Volunteer drives others on Road to Recovery
By Joanne Fox, Journal staff writer | Posted: Monday, December 24, 2007
Harold Chamberlain and Roberta Lundquist joked in the car like they were longtime friends.
Fact is they only met last month when Lundquist started her radiation treatments at the June E. Nylen Cancer Center and needed a ride. Chamberlain, a volunteer with the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery program, is her designated driver.
"I couldn't drive," Lundquist said. "I'm too nervous -- you may have noticed that I talk too much -- before I head out and too tired when I'm done. I can't tell you how much Harold driving means to me."
Chamberlain became a volunteer not long after his wife Bernice died in 2001.
"At first the hospital would take her to radiation and then I would take her for chemo treatments," he said. "I saw firsthand the good these folks did."
Specifically, he saw an ad in the Journal soliciting volunteers for the Road to Recovery, a service designed to provide cancer patients with free transportation to and from their cancer treatments when no other means are available to them.
"It's something I thought I could do," he said.
Almost daily, Chamberlain, 79, transports a patient to the cancer center. Sometimes, the individual stays less than an hour; other times, it's over an hour. Typically, chemotherapy treatments take longer than radiation treatments.
"If I know it won't be long, I'll sit in the waiting room and watch TV or read," he said. "If it's going to be over an hour, I'll run errands and then come back."
It's clear Chamberlain can make a connection with others. He teased Lundquist about her grandchildren and even gave a cancer center staff member a gentle ribbing about a previous client. But Chamberlain said that with the building of a relationship comes sometimes a sad outcome.
"I know they're going here for treatments and sometimes they don't make it, like my wife," he said. "But lots of times that doesn't happen and anything I can do to help out, I will."
Chamberlain comes away with great stories about the folks.
"One woman, who lived out in the country, told me about a skunk she had on her front porch that she just couldn't get rid of," he said. "She ended up calling the neighbor who got the skunk under a corn bin and shot it. But he left it. She said she spent the whole summer trying to get rid of the smell and wondered, 'Why didn't he take it away?' I wondered that too."
He paused and added, "She just called me the other day to see if I'd drive someone to an appointment."
Chamberlain, who grew up on the Winnebago Reservation, shared another story of an African-American man who refused to go in the cancer center's front door for treatments. He would only enter by the back door.
"One time he came in and I was still in the parking lot when I noticed he had left the building," Chamberlain said. "It seems they were running late with the appointment and he wasn't going to wait. I told him, 'You're already here. You might as well go in.' He did. Through the back door. Again."
The gratitude from those in the passenger seat is beyond words, Lundquist said.
"Harold's so patient with me because I talk a lot," she reiterated. "And he gives me good advice, like 'take care of yourself' and 'get your rest' and 'eat right.'"
With just a week before Christmas, Lundquist gave Chamberlain a gold gift bag as she entered the car, saying, "I have something for you."
"Oh, no, no, no," Chamberlain replied and peeked into the bag to see a hand-crafted wreath. "You didn't have to."
"Without Harold and other volunteers, I don't know what people without rides would do," Lundquist said.
Chamberlain acknowledged that he gets cards at Christmas and homemade pies and goodies. He puts the brakes on cash, though.
"Oh, yeah, people have tried to give me money," he admitted. "I tell them to give it to the cancer center."
Interested?
Currently, there is a need for volunteers to assist patients with the Road to Recovery program living in the Sioux City area.
Volunteer drivers are required to go through a short training session to learn about cancer treatment facilities, driver expectations and liability issues. Drivers use their own automobiles and pay for fuel themselves, but may turn in their mileage as a charitable contribution at the end of the year. Drivers must have a valid driver's license.
Teri Elsbury currently coordinates the Road to Recovery program in Sioux City. She can be reached at (877) 422-9055 ext. 14 or Teri.Elsbury@cancer.org.
Fact is they only met last month when Lundquist started her radiation treatments at the June E. Nylen Cancer Center and needed a ride. Chamberlain, a volunteer with the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery program, is her designated driver.
"I couldn't drive," Lundquist said. "I'm too nervous -- you may have noticed that I talk too much -- before I head out and too tired when I'm done. I can't tell you how much Harold driving means to me."
Chamberlain became a volunteer not long after his wife Bernice died in 2001.
"At first the hospital would take her to radiation and then I would take her for chemo treatments," he said. "I saw firsthand the good these folks did."
Specifically, he saw an ad in the Journal soliciting volunteers for the Road to Recovery, a service designed to provide cancer patients with free transportation to and from their cancer treatments when no other means are available to them.
"It's something I thought I could do," he said.
Almost daily, Chamberlain, 79, transports a patient to the cancer center. Sometimes, the individual stays less than an hour; other times, it's over an hour. Typically, chemotherapy treatments take longer than radiation treatments.
"If I know it won't be long, I'll sit in the waiting room and watch TV or read," he said. "If it's going to be over an hour, I'll run errands and then come back."
It's clear Chamberlain can make a connection with others. He teased Lundquist about her grandchildren and even gave a cancer center staff member a gentle ribbing about a previous client. But Chamberlain said that with the building of a relationship comes sometimes a sad outcome.
"I know they're going here for treatments and sometimes they don't make it, like my wife," he said. "But lots of times that doesn't happen and anything I can do to help out, I will."
Chamberlain comes away with great stories about the folks.
"One woman, who lived out in the country, told me about a skunk she had on her front porch that she just couldn't get rid of," he said. "She ended up calling the neighbor who got the skunk under a corn bin and shot it. But he left it. She said she spent the whole summer trying to get rid of the smell and wondered, 'Why didn't he take it away?' I wondered that too."
He paused and added, "She just called me the other day to see if I'd drive someone to an appointment."
Chamberlain, who grew up on the Winnebago Reservation, shared another story of an African-American man who refused to go in the cancer center's front door for treatments. He would only enter by the back door.
"One time he came in and I was still in the parking lot when I noticed he had left the building," Chamberlain said. "It seems they were running late with the appointment and he wasn't going to wait. I told him, 'You're already here. You might as well go in.' He did. Through the back door. Again."
The gratitude from those in the passenger seat is beyond words, Lundquist said.
"Harold's so patient with me because I talk a lot," she reiterated. "And he gives me good advice, like 'take care of yourself' and 'get your rest' and 'eat right.'"
With just a week before Christmas, Lundquist gave Chamberlain a gold gift bag as she entered the car, saying, "I have something for you."
"Oh, no, no, no," Chamberlain replied and peeked into the bag to see a hand-crafted wreath. "You didn't have to."
"Without Harold and other volunteers, I don't know what people without rides would do," Lundquist said.
Chamberlain acknowledged that he gets cards at Christmas and homemade pies and goodies. He puts the brakes on cash, though.
"Oh, yeah, people have tried to give me money," he admitted. "I tell them to give it to the cancer center."
Interested?
Currently, there is a need for volunteers to assist patients with the Road to Recovery program living in the Sioux City area.
Volunteer drivers are required to go through a short training session to learn about cancer treatment facilities, driver expectations and liability issues. Drivers use their own automobiles and pay for fuel themselves, but may turn in their mileage as a charitable contribution at the end of the year. Drivers must have a valid driver's license.
Teri Elsbury currently coordinates the Road to Recovery program in Sioux City. She can be reached at (877) 422-9055 ext. 14 or Teri.Elsbury@cancer.org.
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larryj wrote on Dec 24, 2007 5:06 AM: