Buddies bring hope and companionship to cancer patients

    Imagine sitting in a hospital attached to a chemo drip for hours, scared, anxious and worst of all, alone.
    That is what many cancer patients face when they go for their treatments, but for cancer patients in Milledgeville, that scenario is becoming less and less frequent thanks in large part to a new GIVE Center outreach group, Survivor Buddies.
    Survivor Buddies was started this year by Megan McGuire, freshman early childhood education major.
    “Kendall Stiles, at The GIVE Center, asked me if I would be interested in working with a student led group and running it,” McGuire said.  “(After) agreeing, the brainstorming began, and Survivor Buddies was (formed).  With that being said, I am so excited that Survivor Buddies can be a support system to cancer patients and survivors.”
    The group provides many comforts to the patients including snacks, garden, a book area, office help,  stuffed animals and most importantly, their love, McGuire said.
    “Survivor Buddies is made up of a group of college students from GCSU who desire to make a difference in the lives of others,” McGuire said.
    The group mainly works with the Georgia Cancer Specialists in Milledgeville.  
    “Georgia Cancer Specialists, P.C. strives to deliver compassionate, state-of-the-art, cost-effective, community-based medical care to the adult cancer and hematology patient while recognizing quality of life as a crucial focus,” said the Georgia Cancer Specialists Web site.
    The Georgia Cancer Specialists focus on the care of nutrition, fatigue, pain, depression and anxiety, the Web site said.
    Meetings for Survivor Buddies are held every other Wednesday at 9 p.m.  The meetings focus on how Survivor Buddies has been helping and work on future ideas, but the volunteers help in the chemo treatment centers and main office daily, McGuire said.
    Becoming a member is simple.
    “Survivor Buddies would be more than happy to have you as a volunteer,” McGuire said.  “If you are interested feel free to contact us, and we will be more than happy to get you involved.”
    To become a member of Survivor Buddies or to receive more information, e-mail Survivorbuddies.gcsu
@gmail.com or join the Survivor Buddies Facebook group.  To learn about other service learning groups at The GIVE Center, contact Kendall Stiles at kendall.stiles@gcsu.edu.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 18 2008. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry