Speaker At Hospice Breakfast

Knows The Value Of Support

By Kaaren Valenta

Lynn Buttner spends her days bringing comfort and emotional support to those in need. A licensed clinical social worker, she knows the value of a support system like those created by The Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut.

Ms Buttner will be the guest speaker at the annual Hospice Breakfast scheduled from 8 to 9 on Tuesday, June 24, at the Fireside Inn.

“I’m not a volunteer with Hospice –– not yet anyway –– but I know the importance of emotional support when someone is going through a time of crisis,” she said. “Studies show that people who seek support have a longer life expectancy rate.”

A breast cancer survivor, Ms Buttner is a full-time volunteer, donating her services to Ann’s Place: The Home of I Can, in Danbury, where she has facilitated the Women Together support group for more than six years and at Ashlar of Newtown, where she has been a friendly visitor to many of the residents.

“The group that I facilitate at Ann’s Place is for women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer, who are going to have surgery or who have just had surgery,” Ms Buttner said. “It is a time of shock. It is wonderful for them to be in a room with others who know exactly what they are feeling, who really know because they have been there.

“It is important to set up a safety net of support before you need it, and that is what Hospice does so well,” she said. “They know what a family will need. The whole family is the client. The people at Hospice are experts at what they do.”

Ms Buttner said that when she learned she had breast cancer 22 years ago, the diagnosis was a considered a death sentence. She had a lumpectomy, and then a mastectomy several days later when the tumor turned out to be cancerous.

“The cancer wasn’t in the lymph nodes so I did not have chemotherapy,” she said. “Now that isn’t the case; chemotherapy is routinely done. I have been very fortunate that the cancer has not returned.

“It’s important to know that it’s not a death sentence anymore,” she said. “Of the maybe 200 women or more who have gone through my support group at Ann’s Place, I really only know of two deaths. We have come so far with diagnosing and treating breast cancer over the years.”

Ms Buttner said the emotional support given through organizations like Ann’s Place and Hospice is “priceless –– and it is given at no charge.”

Her time spent at Ashlar has other rewards, she said, as she has regularly visited many of the residents who spent their final years at the nursing home.

“Where else can you walk into a room and make someone smile?” she asked. “It’s a win-win situation.”

Lynn Buttner and her husband, Ronald, have lived in Newtown for approximately 20 years in a home they built on Lake Lillinonah. When their children Cammi and Randy were in college, Lynn decided to go back for a master’s degree in social work.

“I felt it was my calling,” she said. “That’s what brought me back to Fordham University in my 40s. Randy and I went off to college together. Cammi was already working on a master’s in social work at Columbia.”

Ms Buttner worked for several years at Wellspring in Bethlehem, and then began volunteering at Ann’s Place. Even a bike accident last year, when she broke her arm in five places, has failed to stop her.

“When I was asked to speak at the Hospice breakfast, I wondered why me,” she said. “But I only have to speak for a few minutes. And what better opportunity to talk about the valuable service that Hospice performs.”

The Hospice breakfast is the local chapter’s main fundraiser of the year. The chapter raises funds so that Hospice can provide in-home care and support for persons in the final phases of incurable illness. The breakfast raises about $15,000 each year for Hospice.

Janet Hovious and Marg Studley are co-chairing this year’s event and the planning committee includes Marilyn Alexander, Ellyn Gehrett, Helen Herbold, Colleen Honan, Shirley Johnson, Pat and Ken Stroud, Marie Sturdevant, Barbara Webb, and Donna Williams.

 “We want people to know that the breakfast is open to everyone in the community. There is always plenty of room for anyone who wants to attend. It’s quick, too –– you’re in at 8 and out by 9. We hope everyone will turn out for this event in support of Hospice,” said Ms Hovious.

“Table sponsors pay $75 for a table of eight meals. In lieu of paying for their meals, guests at each table leave ‘tips’ which are actually contributions to Hospice,” Mrs Hovious explained. The sponsor whose table raises the most money for Hospice is awarded a plaque.

Both a regular and a light breakfast will be served. For reservations or more information, call 270-1960 or 426-3651.