HELP FOR BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS
Decades of emotional support – to plans of opening prosthesis clinic
Reach for Recovery is a volunteer organisation of women from different provinces around SA who visit and assist women diagnosed with breast cancer.
They get referred to someone who is in hospital before or after their mastectomy operation. They go there to talk, and being cancer survivors themselves, they have the experience and sensitivity to handle these cases.
Volunteer Cherryl Riddin said the organisation had been operating for decades.
Their main aim is to reach out to women and help them get through this difficult time of their lives.
“We believe that it is nice to be able to talk to someone who has been through what the patients are experiencing. We offer emotional and practical support.
“I have been involved in this organisation for six years now and it is great voluntary work to do,” Riddin said.
“We supply patients with reading material on breast cancer. We understand that during that period, especially if you were recently diagnosed, there is so much on your mind. Some women don’t even know how to take the news, hence the hospital visits.”
Riddin has come up with the idea of opening a prosthesis clinic at Sunshine Coast Hospice to help cancer survivors who had a mastectomy and are not on a medical aid.
“Through this clinic we will be able to provide a prosthesis, and it will be operational every second Tuesday of the month at the hospice from 2pm until 4pm. We will help people from Alexandria to Kleinemonde and Makhanda.
“When someone comes to the clinic, they should bring a well-fitting bra, as well as a top or T-shirt that they love wearing, so they can see how it looks on them after putting the prosthesis in. The prosthesis can last for three to four years when taken good care of,” she said.
“We also encourage women to examine their breasts regularly. The earlier you know, the sooner you can start with treatment.”
Some women don’t know how to take the news. We offer emotional and practical support