The Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-03-30, Page 21{
IRGARET
11.. °
cancer Blinn vola
teers at the Wingham and
District' Hospital give of
Or ;tuxie, energy and selvea
twiGe each month to make '
the ,motto, "Cancer Can ,Be
Beaten" become a reality,
The dedicated network Of.
volunteer nurses, hostesses,
record keepers and -,drivers,
often ,have a vested=interest.
in ging- their services.
Many " of these people are
former cancer , patients ...
themselves .or have had a
meniher of their family wha
has shad cancer- and are I
determined to be an example,
of hope to others with the
disease
Because• of high opera
costs, a clinic's finds wo
ting
be drained if the Cancer
Society; had to pay for help,
thus volunteers, are critical
to its operation.
And cancer can be beaten;
Dr. TiA. Watson, 'the retiring
doctor at the clinic, said over
50 per cent of all cancer
patients today are being
cured. That is something
many people don't realize,
he said, because we hear
only of the dire cases, not of
those wlio are still leading
normal lives 10 and 15 ye
after their cancers w
discovered.
Ethel Montgomery
Wingham is one of th
"cancer survivors". H
cancer was detected 13. year
ago, after she became in-
volved at the clinic. _Th
clinic does not treat patients
she said,' but offers fllow u
examinations to people wh already had treatmen
elsewhere, usually in Lo
don. People from many parts
of the area, like Kincardine
Hanover, Listowel an
Goderich, attend th
Wingham clinic The closes
other two cancer clinics of
this sort are located i
Stratford and Owen Sound.
Running the clinic twice
month is only a part of the
duties of a volunt
ars
ere Wwswrut Cancer Clinic volunteers give their time and energyany
way at the clinic. Some twice a -month to assists,
of Margaret Mundell link. o Irene pep Bosman of Wingham, some book appointments,, while others, like
ose make the patients more at home. (Winghadane -Times refreshments and offer a smile to
o)
er she said: They don't know (cancerous) lump in the said helping al's what to expect or what the p g people feeling the
examination will entail, so it breast. But everything clinic gives her a of
e ise me job of the happened so quickly for Mrs. satisfaction, plus she has
, works people McLaughlin, she had very renewed some old
ng at the clinic to make little time to react. The' acquaintances and even
P things as light and cheerful . cancer was detected one day made some new friends.
ho as possible. • and the next she was sent to "A lot of people who come
is "The first time is hard," isd
Mrs. Michie said, which London for surgery. into the clinic are in
why it is nicea to have isa However, throughout all of spirits and feel not too bad,"
face or sorhhave to her treatments and follow-up she said, but added it does
friendlyrst talk to for reassurance. examinations, she said she bother her when a par-
d
e Marremained optimistic and she titularly young person
et y M c L a ugh 1 i n, tries to impart that optimism comes in, although no
Wingham, a Cancer Society ' to the women she visits. children attend the Wingham
nurse, is someone who is "If they see I had it (breast clinic.
n, there when people want to talk. Mrs. McLaughlin to cancer) and am still going An average of 30 people
a ug strong, maybe they'll decide attend each clinic and that
"mastectomy visiting" to they can too," she declared. number is pretty evenly
women who have had a dople
istributed between men and
breast, or even both breasts, Reward
ing removed because of cancer. woininpatients. middleMost cancer is somethingExperience are in the middle to late -
Breast A former Wingham school middle age range.
she is familiar with because teacher, Margaret Mundell, Breast cancer is the
she had a breast removed 10 has been a volunteer at the predominant form of cancer
years ago. clinic since 1973 and she
Most women go into a state among the women, whereas
of semi -shock when theyenjoys it very much. „most men are bothered by
•
Like all of the other Learn they have a malignanvolunteers, Mrs. Mundell vers tongue
Dr. Haydnd n Bush,
Treatjnentwould be •more
effective
if people were
Sometimes, at-home visits to
patients must be arranged as
well as rides to the city for
treatment.
That's how Mrs. Mon-
tgomery's husband Lloyd got
involved. He started driving
cancer patients to London
for : chemotherapy or
radiation treatments. The
Cancer Society pays its
drivers, but because of high
overhead, it cannot offer
tremendously high mileage
rates. Driving for the society
is not a money -making
proposition, said Mr.
Montgomery, but it is one
way to help out.
Sometimes in the past, Mr.
Montgomery said, he has
taken three or four patients
--at a time for treatments and
occasionally went to London
five days a week. Lately he
• has not been driving so often,
but does go if someone needs
a ride.
Clinic
Co-ordination
Another volunteer who has
had personal experience
with cancer is Doris Michie
of Belgrave, the co-ordinator
of the Wingham clinic.
Mrs. Michie, who started
at the clinic in 1975,
discovered she had cancer
after she already had
- worked there for two years.
It has been five years since
she had a breast removed
and now she too has regular
check-ups at the clinic.
Some people are un-
derstandably upset the first
time they attend the clinic.
quicker to recognize signs
We know the meanings of
most signs because we know
they are meant to protect us.
When it comes to cancer,
there are important warning
signs you should know.
Because the quicker you can
recognize them, the sooner
you can take action. This
year, at least half of all
Canadians diagnosed with
cancer for the first time will
be alive and well five years
after. treatment. This
number could be increased
greatly if more people knew
and reacted quickly to w ru-
ing signs that could rhaan
cancer. '
But do you know the signs
of cancer?
Most of the signs of cancer
are also signs of other
medical problems — they in-
• dicate that something is not
right with your state of
health, . and they may in-
dicate a tylia of cancer at an
early stage, when it can be
treated most successfully.
In trying to be aware of the
early signs of cancer,- there
is a general rule: the minute
you become aware of
anything that does not look
or feel right, check it out
with your doctor.
If you have a mole that
becomes abnormally large
or changes in any other way,
report this, to your doctor
right away.
Any in
boiet persistent e
abits could s change
cancer of the colon or rec-
tum. Prolonged diarrhea,
persistent constipation or
alternating between the two
should be checked with your
doctor. Blood in the stool can
be an important sign of
bowel cancer. Rectal
bleeding should always be
investigated immediately,
even in people who are
known to have hemorrhoids
Pain in the upper ab-
domen, persistent loss of:ap-
petite, vomiting of blood and
unexplained weight loss are
all signs of stomach cancer.
Any of these should . be
reported to your doctor.
Sore throat, loss of voice,
hoarseness that will not go
away — any of these may be
a sign of cancer of the
larynx.
Any irregularity in the
menstrual cycle or any kind
of bleeding after the
menopause should be
reported to a physician pro-
mptly.
A persistent
blood m the sputum or
phlegm could indicate lung
cancer. Check these signs
out with your doctor.
'hese signs don't
necessarily mean cancer,
but they are all changes
from normal health which
should.be checked with your
. physician.
clinicx is directly
3_,sb sup eposur
predominantly
oria area,.commentedDr.
feat strides have been There pc tt►'4;t-in
to .even :: in, lithe 16 years ou d Bra omatit�i
volvedwith cancer tesearSh,
A five-year .breast sereg
proJect started' at
Margaret •
Toronto an _
approxmately`4,f wo aten
from various;
and'.parts o 1.
hoped
give researchers nuke data
on early -breast cancer
detection and;; even.
prevention..
Early detection is Arie "
biggest step toward .curing
cancer, he said. The most
common cancer for men
treated at the Wingham
clinic is skin'cancer which is
relatively easy to detect and
has an over 90 Per cure: of
rate. The high Incidence of
skin cancer at the Wingham do
This information is br
kind co-operation
sure eancer rrai
could be improvedoerall by:.
• per cent if people .glut
moking In addition tq
luung cancer, smoking has
beers l inked to canccers. nen
other bodyfiorgans as well -
Secondly, -De Brush
stressed regular check-ups
which would include breast
and. complete gynecological
examinations for women. He
also urged:. people: to be as
aware of any changes' in
their bodies as they would be
changes in their' cars and
report . those changes to a
ctor immediately.
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