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Cancer patients inspire hope within parish communities
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
September 20, 2007
Debbie Bond was sure to have her prayer shawl wrapped around her as she lounged in a recliner earlier this month.
She needed to keep warm through another round of chemotherapy and also remember that the person who made the soft, purple wrap prayed for her recovery with every stitch.
The diocesan-wide Healing Through the Body of Christ Cancer Ministry makes shawls for women with cancer. It’s one of the many ways the growing ministry helps keep patients’ hope alive.
Bond, like most of those in the ministry, is both a patient and a volunteer. The 39-year-old was diagnosed with breast cancer more than two years ago.
“I want to help people with cancer, especially when they’re freshly diagnosed,” said Bond, a parishioner at St. Anne in Gilbert.
When she hears someone is diagnosed, she gives the patient a customized care package. It often includes a prayer shawl, a heart-shaped pillow, a chemo cap and a card.
The ministry provides emotional support for patients and family members through volunteers, most of whom suffered through cancer. Bond recently helped a woman in her 20s facing ovarian cancer find a patient to talk to. The woman wanted to speak with someone young like herself.
“It’s not always the cancer that makes a good match for someone,” said Melissa Veselovsky, executive coordinator of the ministry. “It’s not just the cancer that’s the stressor in their lives.”
Some ministry volunteers offer domestic help to ease that burden, Veselovsky said. Other volunteers are known as “positive partners.” They send cards, write letters and make phone calls of encouragement to patients.
Many, like Gloria Yturralde, make personal house calls.
“I will go to their homes and pray with them and take them a St. Peregrine medallion,” the St. Patrick parishioner said.
The dangling silver piece features a portrait image of the patron saint for cancer patients. Patients can rub a large indention on the reverse side of the medallion as they pray to him.
Yturralde said prayer played a role in her healing. Whenever she needed strength while facing sarcoma in the knee, she approached the tabernacle.
“I am touching the Body of Christ and He is healing me,” Yturralde prayed. She continues a similar prayer for others today. Yturralde, an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, said she prays for patients going through treatment with each host she offers.
The Healing Through the Body of Christ ministry also offers prevention outreach. Yturralde has hosted information tables after Mass with preventative measures.
If Bond has enough strength to plan, she wants to meet with young parish women next month including teens. She would teach them how to check for signs of breast cancer, which helps with early detection.
Anne Rita Monahan hopes to do something similar for ovarian cancer and a foundation in her own name this month to raise awareness of the warning signs. Monahan went undiagnosed for years because the warning signs mirrored that of other common health problems.
“That’s why it’s been known traditionally as ‘the silent cancer,’” Monahan said.
She remains hopeful that her foundation and the newly released warning signs from the American Cancer Society will help women catch ovarian cancer early.
“Faith has a lot to do with beating it,” Monahan said.
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