Reach to Recovery Training

I spent all day Saturday at training for the Reach to Recovery volunteer program for the American Cancer Society. It was very informative and well taught. Sherry Hickman, who came to visit me after my mastectomy was one of the trainers, so it was good to see her again. The basic thing they drummed into our heads, was that when you're making a hospital visit, you can only visit a patient whose doctor has approved the visit. My breast surgeon, Dr. Allison Laidley, refers ALL of her breast cancer patients to this program. But apparently all doctors are not as thorough as Dr. Laidley.



Outside of the hospital you can visit anyone who is in the process of dealing with breast cancer, with their permission of course. The whole point of this program is to provide information about breast cancer, through pamphlets that the ACS provides. It gives a lot of info to the patient and give them a 24-7 phone # and website to visit with questions. We give no medical advice, but can say facts about our personal treatment if asked.

Today I went to MCD to get oriented to the supply closet with all the breast cancer bags & brochures we give to patients there at the hospital. Great surprise-----I was given about $50 worth of parking coupons!!! And I was told that I could use those for personal reasons also and to ask for more when I need them. So that's a good thing about being a volunteer. Today there weren't any women on the floor where we all went for recovery after breast cancer surgery. My volunteer mentor seemed disappointed that I didn't get to "visit" someone. I told her that that was a good thing. . . .