{"id":68468,"date":"2023-02-13T15:00:03","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T22:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=68468"},"modified":"2023-02-13T15:00:04","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T22:00:04","slug":"putting-kindness-first-as-she-copes-with-lung-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/putting-kindness-first-as-she-copes-with-lung-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting kindness first as she copes with lung cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"Cancer
Cancer patient, Melissa Turner, has brought treats to health care heroes every couple of weeks for more than two years. As Turner has coped with Stage IV lung cancer, she has focused on hope and kindness. She also got to fulfill a dream and travel with her husband, Jim, to Africa. Photo courtesy of Melissa Turner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unimaginable sorrow in Melissa Turner\u2019s life led her to be unimaginably kind to health care heroes.<\/p>\n

Melissa has been coping with Stage IV lung cancer since 2018.<\/p>\n

By chance, at a fundraising event just before the pandemic began, Melissa met Dr. Marc Moss<\/a>, a pulmonologist and critical care doctor at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Moss and his colleagues have worked on the front lines of the pandemic. They tend to the sickest patients who need care in special COVID-19 Intensive Care Units (ICUs).<\/p>\n

In December 2020, Melissa reached out to Moss to see how she could lift his team\u2019s spirits and say thank you for their heroic efforts.<\/p>\n

Melissa offered to bring treats to Moss and the ICU team. She also started bringing special cookies, breads, candies and kind notes to her cancer team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to say thanks to the ICU team and to my lung cancer team, who were keeping me alive,\u201d Melissa said.<\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, Melissa\u2019s sister was admitted to an ICU in Los Angeles for COVID-19 and later passed away from the virus in January 2021. She was just 61.<\/p>\n

Melissa\u2019s kindness to health care heroes in Colorado became even more poignant after the tragic loss of her sister. While the California team could not save her sister, who also had Addison\u2019s disease, nurses and doctors spent hours talking to Melissa and put the phone to her sister\u2019s ear so she could hear her voice. Melissa felt all the more motivated to keep the treats coming. And the UCHealth doctors and nurses were in awe of the kindness that sprang from both a lung cancer journey and personal loss.<\/p>\n

Now, Melissa has been bringing goodies and kind notes to UCHealth teams every two to three weeks for more than two years whenever she comes for treatments at the University of Colorado Cancer Center<\/a> on the Anschutz Medical Campus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During a recent infusion appointment, Melissa\u2019s care team decided to turn the tables and do something kind for her.<\/p>\n

So, they organized a tea party.<\/p>\n

\"Melissa
Barbara Wenger, left, and Traci Priebe, right, helped throw a tea party for Melissa Turner, center, who has been living with lung cancer since diagnosed in 2018. Photo by Katie McCrimmon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before the pandemic, Melissa often brought friends and shared tea with them during her infusion appointments.<\/p>\n

The gatherings had to stop because of visitor restrictions.<\/p>\n

Even so, no matter how poorly Melissa has felt, she has continued to bring treats.<\/p>\n

When Melissa arrived for an infusion appointment in early December of last year, she walked into a small treatment room and was stunned to find a group of nurses and doctors who created a celebration for her.<\/p>\n

They decorated the room. A comfy blanket and a backpack full of goodies sat on the hospital bed. A cheery tray of tea wrapped in spiffy yellow boxes greeted her.<\/p>\n

Treats lifted the spirits of weary health care workers <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The nurses and doctors who have received Melissa\u2019s gifts all have been deeply touched.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe treats are a blessing that lifts spirits and keeps people going,\u201d said Olivia Thornton, a nurse manager who used to head COVID-19 ICUs at University of Colorado Hospital and now oversees UCHealth\u2019s virtual health center.<\/p>\n

Moss connected Melissa with Thornton to receive the treats when he wasn\u2019t available.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Thornton and coworkers have been awestruck that Melissa is dealing with her own health challenges and a family tragedy, yet still takes time to show her appreciation for ICU staffers she had never met.<\/p>\n

And she didn\u2019t just bring the treats once or twice. She\u2019s kept the goodies coming for more than two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the pandemic went on, things got harder for those working at the bedside,\u201d Thornton said.<\/p>\n

Yet, every couple of weeks, treats from Melissa would arrive and hospital workers felt the love, Thornton said.<\/p>\n

\"Olivia
Olivia Thornton, left, and Dr. Marc Moss, right, wanted to thank cancer patient Melissa Turner, center, who has been bringing treats to hospital heroes every two to three weeks for more than two years. So, they threw her a tea party. Photo by Katie McCrimmon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tea party gratitude<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When Melissa walked in to find a surprise tea party, she was shocked and felt like a VIP.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou took my breath away in a good way,\u201d she told a room full of caregivers at the cancer center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was having a hard time. I was feeling low-energy today, and the thought of doing an infusion again was tough. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the team threw the party for Melissa, she, of course, returned for her next infusion treatment with more extra-special treats.<\/p>\n

Back in September, Melissa had taken a trip to Boston. She wanted to bring the medical providers salt water taffy, but it was out of season. Who knew? So instead, she found fun, red gummy lobsters. They were such a hit with ICU nurses that Melissa called the specialty grocery store in Massachusetts where she had found the candy crustaceans. She asked if they could ship her more for the UCHealth team, and they obliged.<\/p>\n

