Last month I celebrated my one-year anniversary as a runner. No, not that kind of running. My knees are shot, though I did complete four marathons, and had the running bug in the late 1980’s and throughout the 90’s.
I celebrated one-year as a “Runner” at Cancer Care Manitoba.
I volunteer each Wednesday morning from 8:30am till noon. As a Runner, I collect samples (blood, urine, pathology, charts, x-rays) from one of 13 baskets in CancerCare and deliver them to various labs in the Health Sciences Centre complex.
My colleague, Leigh, and I take turns navigating the collection and delivery circuit. Leigh is a wonderful person, like pretty much everyone I have met at Cancer Care.
Many volunteers are retirees. We also have students and progressive companies such as Manitoba Blue Cross, that make space for their staff to work shifts at Cancer Care as part of their paid Blue Cross duties.
My motivation to volunteer at Cancer Care was not unique. My late wife, Marion, was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in November 2018, and between then, and her passing in April 2023, she received world-class treatment from the dedicated staff at Cancer Care Manitoba.
By early summer of 2023 I decided to seek out an opportunity to give something back to Cancer Care, as a small way of recognizing their compassion and the quality care that Marion received.
The application process at Cancer Care was the first time in my life I had been interviewed for a job, in this case, a volunteer job. As many readers will know I spent over thirty years working in the trade union movement, most of that in elected office, where the interview was an election every second year.
They had me fill out forms, did a background check, and contacted the three references I provided. I also participated in two interviews. I was both impressed and comforted by the serious approach that is taken prior to confirming volunteers to work at Cancer Care.
My first of three training shifts was a bit difficult. It had been four months since I had been to Cancer Care, a place I had visited dozens of times with my wife, over the course of 4.5 years. I of course encountered many patients receiving treatment. I saw staff whom I recognized from the treatment sessions I had attended with Marion.
Notwithstanding the poignancy of that first shift, I knew it was the right decision. Staff at Cancer Care are literally run off their feet. Patients attend there at what is one of the most vulnerable periods of their life. The work keeps me moving, around 8,000 steps per shift, which is a good thing.
And mostly, it represents a way to offer support for a system that is critically important to all cancer patients.
Losing one’s spouse of 44 years is a life-altering event, one I am experiencing and one that I know many of you have experienced. I have no great wisdom to impart beyond our family’s belief that Marion was treated with respect and received competent and compassionate treatment at Cancer Care.
My year of running has been a good way to say thank you and to offer support for those folks working in the system, caring for their fellow citizens in their time of need. I plan to keep running.