

Sherry Ehrin: 5:45

I'm so glad that you mentioned that, because often it's overlooked at how much the caretaker and you know the loved ones are affected, so it's so important to have something like that yeah.

Laurin Scanlon: 5:58

And I can do a little review of our programs too, some of the services we offer that we're really well known for number one, our wig salon, and if you can see, I'm sitting in one right now. We recently won an award last year for the category of equity with Highmark. We took our wig program and expanded it so we're not just Caucasian female wigs, we're inclusive of all genders, all races, all hair types. So important, it's wonderful. And we have seven wig locations throughout Western Pennsylvania and we have an additional eighth one that is virtual.

Laurin Scanlon: 6:32

So, again, the comfort of your home. We're able to do fittings. We've been doing fittings virtually actually since 2021, very successfully. And for those folks that can't come in to try it on, we actually mail the wig they choose to their home and it's no fee to them. We also give them additional supplies to help care for the wig, tips on how to clean and maintain it for longevity and other things to wear when they're not wearing your wig. So it's really a whole package when you come to us and it's free to anybody with cancer, not just AHN patients, not just Highmark Insured patients. We're here to care for our community.

Sherry Ehrin: 7:09

Oh, so good. How does somebody get connected to a service like that?

Laurin Scanlon: 7:13

Yeah, so we make it really simple, we streamlined it. So, like I said, the WIG is one of many programs. We have one phone number you call and we just kind of offer these things and say, when you're ready, let's get you signed up. You know, if you're ready today, we'll sign you up today. If you're ready, you know, after your first cycle of chemo, we'll wait and get that done. Or if you have a pending surgery coming up, we can wait till after that.

Laurin Scanlon: 7:35

But the main number is 412 330-4045. You don't need a referral. You don't need any of that. If you're a non-AHN patient, the only thing we ask for is a letter from your doctor or someone on your care team that says you do have a cancer diagnosis, your name and date of birth, just so we know that it's you. But we help so many people. Especially when we were coming out of the pandemic and launching these virtual programs in 2021 and so forth, we actually helped several folks out of the state. We've shipped wigs and cosmetic kits and skincare kits as far across the country as Los Angeles and Washington State.

Sherry Ehrin: 8:16

That's incredible. How is this funded?

Laurin Scanlon: 8:19

So we are very lucky to have some wonderful donors and anytime we hear a new donor and get to share about our program, we're only as good as our donations Right.

Laurin Scanlon: 8:27

So anybody that wants to make a donation can go to ahn. org there's a section for donations and they can type in integrative oncology or they could just call our main number again and we can route them with more detailed directions.

Laurin Scanlon: 8:44

But we're very lucky to work with just some local folks that are really passionate. Maybe they've been through it, maybe they know somebody, and that's how we get connected. There's a couple of local organizations too we partner with. We invite them to come on site to things like our cooking classes, like once or twice a year, just to get that boots on the ground feel. It's great when our donors want to donate philanthropically, but whenever we have large organizations that want to donate, we try to give them a slice of that experience to see how their impact financially is really helping people. And I can honestly say with each interaction we have, people move to tears because our patients are so grateful, our community members are so and it allows us to pursue additional programs, to grow the program.

Sherry Ehrin: 9:25

Yeah, I'm feeling that, as you're talking to me, yeah, it's, yeah, that's awesome, and I'm thinking of the listeners and just when you love somebody that receives a cancer diagnosis and you know it's, we do all the things that we try and it's showing up in different ways and this is a great way to show up for a loved one with cancer, just by connecting them with that phone number and letting them take it from there even so, cause I never, I've never heard of this until I met you at the luncheon.

Sherry Ehrin: 10:03

So I'm happy to be able to get it out to more people, because it is an incredible organization.

Laurin Scanlon: 10:10

So thank you.

