Local volunteers driving force behind program

Henry Sobel, on a sunny afternoon, pulls into the driveway of the house where Roxye Hustler stays with relatives.

As usual Sobel is right on time to take her to Nevada Cancer Center on Tenaya Way, where she receives radiation treatment for breast cancer five days a week.

Hustler, like many others in the valley, relies on volunteer drivers such as Sobel to take her to the treatments.

Sobel, 80, is one of 36 volunteers with the American Cancer Society Southwest Division.

Through the help of volunteers, the organization's Road to Recovery program provides free door-to-door transportation for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatments.

Using their own time, car and gas money, the volunteers drive the patients one to five days a week.

Without the volunteer drivers, Hustler, a Phoenix resident in Las Vegas for treatment, says she doesn't know how she would get to her appointments. "Anyway I could," she said. Which would mean riding with private agencies at a cost of $26 to $100 round trip.

For some, volunteer drivers make the difference between being treated and not, Dr. Jeffrey Long of Nevada Cancer Center said.

"A lot of these patients are single with no families here," Jeanette Rowland, program manager for patient services programs, said. "Some may not have the financial means to pay for a ride."

While others provide the service, Rowland said there is either a fee or they don't provide door-to-door transportation.

One private agency provides rides for $48 each way for the disabled or anyone needing medical service. Some of that cost is covered by insurance. Another agency provides rides for $13.75 each way.

The Citizen Area Transit offers paratransit door-to-door service for $1 to those who are certifiably mentally or physically disabled. But seniors without disabilities or cancer patients needing rides are not included.

There is also the option of riding the bus or calling a cab.

"People receiving chemotherapy don't want to take a cab or ride a bus," David Moretti, a 28-year old volunteer driver, said.

Which is why Moretti, whose mother died of cancer 1 1/2 years ago, began driving cancer patients last June.

"I saw the ad and just thought back to how, when my mom went to treatment, she had a ride. The treatment prolonged her life.

"That's why I started doing it. Now I drive because I really like doing it," he said.

"Everybody has interesting stories. In the 20 minutes I can learn a lot about somebody."

"(Sometimes) I'm talking to people who have been here since the '50s." As we drive through town it's "kind of like a Nevada history lesson," he said.

Bill Gildner, who has been driving patients for five years, said he's also had some rich experiences.

People talk about where they come from and what their life is like, he said. One patient, originally from Germany, gave Gildner a piece of the Berlin Wall which she once lived near.

There's more to it than the interesting stories, Gildner said. It's the responsibility of people to help others.

Gildner says he has seen how some chemotherapy patients become tired and lethargic after treatment. "Then there are people living on Social Security who can't afford other means."

For cancer patients, "depending upon other sources every day is a real chore, a real hardship. It's terrible for patients who, in the summer months, wait for a bus in the heat or have to walk to a bus stop," he said. "You'd be surprised how many cancer patients there are in this town. There's always somebody in the waiting room."

The organization receives requests from 15 to 20 people a week who need an average of three rides a week, Rowland, said. The majority of appointments are for chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Most patients are in their 60s and 70s, but there are younger patients, including high school students, she said.

"Either they can't drive, they don't have a car or there's no one else to assist them to their treatments.

"As the valley continues to grow, so does the need."

Because of the volunteers, the organization usually meets 95 percent of the requests, but there have been times when it had to turn people away.

"There are often shortages around the holidays and during the summer season when people are taking vacations," she said. "Yet cancer treatment doesn't stop for the seasons. It's frustrating to say that treatment is important but we can't get you there."

"A lot of people in this town don't realize what goes on with the Cancer Society and people who need the help," Sandra Rothman, 64, said.

Rothman has been a driver since last summer. She drives about two times a week. As a four-year lung cancer survivor, she says this is her way of giving back. "I was very fortunate, there are not many lung cancer survivors. God was good to me. I felt I had to give back."

Although radiation or chemotherapy treatments weren't required for Rothman, she said she knows what the patients are facing. She's lost many friends to cancer.

"I listen to their problems," she said. "Sometimes the radiation burns, sometimes the chemo makes them feel sick. You do what you can. Some of them who have no one are really afraid."

archive