BILLINGS — For patients just finding out they have cancer, emotional support in any form is necessary, such as family, friends, or even the blankets they use for warmth while receiving treatment.
Newly diagnosed cancer patients at Billings Clinic receive a quilt to use while getting infusions, but hand-made items can go a long way.
That's why 16-year-old Brooklyn Kuhr and her 4-H teammates hand-stitch quilts. On Friday, Kuhr donated six, one-of-a-kind, quilts to the cancer infusion center at Billings Clinic.
Learn the emotional importance of a hand-made quilt in the video below:
According to Jessy Catt, an infusion registered nurse at Billings Clinic, hand-stitched quilts provide patients warmth, support, and security, as they enter into a new, and sometimes scary, life chapter.
"I see patients hold their quilt, and finger the stitching, and just really connect to it," Catt said Friday. "They bring 'em back for treatment over and over again. They pass them down to their families in the harder situations where (the patient) moves on."
Catt says before patients begin their first infusion treatment, they will receive a quilt, which often corresponds with the patient's identity and interests.
"You've just gotten this diagnosis that is really terrifying and we're going to give you medication that is going to help you, but will also make you feel not well," she said. "You can make that kind of individual quilt and bring it in, and we will find a patient that it makes sense for."
According to Catt, some weeks the clinic receives up to ten new cancer patients, and some weeks there's only one new cancer patient. However, they all receive a unique quilt. The quilts that the Billings Clinic gives to patients are often hand-stitched and donated from the community.
After Senior High School student Brooklyn Kuhr watched her own family experience cancer treatment, Kuhr said she wanted to help provide a form of emotional therapy to newly diagnosed cancer patients.
"(In) 2023, my grandpa, Chuck, passed away because of cancer," she said. "It's hard to see 'em go through it, but I'm very thankful that the treatment has helped the people it has helped."
For the past year, Kuhr, her family, and other Senior High School 4-H students have been working on unique, gender-inclusive, quilts for cancer patients at Billings Clinic.
"It gives me something to be proud of. Like, I mean 4-H is something you can be involved in, but it depends on how much effort you put in," Kuhr said.
Kuhr and the 4-H students have stitched about 15 quilts since starting the project. Each quilt has a tag that says, "Quilted by Yellowstone County 4-H," and a velour inner lining to make the patient more comfortable. Each quilt takes about four to five days to make.
"We've had a few different people make quilts that have had the soft inner lining and patients really love it," Catt said.
According to Kuhr, added up, the materials to make all 15 quilts totals about $600. The cost for the quilts was covered by donations and grants, including $200 from the Yellowstone County 4-H Council and $200 in community donations.
"All of these fabrics are genuine fabrics I would go out and buy... for myself," said Kuhr.
Kuhr hopes the new cancer patients can have some form of emotional support through the quilts, as they enter into a new life journey.
"I want them to feel like they have something... going through treatment, and you know it's just like a gift, like I hope you get through this," she said Friday.
"I was amazed by how beautiful these quilts were," said Catt.
