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"THE HAZY THOUGHTS OF A FUTURE JOURNALIST"
"THE HAZY THOUGHTS OF A FUTURE JOURNALIST"
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Road to Expansion:
Columbia program that assists cancer patients is eager to grow beyond Boone County
Columbia program that assists cancer patients is eager to grow beyond Boone County
BY: SYDNEY MILLER & ROBERT PARTYKA
When Barbara Sell was diagnosed with breast cancer she didn’t want to burden her family, so she drove herself to her radiation therapy.
“I would have loved it if I had company, but my family has busy lives,” Sell said. “I had to see an oncologist, two radiologists, a surgeon…your head is spinning. Even though I was able to drive myself, I would have so liked for someone to come with me.”
Sell’s personal experience led her to look for volunteer opportunities that would make the process more comforting for others. Her search led her to the American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery program, joining the program about a year ago as a volunteer driver.
Ed Johnson, community manager with the American Cancer Society, said the program was brought to Columbia by the organization to help cancer patients get to their treatment appointments. A volunteer driver is paired with a patient who otherwise might not be able to get to their treatment.
“It’s a matter of helping another person out and ultimately seeing the person survive this disease by being able to go through treatment,” Johnson said. “(The patient) doesn’t have to say, ‘I have no way of getting there. I have no family, no transportation, no car, no ability to pay for fuel.’”
Currently five volunteer drivers work with 12 patients in Boone County. Johnson said the program could grow if they had more drivers, but for now serves only Boone County.
Oncology social workers in the surrounding counties of Cole, Audrain, Cooper and Marion said this restriction puts people who need a transportation support system like Road to Recovery out of luck. Because cancer treatment centers are mostly located in cities, patients in rural areas do not have easy access to treatment, something that Road to Recovery could help with.
“A lot of our patients that come to Audrain (Medical Center) travel 30 or 40 miles. There’s not a lot of help for people that have to travel, and no financial help,” Kimberley Bull, a registered nurse at Audrain Medical Center in Mexico, Mo., said. “When you have to go to radiation every day for 30 days in a row, that can be troublesome.”
Albert Mitchell is one such example of this problem. Mitchell, who was not able to find appropriate treatment near his home of Salem, Mo., decided to move to Columbia so he could receive treatment at Ellis Fischel Cancer Center.
Still, travel expenses were a burden. Before being referred to the Road to Recovery program by his social worker, Mitchell had relied on expensive taxi rides to get to and from treatment.
Besides saving him from a financial burden, the personal support Mitchell received from the volunteers made going through treatment more comfortable, especially since many of the volunteers have had experiences with cancer, he said.
“It is comforting because they know what you’re going through. It definitely helps to have people there (supporting me),” Mitchell said. “They actually wait for you to finish your appointment and give you a ride back. Not too many people wait around for hours for you to do your appointment.”
Time is not the only sacrifice volunteers make. Volunteer Carol Pipes said she is happy to give her time and spend money on gas for transporting patients. Pipes, who is also a breast cancer survivor, identifies with the struggle patients are going through.
“Financially, it isn’t a burden to me. On my part, it would probably be more emotionally challenging,” Pipes said.
Volunteers are the most important asset to the program right now, Johnson said, but they are also the most difficult to come by due to the structure of the program. Road to Recovery uses regional administrative centers, which can slow the coordination process. The center for Boone County is in Austin, Texas.
According to Johnson, a health service provider must refer a patient to the regional service center in Austin, which then contacts the patient to verify need and calls a volunteer coordinator to set up rides. The process typically takes three business days, which can be frustrating for patients that need immediate treatment.
“It’s a very long and drawn-out process,” Johnson said.
The short-term goal for the program in Boone County is simply to draw more volunteers, Johnson said. If the program gets a swell of new volunteers, Johnson will attack the goal of expanding to Cole and Callaway counties.
Until expansion is possible, Pipes is happy to continue helping as many patients as she can, and is optimistic about the program’s future.
“I think (the program) is going good, especially for being so new,” Pipes said. “Just like everything else, when you start something new you have to do trial and error to get it worked out. I think it will only get better.”
“Financially, it isn’t a burden to me. On my part, it would probably be more emotionally challenging,” Pipes said.
Volunteers are the most important asset to the program right now, Johnson said, but they are also the most difficult to come by due to the structure of the program. Road to Recovery uses regional administrative centers, which can slow the coordination process. The center for Boone County is in Austin, Texas.
According to Johnson, a health service provider must refer a patient to the regional service center in Austin, which then contacts the patient to verify need and calls a volunteer coordinator to set up rides. The process typically takes three business days, which can be frustrating for patients that need immediate treatment.
“It’s a very long and drawn-out process,” Johnson said.
The short-term goal for the program in Boone County is simply to draw more volunteers, Johnson said. If the program gets a swell of new volunteers, Johnson will attack the goal of expanding to Cole and Callaway counties.
Until expansion is possible, Pipes is happy to continue helping as many patients as she can, and is optimistic about the program’s future.
“I think (the program) is going good, especially for being so new,” Pipes said. “Just like everything else, when you start something new you have to do trial and error to get it worked out. I think it will only get better.”