I am so thankful for my surgeon's nurse who recommended TurningPoint. My team of therapists kept me going through my chemo and surgeries. I felt like they were the ones who helped me with suggestions from diet to mental health. Lauren was the one who told me to drink grapefruit juice when I was getting dehydrated because NOTHING tasted good. Everyone at TurningPoint made me feel better about myself.
Where do I begin? TurningPoint IS a game changer as someone else stated. The impact this organization has on it's patients and on the staff is truly one-of-a-kind. I started my journey with TurningPoint in 2010 working as an administrator and helping with translation services. Working here opened my eyes to many unspoken and unknowns about breast cancer. This job has changed my outlook on life and on the reality of this ugly disease. In 2013 I took a break from work, but stayed as a volunteer for the next 4 years, helping out wherever and however I was needed. Let's be real, we only do this when we believe in it. I believe in TurningPoint. I came back as a part-time employee in 2017 and have enjoyed every minute of it. I have a new role as Development Assistant and yet again have had my eyes opened even more to the amazing work being done by TurningPoint and continue to be inspired by our patients. Don't take my word for it: Visit our website, read our patient perspectives, come take a tour. You too will be inspired.
When I was 7 years old, standing bedside next to my dying mother, I muttered a one final 'I love you" just a few hours before she passed away. She had battled breast cancer for the better part of five years. It was a poignant childhood moment I will never forget. I told myself right then and there I was going to do something to in her memory and support the courageous fight millions of women have participated in since that time. Fast forward more than 30 years later, I found an organization in Atlanta doing incredibly impactful work in the world of breast cancer. It had nothing to do with research or prevention, two critical areas that arguably receive the most awareness when it comes to breast cancer.
TurningPoint Breast Cancer rehabilitation is the only non-profit in America that improves the quality of life for women with breast cancer by providing, promoting and advocating specialized and evidence-based rehabilitation in their journey to feeling better faster and ultimately becoming cancer free. TurningPoint provides a myriad of essential services such as physical therapy, massage therapy, counseling, exercise classes and education programs (for patients and healthcare providers). The collaboration of clinical services provides each woman with hope, support, and education in an atmosphere of wellness. I became familiar with TurningPoint through a friend of mine involved with another non-profit. It was due to my professional background that she asked if I'd be interested in helping TurningPoint get the word out regarding the recent publication of a supplement to the American Cancer Society's Journal Cancer, addressing the importance of exercise and rehabilitation for all women battling breast cancer.
I got more involved with TurningPoint shortly after that point by helping them on more regular basis with communications strategy, and I began serving on their auction committee, finding items for its signature fundraiser the Pink Affair. This fall I was named to the Board.
I've been fortunate to get to know women at TurningPoint whose lives had drastically changed as a result of visiting their clinic and fully leveraging their services. There were memorable stories of a woman who couldn't lift her young child, to a woman who was an avid tennis player outside her work but could no longer play. Those two lives were changed considerably in the aftermath of becoming TurningPoint patients. They were both able to resume those activities that being diagnosed with breast cancer, were second nature.
For more than 13 years TurningPoint has supported more than 3,500 women through the Southeast. One of the most shocking statistics I learned was the fact less than 10 percent of all women diagnosed with breast cancer are recommended by their doctors to incorporate exercise and rehabilitation into their treatments plans. If more only women knew about the game-changing impact participating in related activities would have on their lives, that number would see remarkable growth. Nearly 40 percent of all women who visit TurningPoint's clinic receive some kind of financial assistance, and no woman is ever turned away.
Review from #MyGivingStory
TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation (www.myturningpoint.org) supports women with breast cancer by offering services such as physical therapy, massage therapy, counseling, nutritional counseling, and education programs. TurningPoint is a game changer for those women during their journey towards a return to normal routines and a full recovery. There are patients from all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds who visit TurningPoint's facility, and over the past 12 years, nearly 3,000 women have been served. Forty percent of all patients receive some kind of financial assistance and no woman is ever turned away to a lack of insurance or inability to pay. TurningPoint founder and executive director Jill Binkley is also a practicing physical therapist and a two-time breast cancer survivor. Jill is a rock star as is everyone who works on the TurningPoint staff. Less than 10 percent of all women are recommended to incorporate exercise and rehabilitation into their treatment plans. This is a number that needs to increase, and part of the mission of TurningPoint is to raise awareness regarding the importance of engaging in activities pertaining to exercise and rehabilitation.
TurningPoint’s mission is to improve the quality of life for women with breast cancer by providing, promoting and advocating specialized and evidence-based rehabilitation care for women with breast cancer. TurningPoint offers patients comprehensive physical therapy, exercise, massage therapy, counseling and nutritional counseling that is critical to their recovery after surgery.
My wife has been a patient at TurningPoint, and in the last year, I have become very involved as a volunteer on fundraising and event committees. In these positions, I have learned that TurningPoint serves over 300 newly diagnosed women each year from all over Greater Atlanta in the very small clinic in Alpharetta. TurningPoint is in need of larger space and a more accessible location where they can provide meeting space for educational programs and more treatment rooms so they can serve more women with breast cancer.
As I’ve learned, breast cancer does not discriminate….it affects all women – your next door neighbor, your sister, your best friend, your tennis partner, your mother, your daughter, your wife. TurningPoint is there to support these women in our community.