Laurin Scanlon: 10:11

And what we find unique, too, about our situation is, again, we're not like giving medicine necessarily. We're giving like tips and tricks. Whenever we do, like our care and cosmetics or our caring for your skin and nails what you're like tutorial classes, tips and best practices. Sometimes we'll have people say hey, can my daughter sit in on the class, or my granddaughter, or can my mom sit in with me, and you know we put them off to the side so she can still listen and learn. Or whenever we do in person version of those classes, the patient most likely always brings a support person and it's so fun just to see that dynamic of the kit that we're giving them of safe, healthy, paraben-free, cruelty-free, vegan-friendly, hypoallergenic products. Yeah, everybody kind of forgets why they're there. They're focused on the makeup, they're focused on the skincare, they're focused on the skincare cream. It's a bonding experience that's unique and sometimes in our classes, like the makeup one, for example, we have different shades in all the bags and they're put together by our licensed cosmetologist who volunteered to do the program and host it, and sometimes you see women swapping color palettes oh, you're more of a peach, I'm more of a pink, let's switch. So I think that's really nice, and then it brings a positive distraction, much like our other programs and even our volunteers.

Laurin Scanlon: 11:32

When you see a volunteer in a red jacket at a cancer center, they're asking you about your day, they're filling you in on what's new with them. We even have four-legged pet therapy volunteer dogs. I'm sitting at Forbes today and actually yesterday we had a patient who was celebrating a birthday, and we don't typically have a dog on Wednesday. They're on vacation. Right now.

Laurin Scanlon: 11:53

We have some folks that go away for the summer, so we called in another team on a day that wasn't necessarily their day. They brought in a balloon for the gentleman and celebrated his birthday, and it made his journey. He's ringing the bell later this week. It made his journey a little bit easier. It gave him a story to talk about. Everybody around him was real excited and it made our staff stay too. I mean, it's just wonderful things that we can do human to human. Obviously, I'm not a nurse, I'm not clinical, but if I can roll up my sleeves and help the next person, that's what I want to do in life.

Sherry Ehrin: 12:27

Yeah, it's so important, yeah, awesome. And you're bringing us right into talking about the volunteers, because you also manage the volunteer program connected to integrative oncology. Can you share some ways that volunteers can make a difference? You already have, but what else is available if somebody would like to get involved with supporting integrative oncology program that you have?

Laurin Scanlon: 12:53

Yeah, that would be great. So we love having volunteers. We typically look for people that we can keep on board long-term. What's unique about volunteering at a cancer center versus like a larger hospital or an outpatient facility really is you kind of go along the journey with our patients. So we want to make sure anybody can bring in.

Laurin Scanlon: 13:12

You know, I will say, most of our folks that volunteer have somehow been touched or affected by someone in their life, if not themselves being a cancer survivor. So it's a lot of meaningful things. I'm here because my family had cancer and being able to pay it forward is the greatest reward that I could ask for. So whenever we meet with potential volunteer candidates, we want to make sure that they're emotionally ready to take that journey. And I think what surprises a lot of our folks is you really get close to the patients. You're volunteering close to home because we have many cancer centers, and you kind of ride that journey along with the patient. You know when they have good days you have a good day, when they have a not so good day and maybe don't get great news. You feel that in your heart.

Laurin Scanlon: 13:55

But it's just this unique bond that we have when our volunteers are scheduled it's typically once a week for about a four. They, when our volunteers are scheduled it's typically once a week for about a four. They come in and they're kind of put in a position. So things that they can do are a wayfinder, meaning that that's a role where they help patients find their way. They greet them at the front door, they stay there, especially in Pittsburgh snowy weather, when it's snowing outside or someone's leaning off a car, or this summer it rains a lot, so we keep them company and then we help them get to where they're going. The other one is a patient rounder. So these are the folks actually rounding in the medical oncology infusion centers.

Laurin Scanlon: 14:34

They're providing comfort, support, a listening ear, a pillow, snacks, coffee tea, that kind of stuff. Pillow snacks, coffee tea, that kind of stuff. Next, we have pet therapy volunteers, so it's hard not to spot them. We do have a lot of questions about can I bring my dog to work or can I bring my dog to the cancer center? We need to make sure they are certified as a pet therapy dog and the person is certified to handle them. One of the programs I started here is actually a scholarship fund. So if anyone's listening and they're an AHN or Highmark employee that has a dog they think could qualify for pet therapy, reach out to me, call that me number, the 412-330-4045. We actually help our staff get their dog certified, and themselves as well if they're interested.

