So now you have cancer. Here's where you can get help and support on Cape Cod.

If you've been recently diagnosed with cancer, you are understandably going to take it personally.

How can you not? You've got something inside your body that wants to kill you. But you're not alone.

First of all, you are not alone because at least 1,509 Cape Codders showed up at Cape hospitals for their very first cancer visits in 2021, Katherine Michaud, executive director of Cape Cod Healthcare’s Oncology Department said. Based on that number, let's estimate that some 14,000 of us have come down with cancer in the last 10 years.

But there's another even more important way that you are not alone. There are so many programs, so many support groups, so much help for us that a newspaper column cannot do them all justice.

I've been on chemotherapy now for three months and just starting radiation treatments. I'm sharing with you what I've learned.

About 30 to 35% of the current cancer medications are taken orally. My chemotherapy medications cost about $1,000 a month, and that's not unusual. So here's the first thing you need to know: the hospital has a dedicated Oncology Pharmacist whose sole purpose is to ransack the insurance options and research various funding options to help you get that bill down to something you can handle. It took several days for the hospital to sort it out, but now I'm paying one-tenth the list price.

You may have heard about an annual fundraising event called "Soiree on the Bay." When one of the organization’s founders died of cancer, they changed their name toSoiree for Alice's Classroom in her honor. Since 2019, the event has raised over $350,000 to assist cancer patients on Cape Cod. It's an annual event.

Visit the American Cancer Society’s website (cancer.org/about-us/local/massachusetts), and you will find programs that offer free rides to cancer treatment, lodging if you have to travel a distance for cancer treatment and all kinds of other useful programs.

If you suffer from gynecological cancer specifically, go to belowthebeltwomenscancer.org to see what support they offer. One in eight women in America will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Forty-eight percent of female cancer patients on Cape Cod have breast cancer. Prostate cancer accounts for 29% of cancer diagnoses for men on Cape Cod, Michaud said. Lung and esophageal cancers come in a distant second for both sexes.

Another resource for cancer patients is the Cape Wellness Collaborative run by Abigail Field. Abby is a luminous person. I think she might glow in the dark, especially when you discuss all the support her organization offers. Funded by grants and the generosity of Cape Codders, every new patient who walks in their door gets $2,000 worth of credits for a whole galaxy of services: massage therapy, medically-tailored fresh meals delivered three times a week to patients and their caregivers, 2,074 members helped with integrative therapies, over 70 practitioners providing life-giving services. All programs are pre-funded.

Since the meal delivery program started, the collaborative has delivered more than 9,075 meals, according to Fields.

Other food programs include Meals on Wheels and Cape Cod food pantries listed with The Cape Cod Food Network.

Cape Cod and Falmouth hospitals provide the greatest concentration of cancer services. The cancer center have oncology social workers who can help patients with psychosocial issues, emotional support, financial difficulties and transportation.

Diet and cancer are often intertwined, so ask for their oncology dieticians as well. They can help with nausea or lack of appetite caused by cancer or its treatment.

There’s a 6-week exercise and wellness program called Living Fit that’s available both in Hyannis and in Falmouth — and it offers an exercise program with a physiologist as well as classes on topics such as nutrition and other important aspects of staying well as a cancer survivor.

Check out their six-week class called Bone Fit. It's an exercise program geared for cancer survivors to help you maintain strong bones as well as aerobics to help reduce your chances of falling.

I'm sure I'm going to leave important services out, so whatever your particular kind of cancer is, Google “support groups” for it on Cape and see what's available near you.

Here's the takeaway: If you have cancer on Cape Cod, you are not alone. Even if you live alone, support is available, such as the Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) (www.capecodhealth.org/medical-services/visiting-nurse-association).

Lots of people around you have been through this. Lots of people have survived, and can offer you companionship, good advice and loving support.

When people ask me about my cancer, I tell them that I'm just fine. My body has cancer, but not me. This is your Super Bowl. You'll find an astonishing number of people around here who will be betting on you to win.

Finally, if you don't have cancer, lucky you! If any of the organizations I've just mentioned piqued your interest, consider supporting them as a volunteer or with donations.

If you listen to too much media, you will become convinced that the world is angry and heartless. But that's just not true. There is kindness and compassion in people all around us. Just look and see.

Lawrence Brown is a columnist for the Cape Cod Times. Email him at columnresponse@gmail.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod organizations that provide support, advice to cancer patients