Road to Recovery program gets patients to cancer treatments

Dec. 8--Cheryl Duke knows better than most the challenges that come with a cancer diagnosis.

"There's a lot of good people you meet on the way when you get cancer," Duke said. "We just depend on the kindness of everyone."

Keeping up with her treatment is difficult enough, and is made harder by the fact Duke can't drive.

"I go every three weeks, thanks to Kellie," she said.

For about six months, Kellie Gantos has been Duke's regular ride to her cancer treatments, taking her from her home in La Conner to Skagit Valley Hospital and back.

Gantos volunteers through Road to Recovery, an American Cancer Society program that matches volunteer drivers with cancer patients who need help getting to their appointments.

Needing some help

Five years ago, Duke went to the emergency room with what she thought might be appendicitis.

"(The doctors) came in saying 'it's not appendicitis, it's ovarian cancer,'" she said.

Since then, Duke has gone through radiation treatment, chemotherapy and surgery to address malignant tumors that spread to her brain, she said.

Now 74, she said neither she nor her husband drive. And while she can get rides from family, her appointments often don't line up with their work schedules.

"(Without the program) it would be really precarious for me," she said. "I don't have anything to rely on except for this."

She said a taxi would cost her about $76 one way -- more than she can afford.

Gantos said she suffers from chronic medical conditions that forced her to retire early. She went looking for volunteer opportunities, and found Road to Recovery.

Seeing Duke deal with her diagnosis and still have a positive attitude helped Gantos put her struggles into perspective.

"She just lightens your day," Gantos said. "What I've gone through isn't half of what she's gone through, and she has this bubbly spirit."

She said volunteering to drive Duke gave her a purpose, and said over the months the two have grown close. Their friendship, Gantos said, has really improved her mental health.

"We've become buddies, and we'll be buddies after this is over," Gantos said. "I'll continue as long as she needs me."

Volunteers sought

Sharon Gastkill, volunteer coordinator and driver for Road to Recovery in Skagit and Island counties, said the program is in need of more people like Gantos.

"We're running ragged right now," she said.

While she has a handful of drivers in Skagit County, she said she currently has none on Whidbey Island.

She said she's been able to make do with the drivers she has, but the result is long and frequent trips for these volunteers.

As a cancer survivor herself, Gastkill said she understands the stress that treatment puts on patients.

"When you're going to radiation or chemo, the last thing you want to do is get into a cab with a stranger," she said.

Like Gantos, Gastkill said she started volunteering to drive after she retired and was looking for something she could do to give back. She started soon after she moved to the area in 2017, and said she's driven about 20 patients in that time.

"It's just such a great feeling, helping people," she said.

Duke urged anyone with time to volunteer for the program, saying her experience with Gantos has left her feeling "blessed beyond words."

"They don't need to be perfect in their health," she said. "They just need to have a giving heart."

Those interested in learning more about volunteering can go to the Road to Recovery page on the American Cancer Association's website.

-- Reporter Brandon Stone: bstone@skagitpublishing.com, 360-416-2112, Twitter: @Brandon_SVH

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