Welcome Pat Royak to the Board
Pat Royak Joins TurningPoint Board of Directors Please join us in welcoming Patricia J. Royak to the Board of Directors. (Pat is pictured right–at the 2018 Pink Affair–with TurningPoint’s Executive Director Rebecca Cowens-Alvarado.) Pat is a global executive leading iconic lifestyle brands in consumer and medical device fields, on three continents: Asia, Europe, and North America. She has been at the helm of several leading clothing and intimates brands. Pat served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of International at Maidenform Brands, Inc. She has also held posts as President at Calvin Klein® Jeans, Vice President of Global Brand Marketing for Liz Claiborne Apparel and President for Liz Claiborne Europe. Most recently, Pat served as the COO The Marena Group, a global leader in medical-grade compression, based in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Pat now resides in Atlanta with her husband Jack, and their son John Robert, a senior at Marist College. She is an avid supporter of several philanthropic organizations including the American Cancer Society and TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation Center where she has worked to raise awareness, and guide fundraising efforts that have exceeded expectations. Pat serves on the Advisory Board for the Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University and was previously a board member of the American Heart Association.
You can #MakeItPersonal
Some Tips for Participating in TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation’s #MakeItPersonal Campaign As we celebrate TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation’s 15th anniversary this fall and into 2019, we are inviting and welcoming you to tell your individual stories regarding your respective journeys with breast cancer. The ultimate goal of the #MakeItPersonal campaign during this milestone is to increase awareness for TurningPoint, both for those supporting and battling breast cancer. If this effort builds significant momentum, we will be making a difference for years to come in metro Atlanta and beyond. It is the moving, inspiring stories of our patients, staff, volunteers and supporters that do the best job of capturing the essence and uniqueness of TurningPoint. Additionally, such stories often describe the many benefits TurningPoint provides for the women and men served. We invite you to tell your story through videos, photos, and or writing and ask that you limit your videos to 1 minute 30 seconds. We would love to share your inspiring journey and how TurningPoint helped play a role in it on whatever social media platform you feel most comfortable with—be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. In doing this, we ask that you address any aspects of your journey but with specific reference to TurningPoint’s role in your journey. ∞ ∞ ∞ In responding to this query, will you please consider answering the following questions? How and why are you involved with TurningPoint? What was the thing you value most from your association with TurningPoint? What made your experience at TurningPoint unique to your journey? Can you talk about the staff and the specific help they provided you and your family? How did TurningPoint impact your physical abilities and the return to participating in activities you did prior to learning about your breast cancer diagnosis. When you tell your story via video, here are some important tips to keep in mind. Find a quiet, comfortable place to record without any distractions; minimize the potential for disruption You don’t need a script but have a pretty good idea of what you’d like to say before you record. This will make the process go faster and more smoothly. Be authentic/be yourself as we want to know how TurningPoint most impacted your journey. If people understand how TurningPoint affects a breast cancer patient or the loved one of a TurningPoint patient, it helps on multiple levels, including increasing awareness to patients, caregivers, and doctors in the entire breast cancer community. When you post by way of relevant social media, we ask that you reference the official hashtag #MakeItPersonal (note M, I and P are all capitalized to help read it more easily) and TurningPoint’s handle @TurningPointBCR Feel free to also reference other hashtags such as #breastcancer, #physicaltherapy and #cancercare Also, be sure to follow TurningPoint on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TurningPointBCR/ and share posts you see pertaining to #MakeItPersonal. Here are 9 examples of sample verbiage to use (please attach some image, video, or link to accompany this as the visual element of social media is so powerful and compelling.) * During my breast cancer journey @TurningPointBCR served an invaluable role helping me become cancer free. I will never forget the indelible impact the organization left on me and my family during the peaks and valleys of my experience. I’m forever grateful. #MakeItPersonal * I didn’t know what steps to take following my treatment plan for breast cancer three years ago. Fortunately, I came across @TurningPointBCR & its compassionate staff and will never forget the tears, smiles, screams and laughs that helped in my recovery. #MakeItPersonal * I will always consider my time as a patient with @TurningPointBCR as the most important part of journey beating breast cancer. Without the love and support of their amazing staff and fellow patients, I don’t know that I would have found the strength to survive. #MakeItPersonal * I always think about @TurningPointBCR for the game-changing support helping me in my battle against breast cancer. I would not be here today without TP’s extraordinary staff helping me with physical and massage therapy. #MakeItPersonal * It wasn’t until I went to @TurningPointBCR where I regained strength and was able to lift my ## year old child again. I will remember the real warmth and support every member of the staff showed toward me and my family. I wouldn’t be here today without it! #MakeItPersonal * For anyone battling breast cancer you should learn about @TurningPointBCR. It’s a unique nonprofit in metro Atlanta focused on survivorship, helping one with breast cancer feel better faster and fully return to engage in activities enjoyed before the bc diagnosis. #MakeItPersonal * @TurningPointBCR supports women and men of all backgrounds on the way to a full recovery, providing services such as physical & massage therapy. #MakeItPersonal * What stands out the most about my experience with breast cancer is the time I spent @TurningPointBCR. The organization helped me feel better mentally, physically and psychologically and brought me back to my family. Everyone with breast cancer needs to know about this hidden gem. #MakeItPersonal * If I didn’t learn about @TurningPointBCR while battling breast cancer, I don’t know that I’d be here as a survivor today. The nonprofit’s genuine and skilled staff brought me back to being myself again for my family and friends. And now I have a new lease on life! #MakeItPersonal Thank you so much in advance for your support and help boosting the critical work and mission of TurningPoint!
