Saying Thanks for Being Able to Help a Partner in Need

Gratitude goes both ways.

Lisa Wolford of Deerfield was so grateful for Concord Hospital Payson Center forCancer Care oncology dietitian Megan Ryder (pictured) that she made a donation to Concord Hospital Trust in Megan’s name. Megan was grateful that the honor provided a generous reminder that patients and their families appreciate her important work.

Lisa went to Megan for help at avery difficult time. Her partner, Pam Hanglin, was beginning chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Lisa wanted to make sure their diet wasn’t feeding Pam’s cancer and was seeking ways to help make the chemotherapy more bearable. During their emotional visit, Megan gave Lisa a few things, including a box of tissues.

“It was hard to talk about Pam’s illness and the circumstances that brought me to Megan, but she was just a lovely person,” Lisa said. “She was very compassionate and I remember feeling that it was okay that I was crying. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it.”

She also passed along recipes and studies that confirmed Lisa’s suspicions that sugar should be limited to help prevent cancer and avoid helping cancer cells grow.

“That was an important message for me because it’s well and good for people to want to prevent cancer, but once you have the diagnosis, you are looking for ways to be able to get through it,” Lisa said. “Megan said you should think of diet as a constant assault on cancer through nutrition throughout the day – breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

Most importantly, Lisa said Megan gave her a sense of some control in the fight against a disease that often leaves patients and their loved ones feeling helpless. She also was amazed that Megan’s services were available to her even though Pam was being treated elsewhere.

Lisa was so grateful for the concrete ways she could help Pam that she wanted to say thank you to Megan with a donation. Concord Hospital Trust suggested a Halo award in Megan’s name. The award allows grateful patients or family members to donate in recognition of specific healthcare providers, employees or entire Hospital departments.

“Charitable contributions are a good way of giving back,” Lisa said. “I didn’t want to embarrass Megan, but the donation was a way of making the gratitude tangible and being able to recognize her in particular.”

Megan’s Halo pin is in her office,a grateful reminder that her work and her compassion make a difference.