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Cancer Survivors Heal Through Art

When Pamela Crouch, a writer, underwent cancer treatments, she developed aphasia--the inability to remember the names of things. So she decided to create in a different way--painting birdhouses for other newly diagnosed cancer patients. 

"I was always taught that if you do something for someone else, you can't really feel sorry for yourself, it takes that pain away and you think outward."

Now, she's taken that ethos further, inspiring other cancer survivors to take up the artists' mantle. She's the co-producer of Living Proof Exhibit: Cancer Survivor Art, which opened at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport. 

On this hour of Talk of Iowa, Host Charity Nebbe talks with Crouch and with Melissa Mohr,  Director of Education at the museum. She's also joined by Liz Cullen, a nurse practitioner in radiation oncology at the University of Iowa and Jen Adams, a social worker at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, about the unique struggles cancer survivors face. 

Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa