Sitting in a chair receiving chemotherapy infusions is not a scenario that typically elicits a lot of smiles. And, working in a place named after a deadly disease could make it tough to keep a brave face.
But a simple craft project at the Mercy Hospital Cancer Center in Crystal City has allowed both patients and staff to bring a bit of fun into what otherwise can be a dreary process.
Entering the building, patrons and workers alike pass by “Streams of Hope,” a meandering garden path strewn with hand-painted rocks. Some offer just a rudimentary splash of color; some hold words of inspiration or comfort; and some feature highly detailed scenes. All are put there for a purpose: Anyone who feels moved by the rocks or their messages is encouraged to take one when they leave. And anyone who feels moved to do so is welcome to leave rocks of their own design.
“I tell patients, the hardest thing you do is walk in, because you know we’re going to make you feel icky,” said infusion nurse Melanie Khoury. “It’s good for them to see those messages as they walk in.”
A growing trend
The rock garden got its start in late 2022, when Christine “Chris” Mohart left a few rocks in a mulched flower bed.
Mohart, 55, of Festus is a surgical first assistant in the operating room at Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City.
“Right after Covid, I wanted to do something to just kind of bring a smile to people’s faces,” she said. “I had read on Facebook about the Jeffco Rocks group taking rocks to Siteman (Cancer Center) on Butler Hill Road. So I got permission to place a few here at our center and had a co-worker make a small sign encouraging people to take one or leave one.”
As the idea took hold, more people began leaving and taking rocks, with many posting their finds and contributions online.
A variety of painted rocks can be found in the garden at the front entrance to the Mercy Hospital Cancer Center.
Charge nurse April Cayou, 44, of De Soto said she and some of the staff began painting rocks for the garden themselves.
“We started it as kind of a team-building thing,” she said. “Last year we had our Christmas party, with food and stuff, and then we all stayed after and painted holiday rocks. Everyone who does it likes it. Mercy redid the garden into what it is now in June.”
Ryan Fonner, nurse manager of the infusion department, said the painted rocks can help morale, for those who make them and for those who receive them.
“It gives anybody contributing a creative outlet,” he said. “And it can help put a positive spin on coming here.”
Cayou enlisted the help of her mother-in-law, Cindy Politte of Herculaneum, and of her two daughters, Brooke, 19, and Ciara, 21.
“One of my cousins, Hannah Rice, who’s a teacher at Hillsboro (R-3), does some, too,” Cayou said. “Anybody in the community is welcome to drop off rocks they’ve painted, as long as they are waterproof.”
The project began to snowball.
“April and I got together and did a few (rocks), but they were just sort of simple,” Politte said.
Then she mentioned it to her sister-in-law, Janice Politte Mahew.
“I was telling Janice about it, and she just went crazy with it,” Politte said. “She’s done something like 200 already, and they look so professional. I told her, ‘These are almost too pretty to put on the ground.’”
A great retirement project
Mahew, 72, is a Pevely native who now lives in Pensacola, Fla., with her husband, retired pharmacist and Crystal City native Dick Mahew. She recently retired from a 32-year career in real estate.
“We used to joke that when I retired, I’d paint seashells on the beach,” she said. “Who knew I’d be painting rocks instead?”
Mahew ran into a surprising difficulty, keeping a supply of rocks.
“Finding actual rocks here is a nightmare! There’s sand and coral and shells, and that’s it,” she said. “Neighbors have been very kind and let me scout their rock gardens. I got some from the front yard of one of the Blue Angels pilots.”
Janice Politte Mayhew puts finishing touches on painted rocks in her Pensacola home.
Mahew said she’s able to replenish her supply when she gets home to Jefferson County a couple of times a year, and when family members visit her and bring some along.
She said she plans to continue the hobby as long as there’s a need.
“I’ll always do art of some kind. I just do it to relax,” she said. “With the rocks, I just hope I can put a smile on someone’s face. I sit and doodle and do simple designs. Sometimes people just need a little something quirky.”
From fear to fun
Jan Bass, 70, of De Soto is a patient at the center and is being treated for Stage 4 small-cell lung cancer, diagnosed in February. Her daughter-in-law, Amee DiLorenzo, takes her to every treatment, and the two often work on rock painting during infusion sessions.
Bass was already a rock painter before her diagnosis.
“My little dog and I walk around town and the parks and pick up rocks,” she said. “I take them home and paint them; then when we walk again, I leave them for people to find. I’ve been doing that for a while now.”
Bass said she had trouble finding her way after her diagnosis.
“My attitude was pretty much gloom and doom at first. I put off even starting this treatment for three months,” she said. “But then, before I even got in the building, I saw the rock garden. I thought it was a sign.”
DiLorenzo said Bass’ treatments have gone better than expected.
“She came in expecting the worst. But they have treated her so well here, and it’s been so uplifting. We have ended up having fun,” she said.
DiLorenzo said she bought a 40-pound bag of rocks at Home Depot, and the two gathered craft supplies to bring with them to Bass’ thrice-weekly chemo infusion sessions. Staff and other patients sometimes join in, and the rocks are placed in the garden alongside the rest.
“It’s cool to see the designs people come up with,” DiLorenzo said.
Cayou said the painted rocks are medicine, but not the pharmaceutical kind they mostly dispense.
“The mental part of treatment is just as important as the physical, if not more sometimes,” she said. “It’s stress relieving, for sure.”
The staff replenishes the rock garden several times a week, depending on how busy the center is.
“We typically have about 200 patients through here a day, about 45 for infusions,” Cayou said. “It gives patients something to look forward to. We have one lady who takes one every treatment. She puts them in her garden at home.”
Anonymous donations are common.
“We also have people just drop them off and we don’t even know it,” she said. “Just today, someone left two big ones out there.”
When Bass finishes her round of treatments in a few weeks, she plans to donate any remaining painting supplies to the center so other patients may continue the work. Both she and her daughter-in-law think the rocks help promote awareness of cancer treatments, as well as lift people’s spirits.
“This touches people’s souls,” she said.
Khoury said when she’s at work, she plans her route so she deliberately passes the rock garden each day.
“I always go out the front door when I leave,” she said. “Sometimes I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, it was a rough day.’ Then I see the rocks and I think, ‘But there’s always another day, another hope.’”