Background of LET's HOPE Foundation

ANNUAL BALLOON EVENT

My wife, Lisa Elaine Turner, passed away from metastatic breast cancer in 2007. She was diagnosed with the disease in the spring of 2005 at age 39 while we were living in Georgia. We had the usual treatment of a pre-adjunct chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and radiation. Lisa's cancer was especially aggressive and hard to treat. We were able to experience some brief moments of hope in early 2006 thinking the disease was in remission. Unfortunately by the late spring the disease had reoccurred and in September of that year we set out to the renowned cancer clinic at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas to see if Lisa could qualify for some new promising treatments. After a couple of days of scans, testing and reviews of files and images we met with an Oncologist at MD Anderson. Sitting in her office were anxious with anticipation of good news. I clearly recall the Oncologist sitting down and saying there was nothing they could offer to help and that at best Lisa had up to two years to live. It felt as if someone had sucked all of the oxygen out of the room.

With a lot of angst and distraught we began our trip back to Georgia. First in order was to tell the news to our three children, then ages 11, 8, and 4. We chose to be truthful with our kids yet maintaining optimism and hope. Next we began discussing with family and then friends and started to try and come up with a survival plan for our family. Lisa and I both are originally from Colorado - we moved to Georgia in 1998 when I moved my business there as a part of an acquisition. We never expected to stay there for nine years but that is how it worked out. Fortunately the business is reasonably self sustainable without my daily physical presence so we decided we needed to move back to Colorado as soon as feasible to be closer to our family resources. With the cancer spreading to the brain we were racing against time.

Lisa made a visit to Colorado in the spring to set up medical care. She chose the University of Colorado Hospital Anschutz Medical Campus because she was impressed by a breast cancer specialist physician (Dr. Virginia Borgess) and also the CIM. We moved to Colorado in June at which time Lisa's health was failing quickly. We made it to Colorado in June. Lisa's health continued to slip and we began home hospice care in November. She passed away on December 14, 2007.

As Lisa's primary care giver I had the opportunity to earn some indelible impressions. I spent a lot of idle time at hospitals and infusion centers and was able to observe and learn a lot. I learned that although our cancer story was about as bad as it gets, our life story was very good. We were fortunate enough to have options of how to deal with the tangled effects of the disease to Lisa and our family. I witnessed that many people do not have these luxuries. Some show up for treatments alone, walking into the infusion center after a bus or train ride. When their day is over, they head home in the same manner, often times to take care of others (i.e. single parents) or they return to their place of work. These folks were just like Lisa - afflicted with a horrible disease and trying to fight through it to live a "normal" life. In Lisa's case she had someone to drive her to treatments, bring her water or Gatorade, make sure she had plenty of warm blankets, summons a nurse if needed, help work on paperwork for the next appointment or insurance and to make sure she got home securely with as much rest and comfort as could be made available.

In addition to not having basic support and help, others are unable to afford non-traditional medical services like the CIM offers. Often times these services are very beneficial to assist a cancer patient in making it through to the next "round" of chemotherapy or other Western medical treatments. For example, the CIM therapies of massage, acupuncture and TCM greatly assist patients in feeling less pain and nausea and boost energy and immune levels - all common ailments brought forth from Chemotherapy. As important, the CIM offers moments of hope to those in serious need of it. In our case, my wife struggled with her diagnosis and was plagued by what she called "losing her kids"... one of the places she felt comforted and at peace was the CIM. It is just plain not acceptable that someone's income level should lessen their opportunity for the hope that the CIM offers.

I set up a fund in 2008 in Lisa's memory at the Center of Integrative Medicine (CIM) at the University of Colorado Hospital Anschutz Medical Campus. The CIM has historically received donations from The Denver Pink Ribbons Fund (PRF) - historically the PRF funding has been enough for about 70% of the year's needs and the PRF funds are used to help income limited breast cancer patients receive the amazing therapies that CIM offers. My goal was to help see that the CIM had a full year of funding and no one was turned away in need. I am happy to say that the fund (with generous help from so many people) raised about $25,000. The proceeds were made available to any type of cancer patient that needs the CIM services.

My "plan" this year and through 2010 is to develop and produce series of significant fund raising events whereby people can look forward to and plan their charitable donations and other contributions to this worthy cause.

See EVENTS for details.

My motivation in all of this is as follows. On Lisa's grave I put a verse from the bible that states "All things work together for the good" Romans 8:28. Although I believe this to be true, I can openly admit that very often I cynically see no good whatsoever in a lot of very bad things. I am able to submit that eventually this statement is true... even if I can't see the good I can't doubt that someday, somehow the good will shine through. With this verse and statement in mind I don't like to rest upon it as an excuse for inaction. In fact, I feel personally responsible to participate in doing my part to produce some good in "things" where I am especially troubled... Lisa's disease and related passing are prime examples.