Guest Blogger Kathryn Foster, Cancer Information Specialist
Three years ago, I was working at a dead-end job where all of the employees were treated very poorly. Imagine working a 14-hour shift without a break! I was exhausted mentally and physically when I got home every night. You know it's bad when you are crying most days on your way to work because of what you know you're going to have to put up with. I decided I couldn’t take it anymore. I began searching online job websites and sent out tons of resumes to all sorts of companies. I came across the position of “Cancer Information Specialist” online and decided to apply. I was a little hesitant since it was in a call center, which didn’t seem particularly appealing to me since I had never worked in that type of environment.
However, the rest of the job description seemed very intriguing. Imagine my surprise when an HR rep from ACS called me the very next day to schedule the interview. I was hired in November 2006.
The first day of training, the other members of my training class and I had to go around the room and state why we chose to work at ACS. I’m sure you can guess what the most popular answer was--“I want to help people.” I thought, “Sure, we all do, but how helpful can we really be just talking to people over the phone? “.
I am a skeptic no longer—shortly after I began taking calls, I realized how much people truly appreciate what we do. In the beginning, I remember feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the new things to learn, and I seriously doubted that I would ever make it through the intense but imperative training for the CIS position. I remember many sleepless nights during those nine weeks!
The end result of being prepared for almost any call was definitely worth all of that hard work.Being at the other end of the ACS toll-free number (being “on the front lines” as we say) is both challenging and rewarding at the same time. It can be a lot of pressure to know that some people are making their treatment decisions based on the information that we give them.
Sometimes we get very complex cancer questions that our literature simply doesn’t address and we have to have our oncology nurses research these. Other times, we get requests for resources that are so hard to find, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. However, a lot of the calls we receive are so interesting. I like that moment when my phone starts ringing and I wonder what kind of call I will get. Even to this day, I get questions and requests that I have never heard before and probably never will again.
As CIS, we never know what will be thrown at us, but it’s exciting and keeps us on our toes.I have had some amazing feedback from several callers over the years; some of it has even brought me to tears (good tears!). I've been called a "doll", "a far away friend", and even a "guardian angel".
I’ve talked to a few people with symptoms that were of great concern but were very adamant about not seeing the doctor, most likely because they were afraid that they might receive a cancer diagnosis. We discussed certain diagnostic tests and by the end of the call, they had decided based on the information that we talked about they were going to have these tests done. At the end of a call, one woman told my supervisor not to let me go, and that I may have saved her life. I once talked with a man who had a very aggressive type of cancer but did not seem to realize how serious his diagnosis was. He was thinking about forgoing treatment because he didn’t think it was absolutely necessary. It was going to be very inconvenient for him to have radiation treatment five days a week for eight weeks, and he was concerned about the side effects. I answered a lot of his questions and, based off of that info, he decided that he would go ahead and have treatment. He called back a few days later just to tell my supervisor that I had helped explain some of the medical jargon that was confusing and overwhelming him and had helped him formulate questions to ask his doctor. He even said that he had planned to make a donation in my honor! He even became a little emotional when talking about the service he had received. How many jobs allow a person to get that kind of priceless feedback?
I know I’m not alone in getting these wonderful kind of compliments—many of my co-workers get praise from callers every day, and it is incredible to hear about. My co-workers are some of the warmest, most patient people with the biggest hearts that I’ve ever met.
It’s wonderful to work at the National Cancer Information Center and to have all of these amazing people together in one building.Whenever I meet someone new and they ask where I work and what I do, I can honestly say I’m proud to tell them. Some people grimace or get sad looks on their faces and say, “Oh…that must be really depressing.” My response? “Sure, some calls are sad, but the calls are interesting and most of the callers are incredibly sweet and grateful for what we do for them.” Almost every person I’ve ever told what I do for work has told me that their grandparent, cousin, mother, etc. currently has or has had cancer.
I'm known as the "go-to" person in my family whenever a relative has a question about cancer or needs information. I love educating people who are unfamiliar with ACS about what we do and always encourage them to call the toll-free number. One person I met whose father had just been diagnosed with cancer immediately saved our number in his cell phone when I told him about our 24/7 cancer information line! Every day that I go into work, I look at the giant ACS logo on the building and feel genuinely blessed to work for such a wonderful organization with a great mission. I wouldn’t have it any other way!
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