CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Betty Beeson says the hardest thing about being a driver for the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery program is she doesn't get called on enough. Not enough people know about it, she says.

Road to Recovery is a free program for cancer patients. The American Cancer Society matches patients with drivers who take them to and from the hospital for treatment.

Beeson, 62, says cancer is a tough fight. In 1996 and in 2001, she went through treatment for breast cancer. She says she wouldn't have gotten through it without the support of her family.

Others aren't so lucky.

"In West Virginia," she explained, "women with breast cancer will often take a radical surgical route when they could undergo radiation. Surgery is just one procedure. Radiation and chemotherapy take time and you feel awful."

Beeson says women facing breast cancer will sometimes choose a mastectomy instead of lumpectomy. A lumpectomy, which removes cancerous tissue from the breast, usually requires radiation treatments after surgery. A mastectomy, which often removes the entire breast, in this case, wouldn't.

Beeson says women usually run households. They work, manage the schedules of children and also take on the bulk of the chores in the home. A lot of responsibility is placed on women to keep the home moving. When they get sick, it's harder for them to get the time necessary to recuperate and there may not be someone around who can help them get to the doctor.

"They'll take the drastic procedure because it's easier," she said.

Beeson joined Road to Recovery after she was pronounced cancer-free in 2002.

Frank Fuller, a retired insurance agent, is a cancer survivor and is also a driver for the American Cancer Society. He first got involved with Road to Recovery after his bout with cancer in 2002.

"During my treatment, I started going to a support group for men with prostate cancer," he said. "After my treatment was over, I still went to the group. I got involved with some of the things the Cancer Society was doing and when they asked for drivers, I signed up."

Fuller says Road to Recovery is an important program in a rural and "graying" state like West Virginia. Sometimes the older you get, he says, the fewer people you really know. A person's support system may be eroding, and getting around gets difficult.

"Everyone I've ever picked up has been really nice," he said. "They're grateful to get the help."

Beeson agrees.

"Some people get so beat down by the disease," Beeson said. "Being sick is depressing. I've ended up taking them soup and food. I think the point, for me, was to let them know somebody cared about them."

While confidentiality agreements prevent them from saying too much about the patients they've taken to treatment, Fuller says he's met some wonderful people. Beeson remembers talking with a retired engineer undergoing treatment about the places he traveled. The wife of a blind patient baked her a pie and gave her some Easter eggs.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Betty Beeson says the hardest thing about being a driver for the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery program is she doesn't get called on enough. Not enough people know about it, she says.

Road to Recovery is a free program for cancer patients. The American Cancer Society matches patients with drivers who take them to and from the hospital for treatment.

Beeson, 62, says cancer is a tough fight. In 1996 and in 2001, she went through treatment for breast cancer. She says she wouldn't have gotten through it without the support of her family.

Others aren't so lucky.

"In West Virginia," she explained, "women with breast cancer will often take a radical surgical route when they could undergo radiation. Surgery is just one procedure. Radiation and chemotherapy take time and you feel awful."

Beeson says women facing breast cancer will sometimes choose a mastectomy instead of lumpectomy. A lumpectomy, which removes cancerous tissue from the breast, usually requires radiation treatments after surgery. A mastectomy, which often removes the entire breast, in this case, wouldn't.

Beeson says women usually run households. They work, manage the schedules of children and also take on the bulk of the chores in the home. A lot of responsibility is placed on women to keep the home moving. When they get sick, it's harder for them to get the time necessary to recuperate and there may not be someone around who can help them get to the doctor.

"They'll take the drastic procedure because it's easier," she said.

Beeson joined Road to Recovery after she was pronounced cancer-free in 2002.

Frank Fuller, a retired insurance agent, is a cancer survivor and is also a driver for the American Cancer Society. He first got involved with Road to Recovery after his bout with cancer in 2002.

"During my treatment, I started going to a support group for men with prostate cancer," he said. "After my treatment was over, I still went to the group. I got involved with some of the things the Cancer Society was doing and when they asked for drivers, I signed up."

Fuller says Road to Recovery is an important program in a rural and "graying" state like West Virginia. Sometimes the older you get, he says, the fewer people you really know. A person's support system may be eroding, and getting around gets difficult.

"Everyone I've ever picked up has been really nice," he said. "They're grateful to get the help."

Beeson agrees.

"Some people get so beat down by the disease," Beeson said. "Being sick is depressing. I've ended up taking them soup and food. I think the point, for me, was to let them know somebody cared about them."

While confidentiality agreements prevent them from saying too much about the patients they've taken to treatment, Fuller says he's met some wonderful people. Beeson remembers talking with a retired engineer undergoing treatment about the places he traveled. The wife of a blind patient baked her a pie and gave her some Easter eggs.

It was their way of saying thanks.

"A little act of kindness goes a long way," she said.

The most challenging part isn't really the people or the time on the road, which usually isn't more than a few minutes, but the tedium. Hospital schedules are imperfect. There are delays, mechanical failures and problems brought on due to weather. Treatments can get canceled or moved back. There can be more waiting around than expected.

"But that's OK," Fuller said.

Both said they didn't become drivers because they had cancer. It was more of an introduction. Beeson volunteers through her church for several programs, including Hospice.

"I volunteer because of my faith," she said. "My church encourages us to go out and help in the community."

Fuller said, "I wanted to do something. I like being busy, but I didn't want anything to do with money." He laughed. "And as long as I'm out of the house, my wife doesn't care."

But having cancer, they say, gives them some insight into what other people are going through. They say they treat their patients with care, but like people, not an errand.

At the end of their service, they often don't hear from the people they drove to treatments anymore. Beeson is philosophical about this.

"I think it's important to remember you had a life before and beyond cancer," she said.

Once the cancer is gone, they want to get back to their lives.

It's inevitable, however. Some of the patients seeking treatment do not survive. Their names and pictures turn up in the obituary pages of the newspaper. They may get a phone call from a family member.

That's always hard.

Fuller, who spent half of his life selling insurance, remembers them. Like the clients he sold policies to over the years, he clips out their obituaries and saves them in a scrapbook to remind him of the time he spent with them.

For more information about the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery program, call 304-746-9950.

Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.