The most sought-after trend at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center is not a Labubu or a Starbucks teddy bear cup; it’s a handcrafted pin made with paper and a lot of heart.
The pins evolved from cancer patient Jan Winchester’s need to do something to keep busy while undergoing chemotherapy treatments at Dartmouth Cancer Center, and wanting to bring a smile to the nervous patients who were facing cancer as she had. Her chemo appointments may be over, but she and her partner, Robert “Pep” Pepin, return often to hand out pins and handmade notepads to patients and staff alike.
“She leaves bread crumbs of joy,” says gynecologic oncologist Dr. Ilana Cass, MD, who oversaw Winchester’s cancer treatments. “She's got little pixie dust that you can follow and see ‘where's Jan been today?’ because you just follow the pins. I love that I smile every time I see someone wearing her pins, because I know where they came from.”
Winchester was supposed to have those treatments done closer to her home in Laconia, but she didn’t want to go anywhere else.
“Dr. Cass had done my surgery, and we just fell in love with her,” she says. “She’s so kind, so sweet, and she just took our hearts.”
Winchester couldn’t say enough about all the DHMC staff, including pharmacist Samuel Breiner, PharmD, who made sure that her chemo cocktail never made her feel sick. “I didn't fear the cancer,” Winchester says. “I feared the getting sick.”
As she neared the end of her cancer treatments, she told Pepin she didn’t want to ring the bell – not because she wasn’t happy to be cancer-free but because she didn’t want to stop visiting the people who saved her from stage four cancer. On the second Tuesday of the month, provided travel conditions are suitable, she and Pepin return to Dartmouth sometimes as early as 6 a.m. to make the rounds.
“We love all the staff,” she says. “They look forward to seeing us, and we look forward to seeing them.”
The thoughtful trinkets are a sought-after collectible, with monthly limited-edition batches ranging from 80 to 200 pins handcrafted by Winchester from die-cut cardstock. There’s a staff member in the cafeteria who brings each month’s pin to his wife, and another employee in Security who gets enough for the women in the operating room, since Winchester does not have access.
“On my desk in the cancer center, I have a whole collection of all her pins every time she comes to see me,” Cass says. “It runs the gamut of seasons and themes. People walk away wearing that little memory of Dartmouth when they get into their cars and go back to their communities. I mean, how magical is that? She just makes it this beautiful little souvenir of being cared for.”
Maybe you will cross paths with Jan Winchester, spreading the gift of joy through her treasured pins.