Laurin Scanlon: 15:23

But we don't do cats, so just dogs. No chickens, no cows, no pigs, no horses, just dogs at our site. Have you had that as a question? We have, yes, we have, and some people have some really talented pets that are not dogs that they would like to bring in. But it makes us smile. I'm sure it would make our patients smile too. But unfortunately, being in a hospital, there are a lot of policies and regulations that we have to make sure we're bringing in certain types of animals that are called by Sure. Yeah, I've heard a lot of interesting stories over the years.

Laurin Scanlon: 15:56

Right, some other volunteer programs that we have music therapy. We have art therapy therapy, which is a smaller program we're looking to expand. We have volunteers that do wig fittings in the space behind me. Uh, that is a hot volunteer role, though everybody wants it and right now we're full , but it's wonderful to have and I think the more people we can fit with wigs benefiting from this podcast, the more we can expand our team. Yeah, absolutely, we do have licensed cosmetologists and estheticians that volunteer and then, believe it or not, there are a lot of volunteers that help us that don't even come on site.

Laurin Scanlon: 16:34

There are sewers, knitters, crocheters. They make things like dignity gowns, which is a smock top with Velcro. You have to have a certain sewing machine to do that, but they do those for our radiation oncology patients, specifically breast cancer patients. So when a woman goes to receive treatment, she doesn't have to go in bare chested for the treatment. Our techs help un-Velcro a certain section to remain dignity for the other side of her body. That's not getting radiation. Yes, so we have things like that.

Laurin Scanlon: 17:06

I'm sitting in a room right now, like I said, the wig salon where we have our sewing volunteers. Judy and her group of sewers she calls the knitwits are sewing turbans and bucket hats. So again, not just stuff for ladies but for guys too. We also were very fortunate in our wig salon program to have donations of baseball hats from the Pittsburgh Pirates. We received recognition during the Roberto Clemente Day of Service last year. So we have a mix of pirate hats. We have another hat partner that donated just non-branded baseball hats to us in solid colors. So we really try to fit everybody in what they need and what they're going through. But our volunteers make so much of the programs possible. The last couple of years our volunteers we get about a hundred or so a year in the Cancer Institute and they've donated a little over 7,000 hours of service year after year. So whenever we talk about our programs there's such high quality volunteers behind it that make it all possible.

Sherry Ehrin: 18:07

Yeah, it sounds that way and it takes all of it to make it happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah Is there anything else that we need to know about the volunteer services that you mentioned, because I like how you make it easy that everything's under the one number, yeah, so for volunteers.

Laurin Scanlon: 18:23

You can actually go online to ahn. org, type in the word volunteer and you'll see our application page. If you think you can commit to volunteering like that we do ask for, like the once a week four hour shift, more so for the cancer center because you're scheduled on a day and a slot, if you will.

Sherry Ehrin: 18:44

And someone's counting on you to be there.

Laurin Scanlon: 18:45

Yeah, yeah, you know, you're allowed to have a sick day, you can go on vacation. We want you to enjoy life, but when our patients don't see it too much, they get concerned, they get worried. You're very much kind of in it with them, yeah you're part of it.

Laurin Scanlon: 18:59

Through their journey. But if you're looking for something different that doesn't have such a strict time commitment, our hospitals are a great alternative. So just go to ahnorg If you're interested in the cancer center, select cancer center or outpatient facility. It'll get routed to me. If you're interested in a hospital role, maybe that's not so time crunch lenient that's something you can consider too. The cancer centers are also only open Monday through Friday during normal business hours, so sometimes we have great applicants but they're only available after a workday or on a weekend. So hospitals would scoop you up, yeah, so feel free to just keep us all in mind at AHN and apply and and we'll try to find a place that fits your needs, Okay that's awesome, yeah.

Sherry Ehrin: 19:45

What about tips for patients and caregivers while they're not participating in a program? What are a few small but impactful things that patients and caregivers could do to support their emotional wellness during treatment?

