KATHERINE PENER
County Elections Coordinator, Age 84
Miami Beach, Florida
Counsels breast cancer patients after surgery
I'm a breast cancer survivor, and I help women who've
had surgery for breast cancer. I've volunteered for the Reach
to Recovery program for twenty-two years.
Reach to Recovery works because all the volunteers
helping women through the trauma of breast cancer and
surgery have been there themselves. Seeing the volunteers,
women know they can beat this. It's critical that women see a survivor.
A patient's eyes light up when I say it's been twenty-nine years since
I had my operation. The Reach to Recovery program was founded in 1952
by Therese Lasa, a breast cancer survivor. Like others before her,
she had no one to turn to during that ordeal. The American Cancer Society
adopted the program the same year I had my surgery, in 1969.
I read about the program in the New York Post and asked my doctor.
"Shouldn't I have one of these visitors?" The doctor said,
"What do you need them for?" That feeling of being alone I will never forget.
I felt hopeless.I guarantee anyone who volunteers will feel better
emotionally, physically, and psychologically. I don't care who
you are or what you do. The people I know who volunteer have
smiles on their faces. The hours they give are worth more to them
than any money they could ever receive.
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