As Gaslowitz Frankel continues our charitable giving program to celebrate the firm’s 25th anniversary, firm administrator Cheryl Gaslowitz has chosen The Healing Arts Program at the Winship Cancer Institute for her donation.
When I asked Cheryl to discuss the reasons behind choosing her non-profit, she shared this story.
The Big C. Everyone dreads the prospect of sitting across from their doctor and hearing they may have Cancer. For nearly 5 years, the doctors continually told my mother that the softball size tumor growing in the lining of her brain (called a Meningioma) was not cancerous and would not become cancerous. “Meningiomas grow very slowly,” they said. “They never spread and they remain benign in 99% of cases.” Naturally, we were all relieved.
My brother and I assumed the first major brain surgery would remove the tumor and mom would go back to enjoying her grandchildren and spending time doing what she loved most – creating beautiful art quilts.
Even after her third brain surgery to remove more and more of the fast-growing tumor that eventually took the sight in her right eye, the doctors were hesitant to call it cancer.
Despite the doctors’ hesitancy to call it what it clearly was, my mother found herself undergoing painful radiation treatments and toxic rounds of chemotherapy in the sterile environment that hospitals are known for. At a time when she was most stressed and ill at ease, the hospital environment made no effort to relieve her discomfort or distress. After 5 years, despite the lack of an official cancer diagnosis, the tumor was winning.
Eventually, with little hope left, we found a wonderful doctor at The Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University who started my mother on a less toxic cocktail of chemotherapy, improving the quality of her life and allowing her to fully embrace the love and comfort of her family before her ultimate passing.
If anyone has ever supported a loved one during cancer treatments, they know that there are endless trips to doctors’ offices, hospitals, and treatment centers. Most of these environments are drab, sterile rooms with industrial paint and harsh bright lights. Nothing about these rooms exudes calm or comfort to the patient or their family. As someone who has sat in these rooms with my mother for hours at a time, I can attest to how depressing these environments can be.
But now, The Winship Cancer Institute is trying to change that. As part of its dedication to “translating scientific research into exceptional care for patients in an environment that is both comfortable and caring,” The Winship Cancer Institute has created the Healing Arts Program, where it hopes to create a therapeutic atmosphere for its patients and their families by displaying artwork inspired by natural environments to reduce stress and promote healing and recovery. Charitable gifts to the program will allow the program to acquire art that “pleases the eye, engages the mind, and soothes the soul.”
As an artist, I know my mother would have appreciated being able to look at, enjoy, and take comfort in beautiful artwork as she was fighting her illness. I am pleased to be able to choose The Healing Arts Program as a recipient of one of Gaslowitz Frankel’s 25th Anniversary gifts, which will allow the program to purchase a beautiful piece of art, dedicated to my mother, and display it where I hope it will benefit others as they face The Big C, whether the doctors call it that or not.
To learn more about The Winship Cancer Institute and its Healing Arts Program, you can visit their Website.
About the Charitable Giving Project
To mark the firm’s 25th anniversary, Gaslowitz Frankel has decided to give back to the community that has been instrumental in our growth. Our attorneys and staff will choose 25 charities to be the beneficiaries of $500 contributions throughout 2014 calendar year.
To learn more about our charitable giving project and the firm of Gaslowitz Frankel LLC, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
