Volunteer helps care for patient caregivers
Susan Fister is an experienced volunteer who has literally given her life¡¯s blood to the patients at MD Anderson.
She began by donating platelets to help two friends diagnosed with breast cancer. Almost 13 years later, she is a fixture in the surgery waiting area.
Cancer is 'family disease'
Fister explains that she¡¯s always tried to identify with the caregivers while accompanying patients on their appointments at MD Anderson.
¡°Somehow, they just seemed to be a little left out. I believe cancer is a family disease. It affects every person who loves that patient.¡±
Volunteering, she feels, is like training for any event in life. ¡°It¡¯s an emotional and spiritual challenge for me.¡±
Experience is best teacher
Fister says that caregivers are never certain how they will be affected by the events that may occur the day of surgery.
¡°In the surgery waiting area, the atmosphere can range from tears to jokes. It¡¯s a position where experience is the best teacher ¡ª you have to live it to react appropriately.
¡°I learn something new every time I volunteer, ¡° she says. ¡°Families need someone to talk to. Part of my job is to listen, to provide them with information and to help resolve any problems. You can¡¯t panic. You just love your way through it.¡±
