Published: October 02, 2008 06:04 pm            

‘Hats with Hugs’ from hands

Brings warmth and comfort to cancer patients

FAIRMONT — There are all kinds of hats.

Top hats. Baby bonnets. Baseball caps.

But the best kind are Hats with Hugs.

This is a very special project done by some very special people in Marion County, who volunteer to knit or crochet brightly colored hats for cancer patients undergoing treatment.

Nancy Snider has crocheted a lot of hats over the years.

“I don’t remember when I started crocheting” for Hats with Hugs, she said with a laugh. “Stella (Hawk) says I’ve made 150 hats, but I don’t know.”

She’d learned to crochet when she was in fourth or fifth grade by watching her mother, she said.

“My mother never taught me. I just picked it up. That’s how you learn, I guess. I still have doilies I made in fifth grade.”

She started crocheting these hats at the suggestion of a friend.

“I made these,” she said, pointing to a colorful assortment of pale pink, soft blue and light lilac caps.

She also crochets for a prayer shawl ministry at her church, which are made upon request.

“When I started making these hats, I thought the patients would wear them outside. So I made them with heavier yarn.”

But the hats must be made with softer yarn. The specific brand, Simply Soft, is becoming harder and harder to find, she said.

“The hospital buys us some of this yarn. It’s expensive.”

There are patterns for these kind of hats.

“But I don’t like to use them. I like my hats to be different. No two are alike. I enjoy crocheting if I can do what I want to do. It calms me.”

She’ll crochet sweaters and vests for herself and others, she added.

“It does make it special, knowing these hats are going to cancer patients,” she said. “I try to do two, three a week. I don’t always, but I try to.”

Just the day before, she’d crocheted two. She prefers crocheting to knitting.

“It’s quicker. It probably would have taken me a day to do one, if I had knitted it. I probably crochet six hours a day. I don’t do anything else,” she said, laughing.

Then she got serious.

“I wish more people would join in this ministry. It is a ministry. It helps people. It makes them more comfortable. Being a cancer survivor is enough to worry about.

“This makes their life easier. I enjoy doing it.”

Cancer patients may choose a wig, turban or hat, said Tricia Julian, oncology education director at Fairmont General Hospital. All are provided free of charge.

“We have about 125 or more in our wig bank. In the last six years, we’ve probably given away well over 300 wigs.

“We try to be a full-service wig bank. We provide everything we can for our patients.

“It’s one of the best-kept secrets in Marion County.”

If you’d prefer a hat, they’ve got them, too.

“We have different types of hats ... some youthful styles ... because of the influx of younger patients being treated for cancer. And the people doing the hats have done a wonderful job making different styles for each group.

“Younger people like something like this,” she said, picking up a pink and yellow crocheted hat, “than something like a turban.

“That’s more dignified, for an older patient who might want a more conservative look.

“A cancer patient’s scalp can be very sensitive after they’ve lost their hair. Even though the wigs and the hats are lightweight, the weight rubbing back and forth” can irritate the scalp, she said.

“There are no financial guidelines. You don’t even have to be getting treatment here. We give hats to anyone. We even gave a couple of hats to some elderly patients admitted here without a cancer diagnosis. They had no body fat and were very cold. We gave them the hats to keep them warm.

“The system has not been abused at all. People don’t ask for things when they don’t need them. Whether they’re getting treatment here, Morgantown or Clarksburg, if they have a need for a wig or hat, we will provide it without question.

“And that’s for any age. We’ve provided on occasion hats for younger patients. That’s where the younger-looking styles come in.”

Stella Hawk remembered how it was 17 years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“They didn’t have hats or free wigs or turbans. I had to find a scarf.”

An inevitable part of cancer treatment is also one of the most traumatic for many people, Julian said.

“They wake up and find their hair on their pillow. I give them surgical caps to contain their hair. They’re light, disposable, and when they get full of hair, they can toss them and get another one.”

Fairmont General is hosting “Hats with Hugs,” a special day for knitters, crocheters and sewing types to get together to make hats for cancer patients.

It will take place from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15. Knitters and crocheters will gather at the Hamilton Conference Room, with two other rooms set up with sewing machines.

A fashion show of cancer survivors modeling hats made that day will follow at 3 p.m. Lunch and refreshments will be provided, with door prizes thrown in just for fun.

Participants may pick up pattern packets for $15. All money will go directly to the American Cancer Society.

“We needed to do a day for to make chemo caps,” said Liz McLellan. “So I went to Stella and we decided to do a day, to make this thing fly.”

“We lost the person making our turbans, Nellie Haught,” Julian said. “She’d made all of our turbans for about six years. But she has some family members who are ill, so she’ll no longer be able to do it. So we’re looking for someone to step in and help us keep that inventory up,” Julian said.

You can come and make your needlework magic all day.

“Or you can come for any amount of time,” Julian said.

And don’t worry if you don’t know a stitch from a pearl, or a sewing needle from a knitting needle.

“You can always come and help cut patterns,” Hawk said.

The event has two purposes, Julian said.

“First, we need to make hats available to our patients. And we need to raise money for the American Cancer Society. All the proceeds will go to the ACS.

“Funding was really down from Relay this year. Not as much money was raised as we’d hoped, so we’re hoping to offset some of their expenses by these donations.”

A “Look Good, Feel Better” session will be held prior to the fashion show, Julian said.

“These are for women undergoing treatment or who are no more than six months out of treatment. Specially trained cosmetologists teach them how to safely take care of their skin while undergoing treatment.”

For more information, call Tricia Julian at 367-7247.

E-mail Debra Minor Wilson at dwilson@ timeswv.com.

        

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