ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 4, 1996 TAG: 9601040015
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: AROUND THE VALLEY
SOURCE: RANDY WALKER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
James Graham will never forget the moment he learned his wife had breast cancer.
"When Dr. [Robert] Ripley came down and said she had cancer, my world fell apart," he recalls.
Graham and his wife, Karla, have two boys, now 15 and 12. The ensuing months were a trial for the whole family, as Karla endured a mastectomy, followed by chemotherapy.
Two years later, Karla is back to work and looks and feels fine. Yet, the family will never be quite the same. James Graham, in particular, is a changed man.
The experience left Graham with a burning desire to help other families afflicted by breast cancer. To achieve this goal, Graham, with the help of cancer physicians, Lewis-Gale Hospital, and other individuals affected by breast cancer, created the Tranquility Foundation.
The not-for-profit foundation was incorporated in February 1994 and is headquartered in Salem. Its goals are ambitious: a nationwide network of support and education centers, raising money to help patients pay for bone marrow transplants, funding research toward a cure for breast cancer. The initial fund-raising goal is $100 million.
The driving force behind the foundation is Graham, a 46-year-old, self-employed marketing consultant who lives in Salem. He describes himself as a businessman and a family man.
Graham came up with the foundation's name. "It was really from my heart, and from a place that really exists. I was born and raised in a place called Tranquility, N.J."
The Maddox Agency, a Roanoke advertising agency, designed the foundation's dove logo. Also instrumental in creating the organization was Karl Miller, former president of Lewis-Gale Hospital.
Although Lewis-Gale is not officially connected with the organization, the hospital continues to support its activities. Five Lewis-Gale Clinic physicians form its medical advisory board, and the hospital is donating office space in Lewis-Gale Pavilion that will serve as the organization's headquarters.
The foundation's support and education centers will not be located on the hospital campus, because Graham wants a nonclinical atmosphere. At these centers, newly diagnosed patients will be able to talk with breast cancer survivors and actually see what a mastectomy looks like, Graham says.
The centers will also offer support for patients' male partners, says Fred W. Price, one of the foundation's trustees. Price's girlfriend, Emily Naff, died in October after a four-year battle with breast cancer.
"I wanted to work with husbands, or the patients' main support, so they can know what's ahead of them, what they can expect from chemo, what's going to happen in the house, the changes that the whole family is going to have to make," he says.
The foundation hopes to open its first support and education center somewhere in the Roanoke Valley in the next six months.
Another goal is raising money to help patients pay for bone marrow transplants. "Women die every day because they cannot get money for bone marrow transplants," Graham says. "The foundation's objective is to be in a position financially to be able to guarantee the initial down payment."
Most insurance companies do not pay for bone marrow transplants. But that may be changing, according to Dr. Jeffrey Patton, a Lewis-Gale oncologist and member of the foundation's Medical Advisory Board.
"The thinking is more and more that it's a reasonable therapy," Patton says. "There have been some very recent trials that have shown survival advantages. It's becoming more widely accepted among physicians and probably third-party payers are going to have to ante up eventually."
To raise money, the foundation is selling limited edition prints titled "The Journey for the Cure." The prints are available for a $30 donation at all Signet Bank locations in Roanoke, Salem and Vinton. Donations may also be sent directly to the Tranquility Foundation at P.O. Box 1310, Salem, VA 24153.
In addition to soliciting donations from individuals, the foundation plans to approach corporations including pharmaceutical manufacturers. So far, about $5,000 has been raised. There's a long way to go, but Graham is undaunted.
"It'll take years and a tremendous amount of dedication on behalf of everyone involved in the foundation," he says. ``I'd like to dedicate the rest of my life to it - whatever God gives me. I'd like to look back and say, `we made a difference.'''
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. James and Karla Graham are hoping toby CNBraise money for the Tranquility Foundation by selling limited prints
titled "The Journey for the Cure." The prints are available for
$30.