Our Mission
Simply from the Heart helps to restore the self-image of terminally ill cancer patients through health and wellness services. The services provided not only heighten the way they look but, more importantly, how they feel. It provides a feeling of normalcy during a time that is everything but.
The Inspiration
Brooke Bolley had the polished look of someone who understood beauty intuitively. She Is naturally pretty, to be sure; but if you talk with her, you’ll understand that the ginger highlights in her hair and the subtle charcoal lining of her eyes are her own thoughtful design. Her graceful appearance is all the more remarkable when you consider the violence cancer has inflicted on her body.
In April 2009, doctors found a tumor growing between Bolley’s stomach and esophagus. Four days after surgery to remove her stomach, sepsis set in. The blood infection spread, requiring the amputation of her right leg below her knee.
Since then, Bolley, a 26-year-old hairdresser, has struggled with severe nausea and pain. She wasn’t able to keep pain medications down, so the Symptom Management & Supportive Care Clinic switched her prescription to patches that would deliver the medication through her skin. Walker said standard anti-nausea medications didn’t work for Bolley, so they took a different approach and prescribed Olanzapine. Although Olanzapine is not widely used for nausea—it’s typically used to treat schizophrenia—several clinical studies have demonstrated its effectiveness for this symptom. “I still get the nausea,” she said. “But it’s under control now.” Less than two weeks after visiting the clinic, Bolley’s weight rose from 86 to 89 pounds. Now able to fit into a size 2, she went shopping.
INSPIRED BY:
Brooke Bolley; a childhood bestfriend, Hairdresser 25 yrs. from Dearborn Heights Michigan diagnosed with Stomach Cancer April 2009
http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/thriveonline/making-the-most.html
http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/thriveonline/research_fall10.html
http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/files/fall10-thrive.pdf