When Marguerite Sheahan was in the midst of chemotherapy for breast cancer, she started attending a scrap-booking support group offered through the Robert F. Stoico/FIRSTFED Center for Breast Care at Saint Anne’s Hospital.
For her theme, Sheahan delved into her family history to create a genealogy scrapbook to give to her son, Danny Sheahan.
While she was immersing herself in sorting through generations of family photos, fellow support group member Elizabeth Farrar was documenting the treatment she had gone through for breast cancer. And with obvious wit, she also poked fun at herself. On one page, she juxtaposed her bald-headed baby photo alongside a photo of her after losing her hair from chemotherapy with the message: “I thought I had this haircut before.”
Her lighthearted — and poignant — scrapbook, created over weeks and weeks in Karyl Benoit’s creative arts class, helped to support Sheahan, who was just embarking upon her breast cancer treatment.
Sheahan, of Westport, and Farrar, of Taunton, bonded over the scrapbook project in the creative arts support group and in a yoga class support group.
At first, it was their shared experiences with breast cancer that drew them together, but as they became closer friends, their similarities also became apparent. They’re both nurses (Sheahan is now retired); they had the same doctor; they both love the beach; and they both had their first dates with their husbands on the beach. And one night during a breast cancer event, they learned they had one more thing in common: an unfulfilled dream of going to Rome and tossing a coin in to the Trevi fountain.
But it was a dream their husbands didn’t share.
Three days later, the two women were at a travel agency booking a cruise in the Mediterranean, with a stop in Rome, where they tossed their coins into the fountain in 2006.
It was, as they say, the start of a beautiful friendship.
“I think we bonded because we’re both nurses. We have the same positive attitude to illness; we’re both upbeat and we tend to want to do things that are fun,” said Farrar.
The two breast cancer survivors didn’t get to see Venice on that Mediterranean cruise, so they booked another cruise in 2010. And then, they went to Hawaii, where they rented a house; took a cruise in the Caribbean, and most recently, visited Key West, Fla., where they went out on a catamaran.
When Marguerite Sheahan was in the midst of chemotherapy for breast cancer, she started attending a scrap-booking support group offered through the Robert F. Stoico/FIRSTFED Center for Breast Care at Saint Anne’s Hospital.
For her theme, Sheahan delved into her family history to create a genealogy scrapbook to give to her son, Danny Sheahan.
While she was immersing herself in sorting through generations of family photos, fellow support group member Elizabeth Farrar was documenting the treatment she had gone through for breast cancer. And with obvious wit, she also poked fun at herself. On one page, she juxtaposed her bald-headed baby photo alongside a photo of her after losing her hair from chemotherapy with the message: “I thought I had this haircut before.”
Her lighthearted — and poignant — scrapbook, created over weeks and weeks in Karyl Benoit’s creative arts class, helped to support Sheahan, who was just embarking upon her breast cancer treatment.
Sheahan, of Westport, and Farrar, of Taunton, bonded over the scrapbook project in the creative arts support group and in a yoga class support group.
At first, it was their shared experiences with breast cancer that drew them together, but as they became closer friends, their similarities also became apparent. They’re both nurses (Sheahan is now retired); they had the same doctor; they both love the beach; and they both had their first dates with their husbands on the beach. And one night during a breast cancer event, they learned they had one more thing in common: an unfulfilled dream of going to Rome and tossing a coin in to the Trevi fountain.
But it was a dream their husbands didn’t share.
Three days later, the two women were at a travel agency booking a cruise in the Mediterranean, with a stop in Rome, where they tossed their coins into the fountain in 2006.
It was, as they say, the start of a beautiful friendship.
“I think we bonded because we’re both nurses. We have the same positive attitude to illness; we’re both upbeat and we tend to want to do things that are fun,” said Farrar.
The two breast cancer survivors didn’t get to see Venice on that Mediterranean cruise, so they booked another cruise in 2010. And then, they went to Hawaii, where they rented a house; took a cruise in the Caribbean, and most recently, visited Key West, Fla., where they went out on a catamaran.
Sheahan, whose husband passed away a few years ago, and Farrar continue to attend the yoga class support group, now headed up by Benoit, and they meet for lots of walks on the beach, lunches, and of course, planning for their next trip. “We still want to do a river cruise,” said Sheahan, as they showed photos of the places they’ve seen together.
“The people who come to any of programs tend to be very social in nature,” said Benoit. “I think there’s a comfort, and a shared fellowship that’s there. They know everyone in the group and they know that everyone in the group shares a similar experience. Whether they’ve just starting it, they’re going through it or they went through it five years ago.”
Email Linda Murphy at lmurphy@heraldnews.com.
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