She also has a friend who has been baking bread to support the Ukrainian people. That, too, has been popular, so Melissa has continued bringing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just fun to be creative and bring back treats from wherever I go,\u201d Melissa said.<\/p>\n

\"Melissa
Melissa Turner loves being creative. When she travels, she looks for fun treats to bring to hospital heroes. She recently brought fun gummy lobsters from Massachusetts and special bread a friend makes to support Ukrainian people. Photo by Traci Priebe for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She and her husband, Jim Turner, also got to celebrate a special family milestone recently. Their two daughters both were pregnant at the same time and had their babies within seven hours of one other days before Christmas. In addition to their 2-year-old grandson, Sam, Melissa and Jim now have a new granddaughter, Rose, and a grandson, Max.<\/p>\n

The joy of being grandparents again reminded Melissa that even amidst tragedy, life delivers beautiful moments.<\/p>\n

A terrible diagnosis of lung cancer; a wonderful team and support group<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Melissa first learned that she had lung cancer back in 2018. She had never smoked, but still faced a frightening prognosis since her cancer already had spread.<\/p>\n

A cousin of Melissa\u2019s in Washington, D.C. put her in touch with an endocrinologist who recommended a Colorado lung cancer expert, Dr. Ross Camidge<\/a>. At the time, Melissa was getting care elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Camidge\u2019s team reached out almost immediately. Melissa nearly skipped returning the call.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was ignoring him,\u201d Melissa said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Little did she know that Camidge is one of the top lung cancer experts in the world and that innovations in cancer care and treatments have dramatically prolonged life for people like Melissa.<\/p>\n

Finally, she decided to see Camidge for what she thought would be a quick, 15-minute second opinion. Instead, she spent hours with Camidge, who recommended a clinical trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m still alive,\u201d Melissa said.<\/p>\n

Staying alive to bring kindness to others, visit Africa and welcome new grandbabies<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Melissa
Melissa Turner has been bringing treats to hospital heroes every couple of weeks for more than two years. Here, she poses with her husband, Jim, during a safari in Africa. Photo courtesy of Melissa Turner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Camidge and his team have tried to help Melissa stay one step ahead of her cancer. (She is also a breast cancer survivor.) The clinical trial drugs, which included one immunotherapy medication and two chemotherapy drugs, worked for her. But it wasn\u2019t working for everyone on the trial, so the drug company canceled the trial. Camidge duplicated the therapies for Melissa, and has continued to modify her treatments over the years.<\/p>\n

The time she has gained has allowed Melissa and her husband to fulfill big dreams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to go to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Tanzania in April of 2019. We timed the trip around my treatments. Going there was a dream of mine since I was really little,\u201d Melissa said.<\/p>\n

Becoming grandparents has brought great joy too.<\/p>\n

Jim Turner said his wife has a gift of bringing joy wherever she goes.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s amazingly positive with everyone we meet. She\u2019s got a ton of great friends. We\u2019ve been married going on 39 years,\u201d Jim said.<\/p>\n

Facing health challenges has been difficult, of course, but lung cancer also clarifies the meaning of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not choose to be here,\u201d Melissa says of enduring chemotherapy infusions.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, I would choose to be here,\u201d she says, gesturing to a team of health care workers who all appreciate her deeply.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe reminds us why we went into health care,\u201d said Traci Priebe, an ICU nurse who has loved Melissa\u2019s treats and helped throw the tea party.<\/p>\n

Said Priebe to Melissa: \u201cBy being the person you are, through your kindness and compassion, you make us better health care providers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unimaginable sorrow in Melissa Turner\u2019s life led her to be unimaginably kind to health care heroes. Melissa has been coping with Stage IV lung cancer since 2018. By chance, at a fundraising event just before the pandemic began, Melissa met Dr. Marc Moss, a pulmonologist and critical care doctor at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2123,"featured_media":68472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[28,267,3357,6836,1727],"class_list":["post-68468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-cancer-care-oncology","tag-intensive-care-unit","tag-lung-and-respiratory-care-pulmonology","tag-lung-and-thoracic-cancer","tag-lung-cancer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPutting kindness first as she copes with lung cancer - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While coping with lung cancer and a sister's death from COVID, Melissa Turner found comfort in kindness. 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Photo courtesy of Melissa Turner."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/putting-kindness-first-as-she-copes-with-lung-cancer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Putting kindness first as she copes with lung cancer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","name":"UCHealth Today","description":"UCHealth Today","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization","name":"UCHealth","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"UCHealth"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/d43cd81d6f8e440a3e496f8a012c68e9","name":"Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, UCHealth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4b3e7f171d65a6d6ea64ec84c6b217b969af09b9439c593a692bbcccd793724?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4b3e7f171d65a6d6ea64ec84c6b217b969af09b9439c593a692bbcccd793724?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4b3e7f171d65a6d6ea64ec84c6b217b969af09b9439c593a692bbcccd793724?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, UCHealth"},"description":"Katie Kerwin McCrimmon is a proud Coloradan. She attended Colorado College thanks to a merit scholarship from the Boettcher Foundation and worked as a park ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park during summers in college. Katie is a dedicated storyteller who loves getting to know UCHealth patients and providers and sharing their inspiring stories. Katie spent years working as an award-winning journalist at the Rocky Mountain News and at an online health policy news site before joining UCHealth in 2017. 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