Meet John Doe...

Post written by CHC member Daniel Broome

Daniel serves at the American Cancer Society at Stroger Hospital as a Patient Navigator 

I remembered my first day of serving when I saw a quote on a statue in front of Old Cook County Hospital by Louis Pasteur:

"One doesn't ask one who suffers: What is your country and what is your religion? One merely says, You suffer, this is enough for me, you belong to me and I shall help you."

This quote accurately defines the mission of John H. Stroger, Jr. hospital and my term of service with Chicago Health Corps.  Serving in the Radiation Department with the American Cancer Society (ACS) here at Stroger, I assist the patients in overcoming barriers to care. Generally, this means we help patients find or pay for transportation.  Other assistance we provide include housing resources, homecare assistance, and on occasion, ordering or paying for nutritional supplements. All of this is done by generous donation to ACS.

One of our patients, Mr. John Doe, is a 48 year old man who is being treated with radiation therapy. In September of this year, he had a tracheotomy to provide a surgical opening into the windpipe to act as an airway and to remove fluid from his lungs. He suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sleep apnea, chronic pain, and can no longer speak.

He gets most of his caloric intake by nutritional supplement – 6 cans of Ensure a day, fed through a tube.

The week before Christmas, Mr. Doe’s supply of Ensure was running low. He reminded me that he had not received the new shipment of Ensure. I could tell he was becoming desperate. I saw Mr. Doe the next morning and expected to see frustration on his face. Instead Mr. Doe wrote out a gracious note to me, thanking me for my help, and telling me he would find a way to last until the company delivered his supplies.

I was impressed by Mr. Doe’s gratitude and patience. I became more inspired to help him. I felt he deserved whatever time I could devote to him. It is patients like Mr. Doe that remind me why I am here and inspire to me to continue serving every day.