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local area spotlight Central Indiana Area Service Center staff and volunteers try to support patients traveling for treatment The Society's Central Indiana Area Service Center is near three major hospitals, so it is a popular place for cancer patients traveling for treatment. Because of its treatment options, Indianapolis used to have a Hope Lodge, a facility and program run by the American Cancer Society where patients and their caregiver can stay during treatment. Indiana's Hope Lodge closed in 2003, but since then Society staff and volunteers have tried to fill the need of patients coming to the area.  One of these staff members is Cindy Paquin, who used to manage the Indianapolis Hope Lodge. She tries to help as many people find the housing and transportation that they need. "In the year 2005, we had 600 requests for lodging needs, 147 needs went unmet," says Cindy. "If they knew Hope Lodge was here, we would have more." More than 950 patients were served during the last year of Indianapolis's Hope Lodge alone.
Fernando and Karla Lopez Artola of Managua, Nicaragua, is one couple who needed Society support during their stay in Indianapolis. In November of 2005, Fernando was diagnosed with chordoma of the clivus, which means that a tumor was wrapped around his spinal cord at the base of his skull. His situation was life-threatening, but Nicaragua does not have the treatment options available that Fernando needed to survive. The couple made a bold decision: to try to collect the funds to travel, apply for visas, leave behind their three children with family, and go to the United States without a support system, a means of transportation, or being able to understand English in the hopes that he could find treatment. The couple collected funds from the university where Fernando taught as a professor, and sent 25 letters to U.S. cancer centers to ask for help. Only two responded and only one, Indiana University's Dr. David Hoopes, offered a reduced rate for treatment. Through the Society's relationship with their cancer center, Cindy was asked if the Society could assist with translating for the couple and providing transportation to treatment. She arranged temporary lodging for them through a restrictive Society fund and met Fernando and Karla when they arrived in the States. Cindy invited Shirley and Peter Alveal, who both speak Spanish and used to volunteer at the Hope Lodge, to the meet and greet as well as Patty Hildebrand, a community development director at the Central Indiana Area Service Center, who has a Nicaraguan family and can also speak Spanish. This group of Society staff and volunteers became a strong support system for Fernando and Karla by translating during treatment, taking them out to dinner, and getting them accustomed to the hospital. They also gave the couple extra blankets, pillows, and delivered a package from the West Michigan Area Service Center's area executive director, Mike Lindhout, and his family. Mike had spent time in Nicaragua during his work in the Peace Corps. "I think it provided a little bit of comfort for him to know that there are people here who are pulling for him besides his friends back at home," says Mike. After Fernando's surgery, he had weakness in the right side of his body and was experiencing double vision. Seeing their struggle, Peter and Shirley decided that the couple needed more help and made a very generous offer. "We offered our home to Cindy," says Peter. Soon after the surgery, Fernando and Karla moved into their two bedroom condominium. "With Fernando and Karla, Shirley and Peter are doing everything a Hope Lodge would do," says Cindy. The volunteers absorbed the cost of two more mouths to feed, arranged transportation, doctor visits, and took Fernando back into the hospital for any emergency situations. With all of the help and progress that the couple has had, they still have challenges ahead. Fernando will soon be starting treatment in Bloomington, 50 miles away, so the couple will need more help with translating and transportation, something that would have already been in place if a Hope Lodge was available. In the meantime, Fernando has made progress with physical therapy. Through it all, Society staff and volunteers gave the couple the emotional, physical, and financial support that they needed. "They are real angels for us," says Karla. The American Cancer Society Great Lakes Division commends the staff and volunteers who have pulled together to improve the quality of life for Fernando and Karla and all that they do to help cancer patients in their area until a new Hope Lodge can be built in the future. The Central Indiana Area Service Center serves Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Morgan, and Shelby counties. Other features in VOICES this month community focus: variety of Society programs offer support in multiple ways |
survivorship and patient services: youth can still sign up for this year's Young Adult Retreat |
research: Society funds innovative cancer researchers |
education: organizations partner with the Society to improve workplace wellness |
advocacy: join us in Washington DC as a Celebration on the Hill supporter |
advocacy: statewide events allow volunteers to speak with legislators about cancer issues |
opportunities available: visit a Relay For Life event in July |
resource highlight: register today on the Cancer Survivor's Network |
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