Cushions give comfort to cancer patients

THE Wilted Quilters has made almost 800 comfort cushions for patients who have undergone surgery, mainly for breast cancer, during the past few years. The group, which is made up of 15 volunteers, meets regularly to make the comfort cushions and then donates them to patients at Geelong’s St John of God Hospital.

Breast Care Nurse Barbara Cummins visited the volunteers in Portarlington last week with morning tea to say “thank you” for their hard work.

“By the end of October, I’ve had 155 ladies this year who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and every one of them has received a cushion,” Ms Cummins said.

“We haven’t had any men this year, but we’ve had about six men over the past nine years at St John of God, and some ladies they get two, if they have bilateral breast cancer.

“For the first few days, the cushions are really comfortable for them, and then I always call them after they leave hospital to check up, and they say ‘My God they are a God send!’.

“The cushions are their buddies and they don’t leave home or go shopping without them, they have them all the time, to the point they don’t want to give them up because they are so comfortable.”

Ms Cummins said she was very lucky to have the ladies make the cushions and that she brought in morning tea because they were so appreciated.

Joy McGregor from the Wilted Quilters said the cushions were made from 100 per cent cotton, so there was no rub against skin, and soft toy stuffing, and that they had also made 238 drainage bags.

“We’ve had a couple of us here who have been through the other side of it,” Ms McGregor said.

“And if you’ve been through it, it’s a time in your life when you want to be made to feel a little bit more special and prettier, which is what these cushions do.”

Ms McGregor said the women felt good about doing something to help those going through a hard time, but on the other hand felt sad that there was so many people who needed them.

The women, who are all quilters and patchworkers, orginally used their own stash of supplies to make the cushions, before they received two large donations, one from a thankful husband whose wife had undergone surgery for breast cancer, and another through the first Portarlington Golf Club Community Contribution Fund.

The women continue to pay $2 a fortnight each to make sure the comfort cushions continue.