Adelphi NY Breast Cancer Hotline Wants Your Help
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program is looking for volunteers for the hotline.
Sometimes, a cancer patient just needs someone to talk who knows what she's going through, reported WCBS 880 midday anchor Pat Farnack.
Farnack spoke with breast cancer survivor and hotline volunteer Robin Healy.
"At some point during the conversation, we generally will let the person know that we have also been through breast cancer ourselves. So that they're speaking to somebody who truly does understand what they've been through and that, for most people, is extremely comforting," Healy told Farnack.
Farnack with Healy
Podcast
(Download the full interview HERE)
"Is that why you volunteer?" asked Farnack.
"Absolutely," she said. "Six-and-a-half, almost seven years ago, I went for a routine yearly mammogram. They saw something on the mammogram that they didn't like and, basically, before I walked out of the office, they were fairly sure that I had breast cancer. That's my story and then I had a mastectomy with chemotherapy."
"And how are you doing now?" asked Farnack.
"I'm doing great. I really am," she said. "If anybody's interested in volunteering, just call our hotline number at 1-800-877-8077 and tell whoever answers the phone, that they're interested in becoming a volunteer. And that number will be given to one of our social workers and she will contact that person."
"It's probably one of the most rewarding things I've ever done," said Healy. "When somebody says to me, you know, 'Thank you so much. You have no idea how much you've helped me.' There's nothing better than that."
To learn more about the hotline and its various programs, visit its website. Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program is also looking for help with outreach, fundraising, and office work.
