Bristol resident Moira Sullivan Shapland recently donated more than 25 handmade microwaveable heating pads to the Bristol Hospital Cancer Care Center.
According to a press release from the hospital, Sullivan Shapland said she is a breast cancer survivor and that she made the heating pads in memory of her friend Pamela Mills who passed away from breast cancer 10 years ago.
“I made a donation eight years ago while going through my own treatment and they not only offer physical comfort but there also is a psychological benefit as well,” Sullivan Shapland said in the press release. “The heating pads simply say ‘Someone thought of me and cares about me.’”
Sullivan Shapland added, the press release reported, that it is difficult to experience chemotherapy and radiation and that the accompanying physical pain is often not as bad as the psychological pain. She cited the worry, the loneliness, the depression, the anxiety and the anger that patients experience while undergoing cancer treatment.
“To have someone care about you is huge in the battle against cancer and no one ever wants to fight a battle alone. The thought of someone offering concern and comfort—in any way—means so much to a patient,” Sullivan Shapland said in the press release.
The heating pads are made with flannel fabric and come in numerous shapes and sizes. Sullivan Shapland said the pads donated to the Bristol Hospital Cancer Care Center are suitable for the neck, stomach, lower back, shoulders and legs. The pads can be used for multiple body aches and pains as well as just for comfort.
“I’ve had patients tell me that they heat them in the microwave before heading out the door on a winter’s day for use in the car as a lap warmer,” Sullivan Shapland said in the press release.
For more information on the heating pad donations and Moira Sullivan Shapland’s organization “Soothers,” contact her atmoira358@sbcglobal.net