Fran White says senior center helped her recover from cancer and support caregiving

Fran White, a retired registered nurse, told attendees she credits a local senior center with helping her recover from breast cancer, rebuilding her strength and giving her the social support she needed while caregiving for a husband with Alzheimer’s.

White said she has lived in the area her whole life and has worked more than 40 years as a registered nurse. She described surviving breast cancer, “I went through chemo, radiation … lost my hair,” and said she is now 11 years cancer free. She added that her oncologist told her, “I don't know what you're doing, but don't stop,” a comment she cited as evidence the center’s programs have helped her health.

White said she first came to the center after being invited by fellow participant Martha Stacy. She described taking dance classes, an exercise program to address osteoporosis, and competing in senior games such as bocce and shuffleboard. “When you walk through that door, there's a comfort like your home,” she said, calling the center a place where she can be around people who care and “forget about” outside problems for a while.

She also described the center’s practical value for family caregivers. White said the center “gave me time to be a way to step away, to do what I enjoy, to get reset my mind so that I could be a better caregiver.” She told an anecdote about a conversation with her 50-year-old daughter — “so here I am 50, and I'm getting ready to go to bed, and my 79 year old mother is going out for the night” — to illustrate how the center supports an active social life even in advanced age.

In closing, White said, “I think this place has helped to continue to actually save my life,” characterizing her remarks as an endorsement of the center’s emotional and physical benefits. There was no formal action attached to her testimony recorded in the transcript.