Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion
Keeping in touch
Virginia Shook of Kenai inks a fingerprint on a painting the patients of Peninsula Radiation Oncology Center made at the center’s second annual Patient Appreciation Luncheon on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016 at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska. Shook, who said she is now cancer-free, said her own cancer surprised her during a routine checkup that she had thought about skipping. “It just totally didn’t see it coming,” she said. She encouraged everyone to always have regular screenings. Dr. James Blom, one of the radiation oncologists at the center, said patients can form friendships during their treatments with other patients and their family members, like support groups, and events like the luncheon can both show the center’s appreciation for the patients and give them a chance to meet outside the medical clinic.