Laurin Scanlon: 20:00

And physical too. Yeah, I think the first thing to know is you're not alone. I think cancer even though a lot of people may have it or have a diagnosis that you know oversee every journey is different and I think just identifying the importance of caregiver burnout is huge. If you're wearing many hats, if you're working as a caregiver, if you're a parent as a caregiver, if you're caring for somebody else in addition to somebody that has a cancer diagnosis or that's sick, try and I know it's easier said than done try to take time for yourself. Try to do something that fills your cup and just talking with some people. You know some people, especially in the summertime, like to garden. I know for me gardening is huge. Gardening brings in that sense of just connection with nature and right now actually, we're working with Phipps Conservatory to get people more in tune with nature for caregivers and patients. So you might see some cool stuff coming up down the road with that, with our program. But I think anytime you can just hit a pause on life and everything you're juggling and focus on you as a caregiver. That's what you need. As far as patients go, cancer can feel very isolating and everyone's journey is different. But you're not alone and there are people that their journey may be a little different than yours, but you have supporters. Cancer can take a lot of things from you and I think, when you're ready, having resources like ours as simple as learning how to draw on an eyebrow for a woman that lost her, having eyebrow thinning or putting on a wig if you have an event coming up or you're going out with your girlfriends, or even with our men, we think, oh, women, they're so much more visual. We can see when a woman doesn't have hair, when she doesn't have her eyebrows, if she looks more drawn and pale than usual, if there's a spot or a scar on her. We see that based on our society today. But I think, too, I want to reach out to the men. You're not alone. It's not all about the women, it's about everybody. We're trying to support men.

Laurin Scanlon: 22:05

We're actually having an event this year. It's our first event. It's a men with cancer, wellness fair and barbecue. So I know we're going to share more information. Sherry has those details, but if we get a good enough turnout this year, we hope to make it annual. We feel like barbecue is a great way to bring men in. We're doing healthy spins on everything so you don't have to worry about eating things that aren't so good for you. It's like an extension of our cooking class that we do, that we're hosting this event, but it's all focused on those little things that maybe you're afraid to ask or you don't want to ask or you're shy to ask, to just help break down barriers that society has put on us for what we need to know to live a healthy life and to manage all of our side effects. So don't be afraid to reach out for resources.

Laurin Scanlon: 22:49

We have a slew of programs. So we talked about the wig, we talked about the makeup, we talked about the skin and nails. We touched a little bit on our cooking classes. The cooking classes are for patients, caregivers. Caregiver can be your neighbor, your friend, your coworker and then your entire immediate family kids, grandkids.

Laurin Scanlon: 23:09

We actually just piloted a breakout table called the kids table where we have a licensed child psychologist sit up and that's her specialty is working with kids. We made it fun. So it's not scary, it's not separating or isolating the kid. We have a fun little water themed tablecloth their kid's table. We also have a duck that has a chemotherapy port and an IV line and she can use that with her background to help educate and destigmatize what it looks like if someone has something like that.

Laurin Scanlon: 23:45

And then we actually give away little ducklings at the table for the kids to take home. So they don't have all the ports and you know contraptions on, like the ducks that we have for our show and tell portion of that, but it's just to make kids not so worried, not so concerned. Our little ducks sometimes have bandanas on their heads, so if they're seeing a loved one or caregiver going through that it's trying to normalize those experiences. So it's great for everybody. We do appetizers, a main course, entree, a side dish and dessert. If you're sick and don't feel like eating it, you don't have to. You're not cooking, your caregiver's not cooking, you're all just coming getting food. We have raffles.

Laurin Scanlon: 24:25

Enjoying time together, enjoying time sitting across the table from people that are going through something very similar. We've seen a lot of caregiver to caregiver bonding over that, which is unique. Normally we see patient to patient, but this is caregiver to caregiver, kids playing with other kids that are going through the same thing and then to go boxes for everybody. But we kind of sneak in the resources in there too. We have a lineup of local people that do things based on where our classes for cookie to educate are taking place, keeping community in the community. In addition to that, we have a program called Reflections so you're going to call our main number for all these things. But Reflections is a way to look at yourself and focus on you, and this is specifically for cancer patients. We give vouchers for services such as massage, reiki, acupuncture, depending on where you're located. We do manicures, pedicures in the greater Pittsburgh region, we have facial services up in Erie and in the South Hills we have a Himalayan salt cape we partner with and if you've never gone, let me tell you that is an experience I've never. If you struggle with relaxing, if you've never gone, let me tell you that is an experience I've never. If you struggle with relaxing, whether you have cancer or not, you need to go. Our program is specifically for cancer patients and active treatment, but we're great resources for people that don't qualify and you just want to find out a safe place to go and, again, supporting local businesses, connecting patients with their community members and taking care of one another.

