Reach for Recovery, in partnership with Weekend Argus, donated care bags to recovering cancer patients at Groote Schuur Hospital on Tuesday.
After a patient has had a mastectomy, they are transferred to the LE 33 Clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital, where they receive chemotherapy and radiation. However, since the onset of the pandemic, volunteers from the organisation have not been allowed to visit the patients in person.
When a patient starts treatment at LE 33, they are given pamphlets with information that shows them how to take care of themselves post-op.
In addition, they are provided with a leaflet about Reach for Recovery’s Ditto Project that supplies breast cancer patients with silicone prostheses. This was where the relationship between LE 33 and Reach for Recovery began.
The organisation presented the oncology department with knitted blankets for the chemotherapy patients. The blankets were sponsored by the Tokai Library knitting club. Masks and beanies, three heaters and 43 care packages sponsored by Weekend Argus were also donated.
Carla Lind, chairperson of the Cape Peninsula branch of Reach for Recovery, said every little bit counts.
“Their lives are full of so much hardship, and we are happy to be able to make a difference,” she said.
She added: “We just wanted to give them things that make their lives easier. Everything we gave today is to assist the patients and hopefully make their lives easier.”
Reach for Recovery has worked with LE 33 for many years, and they are appealing to the public to donate to patients if they can.
Lind said: “People are always donating sanitiser and masks to the hospitals, but very few people and organisations are making donations to the patients.”
Weekend Argus