A new cancer resource center at Mary Greeley Medical Center opened its doors Aug. 25 after two years of planning.

“This is the first time a cancer resource center has been available in Story County,” said Community Relations Director Andrew Zalasky.

The resource center is part of the William R. Bliss Cancer Center and is located on the second floor of the north addition to Mary Greeley.

“[The center] provides central Iowans with a location to gather information about cancer prevention, detection, screening and treatment,” Zalasky said.

Mary Ellen Carano, coordinator of the new center, said the center is also part of a “continuum of care that includes physical, spiritual, psychological and emotional needs of patients.”

Visiting the center is “part of [the patients] taking their own initiative,” Carano said. It is about being informed so patients “can feel like they are making the decisions.”

Carano is responsible for gathering and maintaining the resource center’s collection of periodicals, texts, videos and other cancer related materials, along with assisting visitors.

Gathering information includes talking to physicians about what methods are being used and what they like and don’t like. It also includes contact with organizations such as the National Institute of Health and the American Cancer Society, Carano said.

“It’s a constant exchange of information,” Carano said. “It’s all about networking.”

The center provides a unique experience because of the variety of services it offers to patients.

“We have the resource center as well as a fitting room for prosthesis and a boutique,” Carano said.

Carano said she has visited other centers in Central Iowa that provide all these services, but not in the same place.

The boutique currently offers wigs and prostheses, and will possibly offer pressure garments, supplements and swimwear in the future, Carano said.

The center has three stylists that work with patients interested in wigs.

The stylist will come in and work with the patient to determine which wig would be best suited for the individual based on coloring and preference. Then the stylist will order the wig and refer the patient to a salon for cut and style of the wig.

Women who have had breast cancer can also schedule an appointment to be fitted for a prosthesis.

Along with full-time employees, the center also employs volunteers with a variety of health care experience.

“We have very high-caliber, knowledgeable people,” Carano said of current volunteers.

Students can also benefit from the center. During its first weeks of operation, the center has supplied a number of students with information. Some are international students who have parents at home with cancer and are searching for information and ways to get proper care for their parents, Carano said.

She also said the center is a great place to do research on health care issues. The center has two computer terminals pre-programmed for specific cancer-related sites, along with printed materials.

Each month the resource center offers evening programs based on which type of cancer is featured that month. The goal is “to provide ongoing education by professionals,” Carano said.

The focus for September is prostate cancer and includes the presentation, “Prostate Screening and Prostate Health Overview,” presented by Dr. Bradley Thorgaard of McFarland Clinic Urology.

The center looks toward the future and its ability to grow and provide new services.

“The vision is there to provide for those [new] services as growth indicates them,” Carano said.