Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
TULLAHOMA, Tenn. (AP) — Cancer's effects stretch far beyond the physical, and the emotional and psychological toll the disease can exact are not limited to the individual facing the diagnosis.
These are facts that Tullahoma resident Julia Logan-Mayes and her family know all too well.
After finding solace, guidance and support in connecting with other cancer patients and their families during her husband's battle with the disease, Logan-Mayes had dedicated herself to providing that network of caring and understanding to people in the Tullahoma area.
Logan-Mayes and her husband, Stephen Logan, were raising their family in San Francisco in 1999 when Stephen was diagnosed with a grade four glioblastoma multiform brain tumor.
"Before we left the hospital, the social worker told us about the Wellness Community," Logan-Mayes said. "She said it was a great place for emotional support."
As luck would have it, the Wellness Community was located roughly eight blocks from the couple's home. They took the social worker's advice and began attending support group meetings, which Logan-Mayes said were incredibly helpful.
"He went to a group for patients and I went to a group for caregivers," Logan-Mayes said. "It was a great resource for us and our emotional well-being."
In June of 2000, the family returned to Tullahoma to be nearer to their families. Before leaving California, Logan-Mayes learned the closest Wellness Community to Tullahoma was located in Knoxville, too far for the family to travel. But it wasn't long before the couple found a support network closer to home.
"During Stephen's first chemo treatment at Vanderbilt, over on the table there was a Gilda's Club flyer," Logan-Mayes recalled. "I had read Gilda's book ("It's Always Something") and I knew her story. Someone had tried to get her to go to a support group and she resisted at first, but eventually she went and she fell in love with it. She loved the camaraderie."
The Logan family soon became part of the Nashville Gilda's Club community.
Named in honor of Gilda Radner, the famous comedian and actress who died of ovarian cancer in 1989 at the height of her career, dozens of Gilda's Clubs are located across the country. Gilda's Clubs are affiliated with the Cancer Support Network with a stated mission of "providing support, education and hope to all people affected by any type of cancer, including family members and friends of those diagnosed. One of the main missions is to ensure that no one has to face cancer alone."
Logan-Mayes said all of the Gilda's Clubs offer a homelike environment, designed to be as far removed from a medical setting as possible. In addition to providing support groups for cancer patients and their families, the organization also offers a wide range of other activities and Logan-Mayes offered especially high praise for the programs and groups Gilda's House offers for children.
And the help available at Gilda's House doesn't end when the patient's life does. Stephen Logan died in May 2001, and Logan-Mayes said the friends she made at Gilda's Club helped her and her children through their bereavement.
Logan-Mayes, who worked as the volunteer coordinator for Hospice of the Highland Rim for seven years, is now working to establish a Gilda's Club in Tullahoma.
"This is something that has been tapping me on the shoulder for 15 years now," she said. "I've raised money for them (Gilda's Club), I've supported them. It's always been something that stirred in my heart to bring it to Middle Tennessee."
The nonprofit Gilda's Clubs and the Wellness Community throughout the U.S. now operate under Cancer Support Network, based out of Washington, D.C. Logan-Mayes said her dream is to open a Gilda's Club here to serve families in Coffee County and the seven surrounding counties of Bedford, Franklin, Grundy, Moore, Lincoln, Marshall and Warren. Based on her calculations, Logan-Mayes estimates that a Gilda's Club here could see as many as 300 visitors a month.
"I've always felt that Tullahoma is a hub.," she said. "When I envision this, I envision people from seven counties coming here for support instead of going to Nashville. Some people just can't do that."
The process to open a Gilda's Club is a lengthy one, and one that will require a team effort. In December, Logan-Mayes held an initial organizing meeting with area physicians, business people, cancer patients, survivors and caregivers, to get the project off the ground. She said she was pleased with the turnout and optimistic about the project's future. Since the group has yet to complete the application process, it is now operating under the name Friends of Gilda's Club Tullahoma. Additional information on the local effort can be found by searching for Friends of Gilda's Club Tullahoma on Facebook.
Although Gilda's Club's services and programs are all offered free of charge, there is a cost associated with running the organization.
"These services aren't a cheap thing," Logan-Mayes said, estimating that a small club needs to generate between $300,000 and $350,000 a year to fund operations. She said $50,000 needs to be raised in startup funds alone. To date, Logan-Mayes estimated the group has collected roughly $550, which will go toward the application fee for nonprofit 501(c)3 status from the Internal Revenue Service.
The group is hoping to add a little more money to its coffers later this month by showing "No Evidence of Disease," a documentary about a group of oncology surgeons who formed a band to raise awareness of their field and lift the spirits of their patients, at the Regal Cinema 8 in Tullahoma at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
In order for the screening to be held, 89 tickets, priced at $12 each, must be reserved by Monday, Feb. 16. Reservations can be made online using a credit card at www.tugg.com/events.13152. Credit cards will not be charged if the minimum number of tickets are not sold. Five percent of the money generated by ticket sales will be donated to Friends of Gilda's Club Tullahoma.
"I applied for this film to be brought to our local theater in hopes of gathering several to view the film and to also talk to the community about the dream of Gilda's Club Tullahoma," Logan-Mayes said. "Featured are amazing oncology surgeons, their patients and the effect music has on all of us.
"We will have an opportunity to chat after the film as to what our hopes and dreams are here locally and how you can help spread the word. Our communities need this type of organization for those fighting the fight so courageously. To sit in a room with others walking your path is powerful. To see the children work through a parent being sick in the midst of art projects is a beautiful thing," she added. "My family has experienced this and I know just how meaningful my story is and all of yours that have been touched by cancer.
Logan-Mayes said although she is pleased with the efforts of the people already involved in bringing a Gilda's Club to Tullahoma, additional help and financial support is always welcome.
"I'd like to see somebody get involved that can be as passionate as I feel about the emotional support for these families," she said. "I've seen it and I've seen the lack of it. It's hard, especially on children. As a parent, you will search high and low to find something that will help your children get through it.
"You form very tight and deep-rooted relationships when you're joining with people like that, she continued. "We can always pick up the phone and pick up a conversation very easily. Relationships like that get deep pretty quick. There's no time for fluff or mindless chatter. You get to the real stuff, the hard stuff.
"This is a big endeavor," she said. "It's big for these communities. It's unprecedented but it could touch so many people and who hasn't been touched by cancer?"
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