Patient Perspective: Vivian Diaz Espinosa
Words from Super Woman…. “You have cancer.” Those are three of the most frightening words anyone can hear. Me? What? No…I don’t get sick. I am Super Woman, I take care of everyone. My kids are so young, 10 and twin 6 year-olds. What if it spreads? After lots of MRI’s, scans and biopsies on my right breast, in addition to those on my left breast where the tumor was originally found, the right breast cleared. OK, good! On April 28, 2014, I underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. The results of the pathology test showed 2 areas of cancer in the left breast and one in the right breast too! What can I say, I am a bit of an over-achiever. Thank God I stuck to my guns and had a double mastectomy, despite the fact that the variety of breast cancers I had were all Stage I and with very good prognoses. A few months after my surgery, I was referred by my doctor to TurningPoint for physical therapy. I had heard many good things about TurningPoint from my cousin, who had breast cancer a few years before, but it wasn’t until I experienced it for myself that I realized TurningPoint is more than just physical therapy; it’s mind, body and soul therapy, https://neurofitnessfoundation.org/xanax-alprazolam/. You meet and talk to many women with various forms of breast cancer–women who are patients and also women who work there. They get your pain. They understand your fears, and were able to explain so much to me, because many of them have been there. At one point I was feeling guilty… I felt guilty that my cancer was not as bad as others, yet I felt scared, and lost. What right did I have to feel like that? My physical therapist noticed that I was a little down, and asked what was wrong. My mouth betrayed me, and told her everything. She very firmly and lovingly told me “Don’t minimize your cancer. You have every right to feel scared and lost; everyone’s cancer journey is different, but just as scary.” I will never forget her words. TurningPoint did not just provide physical therapy, but a safe haven where I could share my feelings, ask all my crazy questions without any judgment, and learn how my body was healing. I am grateful for all the support these ladies have given me during that very vulnerable time. There really aren’t enough words to express how lucky I am to have found a new family at TurningPoint where even a super woman like me can feel totally comfortable leaving her cape at the door.
May Patient Perspective
Lynn Stoudt It was still a very surreal moment when I was told that I had breast cancer, despite having multiple biopsies over the past 20 years. The next 6 weeks I was overwhelmed with appointments, procedures and decisions about my treatment plan and surgeon while still trying to function at work and home. I was incredibly fortunate to have family, friends, neighbors and colleagues that supported me in so many ways – meals, calls, cards, surprise packages, flowers, and visits. My daughter from San Francisco flew home to help. Among my siblings, I have a set of younger twin sisters who really stepped up with a game plan to give me something to look forward to upon completion of every stage of the process, including trips to the beach and Disneyland. Post-surgery, I had a lot of difficulty with range of motion and pain. While I had excellent treatment and care from my surgeon and health care providers, this did not seem to be a focus, and I assumed it was the “new normal”. At my last follow up, I expressed frustration with this to my surgeon, and he referred me for Physical Therapy. Having had PT for frozen shoulders before, I was skeptical as I was already trying some of those exercises without success – but my sister who is a Physical Therapist in Alabama suggested researching PT specialties – and I was incredibly fortunate to find TurningPoint. I sent her the link along with a couple of others that were closer to home, and she was very impressed with TurningPoint’s experience and focus and insisted this was the place to be! I am so grateful for the treatment and encouragement I have received from everyone at TurningPoint, but especially my PT team of Anita and Lauren. They always know exactly what to do to keep me progressing along. Now, instead of constant pain, I have infrequent pain, and I know what stretches to perform to get fast improvement. My range of motion is so much better that I no longer feel limited in daily activities. I actually feel stronger now than before I was diagnosed because I am actively focused on stretching and strengthening. I am able to enjoy life more because I have more energy. With the motivation and preparation of my TurningPoint team and my athletic and competitive (unlike me) twin sisters, I completed a 5K in January. My sisters’ first 15K of 2015 was the Hot Chocolate Race in Atlanta – given that I love chocolate, and the reward at the end of the race is a mug of hot chocolate, and a bowl of chocolate fondue with various items to dip in it – I figured what better event for me to try to participate in, and signed up for the 5K. We had a lot of fun preparing for the event and I was able to stay on the required pace of 15 minute miles – and in fact was by no means the last one to finish! I also took my first yoga class recently and am looking forward to practicing weekly! Through the motivation and success of my TurningPoint treatments, I am now enjoying my work-life balance by adding new activities to my schedule. Coming to TurningPoint has literally been a life changer for me!
