A car full of quilts!
Last Thursday Susan Ryan and Cathy Williams delivered about 40 veteran's quilts to the hemodialysis unit and the oncology floor at McGuire VA Medical Center. Most of the patients in these units are outpatient and come back on a regular schedule for treatment. Dialysis patients can come 2 - 3 times weekly for years. They handed out all of the quilts and the patients were very grateful and appreciative that we took the time to make something for them.
Cathy Williams with the cart of quilts ready to go!
Cathy and Susan said that the patients and nurses were grateful for the quilts and most said that they would bring them back every time they came for treatment.
Susan told me one particularly touching story. The chemo nurse asked for 2 quilts for patients that were to arrive after them left. She called Susan later to tell the story of one of them.
When this particular patient came in for treatment he was very depressed and sad. His wife was in tears. They had been for all of his appointments that morning and had been told nothing but bad news. The nurse gave him the quilt telling him a little about it and out group. As he was getting his treatment he was studying the quilt and reading the card and suddenly realized that it was hand made. He started crying and said he was so grateful that someone cared enough to make a quilt for him. It was the one thing that turned his day around.
It's stories like that that make it all worth while. I asked Susan about the make up of the patients and some indication of the quilts that they liked best. She said that there were less than 5 female patients (as we expected) but that the guys did not shy away from floral fabrics. Many of the recipients were able to pick their quilts and several picked floral quilts. Every quilt, no matter the color or design went to a grateful recipient.
So let's get busy and make more quilts! I've started taking tops for quilting again. I will miss the January - March meetings but Becky has agreed to take tops for me and I'll pick them up from her.
Thank you to Susan and Cathy for delivering the quilts!
Vicki Welsh
That picture made my day!
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