Every year in Lithuania 18 000 people are diagnosed with oncological disease. Nowadays “cancer” sounds more like a sentence rather than a diagnosis however Franciscans, inspired by Western Europe’s experience, say otherwise – the dark ages of oncological diseases are over. They not only want to disprove the myths surrounding various forms of this disease but also with the hard work and right mindset to gather people of Lithuania and help them in a very exhausting but winnable fight.
Oncological diseases are a very complex and have specific conditions which damages body and soul. Most of the people diagnosed with that kind of a disease not only face the common problems (social, physical and psychological) of the patients but also have to find the right answers when dealing with existential questions raised by the disease itself. It just proves that complex health care services is a necessity for the oncological patients to maintain psychosocial wellbeing, to decrease tension and to keep the hope alive and strong.
The construction of St. Francis oncological center in Klaipėda started in 2011 and was finished in 2015 with the help from generous people, various projects and “Aukok.lt”. The center started to work two years ago and from that time 4000 oncological patients with their families received more than 7000 spiritual, psychological, social, health and other consultations.
The Franciscans invite the society to focus on a generous task to provide spiritual, psychological and other consultations for oncological patients and their families for free in a newly build St. Francis center in Klaipėda.