SKANEATELES - Cancer is a scary word and an even scarier disease, but since the establishment of the weCAre support group a little over a year ago, it is not something anyone has to go through alone.

“Our motto is ... focusing on life,” group chair Ginny Pfau said. “When people get diagnosed or as they are going through treatment they might feel very alone, but we are here to let people know that they aren't alone and that there is hope and that there is life after cancer.”

The group spent the past year finding its way and developing meetings to focus on what people who attend seem most interested in learning or talking about.

With this in mind, the group will host a panel discussion next week.

The panel will feature several members who have faced and survived a variety of cancer, ranging from in the colon to head and neck and breast cancer.

The panel concept is designed to create an open forum for discussion. The forum allows survivors to share their stories and pass along messages of hope, as well as give insight into what the gamut of experiences are from diagnosis to treatment to survival.

Pfau has served as facilitator, connecting people with resources. For her, the idea of hosting this kind of panel meeting ties in well with the group's mission and efforts thus far.

The members offer support, but also public education. Attendees are interested in this aspect of the support group, she said

“People want to learn more and they want to know that there is hope,” she said. “With this panel there is over 40 years of combined survival and I think these people have a lot to share and that this conveys that message of hope.”

David Bates and Kate Murphy will participate, among others, on the panel.

Both were pleased to learn Skaneateles boasted a support group, saving people from the long drives to Syracuse, and joined weCAre from the beginning and both were pleased to learn that there was a support group located in Skaneateles.

Murphy was eager to join weCAre, despite her participation in other support groups and online support networks. She is a 25-year survivor of colon cancer.

“When people get diagnosed they are frightened. I thought it was important to have a place where people could go for support and be provided with information right here in our area,” she said.

Bates has seven years of surviving prostate cancer.

From time to time he has attended other support groups, like Man To Man Prostate Cancer in Syracuse and other groups that use a similar format with panel discussions and educational efforts.

But this gathering for weCAre will be unique.

At weCAre meetings, the group will often present speakers ranging from nutritionists to oncologists, addressing the many concerns cancer patients may face.

While other support groups often address a specific type of cancer, this panel will discuss the disease from firsthand knowledge across the board, giving those in attendance insight into the entire experience of having and fighting cancer.

“All of us run the gamut,” Bates said. “Everyone on the panel has had different kinds of cancers, men and women. I think that it will be a great resource for all to tell our stories and to be able to share our different experiences and let people know that they are not alone.”

Both Bates and Murphy, along with the rest of the panel, will discuss their personal experiences and hope to inspire those in attendance to ask questions and become involved in the discussion.

Murphy said the country contains 10 million cancer survivors and this fact represents the meeting's overall message and the weCAre group as a whole.

“The message is there is hope,” Murphy said. “We've all had different cancers, but we all have the common theme of being survivors and that is the message I hope people are able to get, that there is hope.”

If you go

What: WeCAre Cancer Support Group panel discussion

When: 7 p.m. Thursday, July 17

Where: Skaneateles Community Center, 97 State St., Skaneateles

Cost: Free

To learn more: Call Sandy at 253-4784, Dave at 497-3446 of Ginny at 685-8128