Battle. Fight. Defeat. Overcome. Survive. These words describe the relationship between humanity and cancer. There is a reason why those with cancer are described as strong: facing cancer is not easy.
A life-changing diagnosis like cancer can be scary and challenging to live with. Many patients spend months or years undergoing uncomfortable, painful treatments.
Here at Random Acts, our Creative Director, Becky Houseman, and Acts Coordinator, Amie Linscott, Becky’s mother, are no strangers to cancer.
Becky and her late aunt Melinda (Amie’s sister) received cancer treatment at Mission Hope Cancer Center in Santa Maria, California, 15 years ago.
Mission Hope’s staff and doctors would go out of their way to provide blankets and treats, help the two laugh through treatments, and schedule Becky and Melinda together.
Fondly remembering this care and compassion, Becky and Amie decided to help the center’s current patients by donating adaptive clothing.
What Is Adaptive Clothing?
When Amie reached out to the cancer center to ask what they needed, she learned that blankets, scarves, and hats were common donations. But what patients do not often have access to is adaptive clothing.
Nowadays, adaptive clothing is specifically designed apparel to make access for treatment easier. Alterations can include a zipper for quick access to a port or a pouch for holding a drain.
Although these clothing items exist now, they are still an added expense to an already expensive time in someone’s life. By donating adaptive clothing, Becky and Amie can help ease this burden for patients while also helping them be more comfortable.
Amie and Becky purchased 31 shirts: 27 designed to make access for chemotherapy easier and four to hold drains after a mastectomy. The pair placed them in bags with tags listing sizes, suggested purposes, and uplifting quotes. Then they gathered them in a wagon and transported them to the cancer center.
Giving Back To Givers
Becky and Amie met Mission Hope’s Head of Philanthropy, Jessa, outside the center for the delivery. The pair also reunited with their favorite nurse, Michelle, who was still working at the cancer center.
“It was lovely to be able to give a little bit back to a place that had given us so much at such a hard time in our lives,” said Amie and Becky.
When Becky and her aunt underwent treatment, they had to make their own adjustments to their clothing. Later, Becky herself saw firsthand how a post-mastectomy shirt helped her late friend and fellow Random Acts volunteer Holli during treatment.
So although they will not meet the people the shirts will help, Becky and Amie know firsthand the impact they will have. For patients, they can provide comfort and dignity in a time when they do not feel either. For nurses, they can make administering treatment easier. It is also easier for loved ones to see someone they care about in less pain.
“On a personal level, when you survive something like cancer, you can sometimes get survivor’s guilt, or wonder why you survived when so many people don’t,” said Becky. “Getting to volunteer with Random Acts helps me feel like I am here to do some good in the world, and that helps some of that heal.”