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SOMERS, Conn. (AP) — Five years ago, Susan White procrastinated for about a year about going to the doctor when she wasn't feeling right.
The recent retiree, then 65, dropped from 132 pounds to 70 pounds on a 4 foot 11 inch frame before admitting something was wrong. In 2012, White found out she had stage 4 breast cancer — cancer that had spread to her bones.
White is managing her cancer now, and benefiting from Johnson Memorial Hospital's Patient Assistance Fund.
The hospital has been using $16,000 from Big Y to fund art therapy, alternative healing methods and direct assistance such as grocery cards, gas cards, wigs or head coverings, prescriptions and medical taxi rides.
White, who lives in Enfield, used a taxi provided by the program a few times this spring after a chemotherapy cocktail caused her to be too sick to drive to the Johnson Memorial Cancer Center in Enfield.
"I don't need the food or any of that right now," said White, who took an early retirement from Aetna as a file clerk, and then worked for 11 years for Stop & Shop. "It's great to know it's there."
White is one of 55 people who have received rides or gift cards paid out of a $5,000 grant from United Way and the Big Y gift.
Lisa DeGray, Johnson Memorial's fund development director, said the hospital's Patient Assistance Fund has helped cancer patients from age 26 to 78, with recipients covered by Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance. She said most are in their 50s.
The hospital still has $2,000 from the last round of funding from Big Y and announced this month that the grocer had donated another $12,000 from last October's fundraising campaign.
The Big Y fundraiser had many prongs — $1 donations from customers, 5-cent or 10-cent donations from the company for certain purchases, and $5 donations from the company when customers got a flu shot at the stores.
"These funds make a huge difference to our patients at a time when they are most vulnerable and in need of support," said Stuart Rosenberg, president of Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs.
This summer, Johnson Memorial Hospital's auxiliary is starting a new fundraising effort called Seeds of Kindness, where it will grow 10 acres of sunflowers in Somers on land that's offered rent-free by a cancer survivor.
Louis and Jacob Lipton, of Pleasant View Farms, are managing the fields, and the flowers will be sold in Geissler's in July and August. The hospital volunteers are looking for other places to sell the blooms, since there could be 70,000 flowers in August. The auxiliary will also sell some birdseed from the crop at Hawthorne's Agway in Enfield.
They hope to raise $20,000 through this Seeds of Kindness project. To learn when the bouquets are available, go to the Seeds of Kindness page on Facebook.
During her recovery, White is also benefiting from the extras the grants cover. She said she goes weekly for reiki, an alternative therapy that provides relaxation as a practitioner moves hands close to the skin. She also does art therapy once a month.
White choked up as she tried to express how it makes her feel to know that the Johnson Memorial Cancer Center will assist her if she needs it again.
"They're wonderful here," she said, gripping the hand of Maria Sierra, director of the cancer center. "They're here for you all the time. How can you not get well?"
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Information from: Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com
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