A SPOT OF TEA JUST THE THING FOR PATIENTS.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

For a few hours every Friday afternoon, fear and anxiety take a back seat to the social graces over at USC/Norris Cancer Hospital in Los Angeles.

Volunteers Ruth Dunn and Jane Morita go room to room on the third and fourth floors, handing out personally printed invitations to a tea party.

Cancer patients who seldom leave these rooms except for chemotherapy treatments are asked to please join them for a spot of tea in the visitor's lounge. All family members are welcome.

There's fine china, linen tablecloths, teapots, fresh flowers, cookies, soothing music, and some great conversation waiting for them.

All they have to do is get out of bed and walk down the hallway. And they do, many with their IV poles in tow, every Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.

``We wanted to give the patients an escape, a chance to get out of their rooms for a change of scenery and environment,'' said Marta Shand, food nutrition director at the hospital, who started the afternoon teas last year.

``The first few times we didn't know what to expect,'' she said. ``We were hoping maybe one or two patients would join us. We were shocked when we filled the room.

``Pretty soon, a lot of the doctors and nurses were starting to come around wanting to know what was going on?''

What was going on was this: Cancer patients who lived with fear and anxiety all week long were sick and tired of it. They were more than ready for an invitation to get out of their rooms to meet and talk to each other over a spot of tea in the visitor's lounge.

Like human beings, not numbers.

``It's so nice to get out of that room and come to a happy place like this,'' said Martha Gonzalez of Sylmar, who recently underwent an operation to remove a tumor.

She sat in a comfortable chair in the visitor's lounge Friday afternoon, sipping tea from fine china and sharing a cookie with her mother, Elisa Flores.

For the first time in a long time, the women weren't talking about cancer. They were talking about kids, family and the future, over a spot of tea.

``The whole idea of these teas is to desterilize the atmosphere of a hospital,'' said Dr. Stuart Boyd, chief of staff at USC/Norris Cancer Hospital.

``So much of cancer treatment is mental as well as physical. We try to give all our patients a sense of well-being as they go through their treatment - make them feel like a person, not a number.''

What better way to start than with a personal invitation to join the staff for a spot of tea on Friday afternoons?

``My husband, George, has been here three times in the past for treatments, and this is the first time they've had these teas,'' said Alma Telford of La Crescenta.

``It's a wonderful idea, a chance for me to talk to other spouses in a relaxed atmosphere. We've had nothing but the best care here.''

It doesn't cost a lot, these afternoon teas. The volunteers at the hospital foot most of the bill for the tea and cookies.

``When you pour someone a cup of tea, and replace their pain with a smile, it makes you feel pretty wonderful,'' says 94-year-old volunteer Ruth Dunn, who makes lavender sachets for each patient attending the teas. The sachets go back to their rooms. to make those areas more cozy and warm.

There really isn't any reason more hospitals couldn't do this, nutritionist Shand says.

``I can see it at children's hospitals, or any hospital, for that matter,'' she says. ``Patients need an escape, a change of scenery, if only for a few hours.''

Invite them to tea. They'll come.

Dennis McCarthy, [phone]

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Patient Martha Gonzalez, right, enjoys a cookie at an afternoon tea party at the USC Norris Cancer Center, as her mother, Elisa Flores, watches.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer