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Monday, February 28, 2000
Volunteer reaches out to survivors
Verhetsel has helped others recovering from breast cancer for 14 years
By Jeremy Schwartz
Caller-Times
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| David Adame/Caller-Times |
| Rose Marie Verhetsel is a volunteer with the Reach to Recovery program of the American Cancer Society. |
When Rose Marie Verhetsel, 70, was in the hospital recovering from surgery to remove cancer in her breast, someone special helped get her back on her feet.
A volunteer with the American Cancer Society's Reach to Recovery program visited her.
"She just gave me a lot of encouragement and let me know that I wasn't alone," Verhetsel said. "It was someone else who had gone through what I was going through. That's when I knew that I wanted to be a volunteer."
Fourteen years later, Verhetsel still is volunteering for Reach to Recovery and has helped hundreds of other women deal with the aftermath of breast cancer.
"It's very rewarding to be able to do this," said Verhetsel, a mother of two and grandmother of seven. "People are very grateful because you are making them feel better about themselves and letting them know that life can go on."
The Reach to Recovery program, founded by breast cancer survivor Terese Lasser in 1952, is comprised of volunteers who visit women recovering from breast cancer and give encouragement and practical advice.
Verhetsel said an important part of her visits are exercises to loosen and strengthen the arms of patients who have had mastectomies or lumpectomies.
"The arm gets real stiff after surgery," she said. While Verhetsel and other volunteers teach various exercises, they are not allowed to give out any medical advice.
What they do talk about is how to get through a difficult part of life.
"Mostly what they want to know is when it's going to go away," Verhetsel said.
"And sometimes they talk about faith. For most people, even if they don't go to church or believe in a supreme being, something like this will put that in mind."
Patricia Harris, Verhetsel's daughter, said her mother's work has had a lasting impact on the women she visits.
"To anybody who's a cancer survivor, what she does means the world," she said.
"She's just a very giving person. She worries a lot about other people."
Verhetsel, who taught elementary school in Corpus Christi for 31 years before retiring in 1985, is also an active volunteer at the Most Precious Blood Catholic Church, where she answers phones, directs visitors and does just about anything else that needs to be done.
"I enjoy getting out and helping people," she said. "I think it's important that we get out and do what we can."
Verhetsel has been recognized as part of the 10th annual Caller-Times/Channel 6 Jefferson Volunteer Awards, which celebrate community volunteerism. Nominations are accepted throughout the year, and a community panel each month selects four honorees to be featured in the Caller-Times and on Channel 6 News.
On April 14, 10 Jefferson Award winners, selected from among the volunteers profiled in newspaper articles published between Feb. 20, 1999 and Feb. 7, 2000, will receive medallions for their work in enriching their communities and the lives of their neighbors.
Volunteers profiled after Feb. 7, 2000, will be considered for medallions in the 2001 Jefferson Awards campaign.
Staff writer Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 886-3779 or by e-mail at schwartzj@caller.com
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