A Modern Day Fairy Tale
Call it fate, karma, destiny - whatever you choose - I believe in it. I'm not saying I think you should give your life over to chance, but some things are just meant to be.
Once upon a time there was a brand-new hospital in the eastern most county of New York State. Today, that hospital is just about 25 years old and is the only terciary care facility in Suffolk County. Over the years the hospital has grown and expanded, but never lost sight of one of its primary goals - quality patient care. Several years ago, Stony Brook University Hospital began to implement plans to build a new comprehensive cancer center. http://www.stonybrookhospital.com The Long Island Cancer Center is now operational, although all the pieces still have to be fit into the puzzle. Visions of teamwork between all the cancer services, patient areas for reading, research, education, amenities - these dreams are becoming a reality.
Several years ago a few breast cancer survivors attended a fashion show sponsored by another Long Island hospital. On the drive home they convinced themselves that they could do a similar event to benefit the women cancer patient at SBUH. More importantly, armed with nothing but their convictions, they assured the administrators of the LICC to give them a chance to see their project to completion. With administrative backing, staff encouragement and community support, the dream of raising funds for women cancer patients became a reality. Several programs developed simultaneously - support groups, a lending library for patients, one-on-one buddy mentoring via phone, email or in-person visits. The cancer services were coming together. They were allowing the volunteers to help in small, but meaningful ways. The survivors felt useful. The reputation of the activities grew and the population of cancer patients/survivors became a united force.
(Sorry for so much background, but it gives you the flavor of how the next 8 hours could occur).
On Friday, the administrative assistant at the cancer center received a phone call from a patient. Seems the patient had purchased two tickets for the Billy Joel/Elton John concert to be held at the Nassau Coliseum in March. Due to an unforeseen illness, the concert was cancelled and rescheduled for Sunday, October 13th.
By this time, the patient was too ill to attend and wanted the cancer center to find another cancer patient to attend the concert, with his compliments. The administrative assistant contacted one of the volunteers and asked her if she knew anyone who would be a good choice. It was Friday, almost 5 PM. The volunteer decided to wait until Monday morning to find a recipient.
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