Laurin Scanlon: 25:52

But our last program I'll talk about is called Movement and Breathing.

Laurin Scanlon: 25:56

We didn't want to use the word yoga because that can scare people. Yoga is a lot of big moves, but our Movement and Breathing focuses on energy balance within your body, your spirit, and it's for patients and caregivers. So with this we talk about different ways to relax, to create a positive sense of well-being. We talk a little bit about mindfulness, breath work, gentle yoga. We do chair yoga for people that don't want to get on the mat and we do a little bit of Reiki as well. So it's a great way to dabble in that, if you've never tried, you can go to multiple ones of those, you don't just have to go to one. And then, aside from the free classes, we do have an integrative oncology clinic with Dr Sarah Miller. It's a one-on-one appointment that you can really use to spend with a licensed, certified integrative oncologist and find out what are some tips or tools or suggestions to create that quality of life and reduce my symptoms that I want to get under management a little bit better, yeah.

Sherry Ehrin: 26:54

And that's a free resource, too?

Laurin Scanlon: 26:56

So the clinic we do have to bill through insurance. If you're already seeing us, it's the same cost as a medical oncology visit. If you're not currently seeing AHN, it is billed as like a new referral. But we've made sure that even when it is being billed, we're trying to work with everybody to get it at the lowest level we can. But aside from the clinic, all of our other programs are 100% free. Again, you don't have to be AHN, you don't have to have high market insurance. We want to care for our community and everybody else that doesn't have these resources, locally too, that's so great, so great.

Sherry Ehrin: 27:30

Is there something that we should have talked about that we missed?

Laurin Scanlon: 27:33

I think that's everything we're actually working on building out a website for our program at the ahn. org website. When it comes out, it will be called Integrative Oncology and you'll see one of these calendars and our lineup of events and this is for 2025.

Sherry Ehrin: 27:49

Okay, I can link that in my show notes. And there was a question I had for you. The spirit that you have, you can tell it comes from your own lived experience and that you're working within your purpose. And I was just wondering it is such a heavy feeling to go through and so what keeps you hopeful in the work that you do in this program?

Laurin Scanlon: 28:14

That's great. I really attribute a lot of where I'm at today being grateful and thankful to my mom especially. My mom has had her medical battles in the past. My grandfather was my best friend. I lost him in 1999 because of a cancer diagnosis and I actually was at another institute before coming to AHN and I loved working there. I mean both great places. But what really hit home was when I heard about this opportunity to come here and work with AHN cancer patients. That's where my grandfather was treated all those years ago.

Laurin Scanlon: 28:44

So each time I walk into Allegheny General or West Penn where he had his treatment, I'm consistently humbled. I feel like a preteen, like a 10 or 12 year old walking through there again and getting that chance to see him and make an impact, and I think I just I want to make my family proud and pay it forward. Even if someone doesn't have the best diagnosis, there's so much you can do for your quality of life and there's so much you could do just to push through that. We want to make sure that people are getting a full range of support. So I think just meeting people, hearing the experience, attending some of the classes that co-host it, just fuels my fire, and it's all thanks to our donors, our volunteers and people like you that give us a platform to share what we're doing. We're only as good as our attendants, so if anybody wants to sign up again, that number is 412-330-4045. We just want to help you.

Sherry Ehrin: 29:43

Thank you so much. Thank you for giving us the insight and the direction. I'm really glad we had the chance to do this today.

Laurin Scanlon: 29:51

Thank you Thanks again.

Sherry Ehrin: 29:52

To our listeners who may be in the middle of cancer treatment or loving someone who is. We hope today's episode connects you with tools, services and people who are ready to help you carry the load. If you'd like more information about these services or you'd like to support the program with your donations or volunteer services, you can find out more information by checking our show notes for resources from AHN's Integrative Oncology Division or find out more information at TYPGHPOD on Instagram or on our Facebook page at This Is it the Podcast by Thriving Yinzers. This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered professional advice.

Sherry Ehrin: 30:38

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