October 2007
Survivor Volunteers Offer Hope During Breast Cancer
Awareness Month
Most people with cancer will tell you they experienced
their greatest fears during that initial time from first
awareness of a potential problem through entry into
treatment. A “gap” in support, information and resources
for those facing these weeks of uncertainty adds to an
already fearful experience.
Fill the Gap, Inc., in a collaborative partnership with
Seacoast New Hampshire and Maine hospitals, provides a
telephone helpline for those who are processing the news
that they, or a loved one, may have breast cancer. Staffed
by caring and compassionate, trained survivor volunteers,
the helpline serves as a link to various local and national
resources to meet the spiritual, physical, and emotional
needs of the caller.
As October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month approaches,
Fill the Gap, Inc. would like to relay a message of hope to
those recently diagnosed. Our survivor volunteers, who are
the heart and voice behind the helpline, offer this hope
with compassion, experience and information.
Callers will also learn that it is possible to move
forward from a breast cancer diagnosis, to become a survivor
and to thrive after cancer.
The helpline number is 1-877-fillthegap (345-5843) More
information is available at
www.fillthegap.info.- to top -
September 24, 2007
Fill the Gap's President Jacqui Bryan (center) accepts a
donation from
Seacoast Concert for a Cure's co-founder/chairman Katie
Paine (left) and Katherine Ruel (right), business manager.
- to top -
June 25, 2007
A group of local breast cancer survivors hope to help
others who follow behind them by offering emotional support
and information at what they consider to be the scariest
point in the breast cancer experience – the very beginning.
“Learning that you have an abnormal mammogram or that you
have breast cancer can turn your world upside down,” said
Cynthia Cote, executive director of Fill the Gap, a
non-profit telephone helpline formed in partnership with
Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital
and York Hospital. “A cancer diagnosis is initially scary
and it impacts not just the patient, but the patient’s
family and friends and workplace. We can provide an
empathetic ear and point them to the vast resources and
services that are available through local hospitals and
agencies that many are unaware of.”
Fill the Gap will launch on June 25, 2007 and will offer
24/7 telephone support to patients facing a potential breast
cancer diagnosis, as well as their family members and
friends. The helpline will be staffed by caring, trained
survivor volunteers who have finished their own treatment
and want to give something back. In addition to the ability
to speak with someone who has faced a similar experience and
come out on the other side, the helpline will serve as a
link to various local and national resources to meet the
spiritual, physical and emotional needs of the caller. That
information might include help with transportation, support
groups, social workers, financial assistance, nutritional
advice or complementary therapies.
“This is a terrific resource to be able to offer my
patients after delivering difficult news,” said Portsmouth
surgeon John Gens. “As well as I try to answer a patient’s
questions and concerns, I look forward to being able to hand
them a card with this toll-free number to put them in touch
with our own local community of survivors. These women can
speak to them from a place of personal experience, which I
think is critical, particularly in those first days.”
The telephone help line will go live on Monday, June 25,
with the help of Whaleback Systems of Portsmouth, which
generously donated state-of-the-art call systems. The number
is 1-877-fillthegap(345-5843) More information is available
at
www.fillthegap.info.- to top - |
