Cancer society targets local drivers

By Staff
Kim West
Imagine being a cancer patient without a ride to checkups or treatments.
Unfortunately, that scenario is a reality for some local residents, but the American Cancer Society has a program that aims to offer more assistance for patients from Franklin County.
Three years ago ACS founded the Shoals-area "Road to Recovery," a national program that relies on volunteer drivers to transport cancer patients to their doctor's appointments.
"The program started in 2005, and we have transported 40 patients for 1,690 trips between April 18, 2005 and May 31, 2008," said Diane Peeples, an ACS health initiatives representative. "We have this program in the Shoals, but there are only three drivers for Franklin County patients, and they're all from Colbert County."
ACS has an immediate need for drivers from this county who can drive local patients.
"We had to turn away a Franklin County lady this week because we didn't have enough drivers to take her but luckily she only goes once a week so we were able to give her a gas card," Peeples said. "We have one man from Russellville who goes five times a week for radiation treatments, and he has a family member who drives him once a week. He uses NACOLG once a week and then we have three different drivers who take him to his other three appointments.
"We need to focus on getting more drivers from Franklin County so we can tell our cancer treatment centers that we can handle more patients from this area, and that's what we're trying to accomplish with the training session."
The next volunteer training session will be held July 17 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the ACS office at 104 S. Poplar Street in Florence. Anyone who has a driver's license, a safe driving record and car insurance and owns a car or has access to one is encouraged to volunteer.
"Volunteers can participate once a month or once a week because we're very flexible with their schedule, and we ask them to tell us when they can drive and how far they are willing to drive," Peeples said. "Anyone can volunteer but we are looking for someone who has free time in the morning during the week because that's when most patients have appointments. If volunteers can't make the July 17 training session, they can contact us and we can arrange a make-up date."
Peeples said the program is seeking all types of volunteers, ranging from church groups and retirees to professionals in the medical and real estate fields.
"We're looking at community groups and churches, and I think it would be a good ministry for them," Peeples said. "We are also setting up meetings with home health and hospice people because they are already traveling from the Shoals area to Franklin County, and we're also looking at real estate agents because they know the area and might have some time during the day."
Cancer patients from Franklin County are usually sent to treatment centers in Muscle Shoals, according to Peeples.
"For Franklin County patients, the cancer treatment centers are usually one of two places in Muscle Shoals – either the Northwest Alabama Cancer Center behind Shoals Hospital or the Valley Regional Cancer Center behind Helen Keller Hospital," Peeples said. "If someone that goes to Northwest needs a bone scan or some other type of radiation treatment, they might be sent to the center's radiation office in Florence."
With gas prices spiking, the ACS is trying to alleviate the cost of transportation to volunteers when possible.
"Volunteers do use their own gas, but we are trying to get (more) gas cards donated to lower the affect of costs," Peeples said. "We try to get gas cards for volunteers as much as we can, and there is a dealership in the Shoals area that donated $1000 in gas cards last month."
Oscar Meredith, a retiree who lives near Colbert Heights, said the increases at the pump haven't affected his decision to volunteer with the program.
"After you retire, you can do things that you couldn't do when you were working, so my wife and I decided to volunteer," said Meredith, one of the three drivers from Colbert County who transports a patient from Franklin County. "Two years ago when we started, gas wasn't as high as it is now, but even today I feel the same way about it.
"I don't think about what it's going to cost me to drive because I think about what it's going to do for the person I'm doing this for, since they're the ones who need assistance. The way I look at it, I'm blessed to be able to retire and I'm just glad I'm able to do something."
Myra Testerman of Tuscumbia has been with the program for three years and enjoys interacting with the patients.
"I love meeting the people, and I've never met one that says, 'Why me?'" said Testerman, who also tranports Franklin County patients. "Right now I've been taking someone from Russellville once a week. When you take a patient for radiation, they go every day and you think you've known them forever, even though the treatment only lasts five or six weeks.
"I would say to someone who has never tried this to just take one trip because then you'll be hooked. It's just a wonderful thing to do and these patients are just the sweetest people."
Volunteers should make reservations to the training session by July 15. For more information or to RSVP, call (256) 767-0825. For more information about the American Cancer Society, visit www.cancer.org.