After 2.5 months of jumping through hoops to get in, this morning I finally got to work my first shift. They have a rigours screening process of medical tests and confirmation of immunity before they let you attend the 3 training and tour days. So I was relieved to finally make it this far.
I got paired up with a 17 year veteran volunteer who seemed to know everyone. He had been a patient himself through the years, but now was in remission, and was keen to tell everyone he was one of them. I, on the other hand, simply say I'm volunteering to help out. I chose the Gastro-Intestinal Clinic, which I heard was one of the busiest clinics.
In my first 3 hour shift, I spoke with around 15 persons. Busy! Most of the conversations were pretty simple. We talked about the stress of getting to the clinic from out of town, like Parry Sound and Barrie. I also spoke with 2 parents who were struggling physically with their own issues and having a hard time supporting the 30-something daughter who was the patient. A few patients were ecstatic to be there, because they were in remission for a year or longer and were just back for well visits. In all, it was an interesting range of patients with a predictable range of emotions about the day.
I did have one interesting conversation with a guy around age 60 who started answering my questions about his diagnosis, and the completely changed the topic to talk about his cat. He showed me the scratch mark on his hands of where the cat had attacked him. He went on to describe the cat as totally dependent on him, since he lived alone with her, but she hated him and scratched him daily when he tried to pet her or pick her up. He had to bear the fact that she loved other women and would voluntarily curl up with them whenever they came to visit. But not him. It seemed like a symbolic conversation where the patient was reluctant to tell me directly what his life was like, but he was comfortable doing so through his cat.
In summary, I quite enjoyed myself and felt helpful. I didn't have any deep or profound conversations, but I did keep the waiting room tidied up from coffee cups and juice containers, and answered a number of questions about how to make coffee or what the next step was. I enjoyed the opportunity to just chat with patients during moments of anxiety without needing to feel like I was reporting on them or assessing them too formally. I'll see how the next few months go!
I got paired up with a 17 year veteran volunteer who seemed to know everyone. He had been a patient himself through the years, but now was in remission, and was keen to tell everyone he was one of them. I, on the other hand, simply say I'm volunteering to help out. I chose the Gastro-Intestinal Clinic, which I heard was one of the busiest clinics.
In my first 3 hour shift, I spoke with around 15 persons. Busy! Most of the conversations were pretty simple. We talked about the stress of getting to the clinic from out of town, like Parry Sound and Barrie. I also spoke with 2 parents who were struggling physically with their own issues and having a hard time supporting the 30-something daughter who was the patient. A few patients were ecstatic to be there, because they were in remission for a year or longer and were just back for well visits. In all, it was an interesting range of patients with a predictable range of emotions about the day.
I did have one interesting conversation with a guy around age 60 who started answering my questions about his diagnosis, and the completely changed the topic to talk about his cat. He showed me the scratch mark on his hands of where the cat had attacked him. He went on to describe the cat as totally dependent on him, since he lived alone with her, but she hated him and scratched him daily when he tried to pet her or pick her up. He had to bear the fact that she loved other women and would voluntarily curl up with them whenever they came to visit. But not him. It seemed like a symbolic conversation where the patient was reluctant to tell me directly what his life was like, but he was comfortable doing so through his cat.
In summary, I quite enjoyed myself and felt helpful. I didn't have any deep or profound conversations, but I did keep the waiting room tidied up from coffee cups and juice containers, and answered a number of questions about how to make coffee or what the next step was. I enjoyed the opportunity to just chat with patients during moments of anxiety without needing to feel like I was reporting on them or assessing them too formally. I'll see how the next few months go!
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