ThedaCare Family of Foundations

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We all know someone who has been affected by cancer. In fact, four new patients on average start cancer treatment locally at ThedaCare Cancer Care every single day. Across the country, one in two men and one in three women will get some form of cancer in their lifetime.

That’s a lot of mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, children, friends, and neighbors. Cancer impacts the people we love and care about. And it’s not going away.

What if you could do something to help?

ThedaCare Family of Foundations can connect your desire to make a difference with a project that can actually transform cancer care for patients in our region.

You see, cancer isn’t just another disease to be treated. Cancer is an experience to endure, overcome, and survive. Our goal is to raise $7 million to help ThedaCare become the regional destination for patients wanting comprehensive, connected, coordinated cancer care. Care that supports the patient while tearing down the disease. Care that preserves dignity.

You can help.

“The word cancer – a diagnosis of cancer – is overwhelming. As

a primary care provider, I like the idea of sending my patient

who is feeling discombobulated and overwhelmed to one place.

Anything we can do to make that journey less bumpy will help.”

Bridget Huenink, APNPProvider at ThedaCare Physicians – Appleton North at Encircle Health

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“I wouldn’t have asked my mom to

come with me if I had to go anywhere other than Appleton.

I would’ve felt too guilty about the inconvenience.”

Michelle GriesbachPhotographer, quilter

Breast cancer survivor

Building Confidence. Alleviating Guilt.

“I called my doctor and told them I felt a lump. I was at Encircle Health within two hours,” says Michelle Griesbach. At 36 years old, she got her first and last mammogram.

Too young to have started screening mammograms, Michelle had a mammogram, an ultrasound, and a biopsy all performed the same afternoon.

“After being given such devastating news, I was overwhelmed. Before that first appointment was over, someone had already called to schedule my next visit. I really appreciated that. ”

Breast cancer at such a young age is rare and prompted a visit with ThedaCare’s genetic counselor. Despite the fact that Michelle’s father had also been diagnosed with breast cancer in recent years – also incredibly rare – both she and her father tested negative for any known genetic markers.

“I was really relieved for my older sister,” Michelle shares. “I was so worried about what this might have meant for her.”

Michelle underwent chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and reconstruction. She met with a nutritionist and also a social worker who recommended ThedaCare’s cosmetologist.

“The Look Good, Feel Better program is fun! SO fun! I got some scarves and hats and a wig. I left feeling like a million bucks. I felt like I could go out in public instead of hide in my living room.”

Michelle confirms it was the little things she remembers most. The fireplace in the lobby was especially nice (“Hello…I’m BALD and it’s cold outside!” she jokes).

However, it was also the little things she wanted to change in order to make her mom more comfortable when she accompanied Michelle to her treatments. She wished the chemotherapy chairs were spaced out more so her mom could sit next to her and play cards during the three- to five-hour treatments. When she got a warm blanket, she wanted one for her mom, too. She felt guilty about any discomfort or inconvenience. Of course, her mom was happy to be there regardless.

“I felt at peace. I had the best people to take care of me,” says Michelle. “My family and I are very grateful for the wonderful care I received and the doctors who saved my life.”

Michelle’s Story

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Modern cancer care is complex. Treatment can be as individual as your genetic code. We have robotic surgical techniques, lasers that can ablate a tumor with pinpoint accuracy, and new medications to treat and even prevent a variety of cancer types.

ThedaCare will build the facility to make these modern treatments possible. Together with donors like you, the ThedaCare Family of Foundations will help build a new model of care. In other words, ThedaCare transforms the treatment. People like you help transform the care surrounding that treatment.

CONNECT TO COORDINATED CARE

With cancer services under one roof, providers can communicate with each other in real time, enabling meaningful discussions that result in thoughtful decisions, a more thorough plan of care, and faster turn-around. By using the most successful model of cancer care available, we can create a quicker path from diagnosis to treatment and reduce unnecessary worry and anxiety along the way.

CONNECT TO PROVIDERS

It’s hard enough to deal with the physical and emotional challenges of cancer. You shouldn’t have to figure out how to navigate the system on your own. ThedaCare currently provides navigators for all patients with breast cancer. We also offer limited navigation for some other cancer types. Our hope is to expand this service to encompass all patients with all types of cancer.

CONNECT TO CONFIDENCE

When you look good, you feel better about yourself and better about life in general. This is especially important for cancer patients who have lost their hair and see changes in skin tone. For instance, Michelle, the patient who shares her story on page 3, didn’t have the confidence to go out in public before visiting ThedaCare’s cosmetologist. While we currently offer cosmetology services and wigs/headwear at no cost to our cancer patients, we’d like to reach more people who are not taking advantage of cosmetology, as well as enhance the types of services provided.

Why do we need to transform cancer care?

“We’ve done a lot of good with the

resources we have. With just a little extra, we could

compete with the leading programs out there.”

Bobbi McGivern, MS CGCCertified Genetic

Counselor

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CONNECT TO THE WORLD

A new facility will make it possible to update the infrastructure our technology is based on. This means we can dream bigger and consider options that keep pace with the way patients use technology in our society.

CONNECT TO FINANCIAL RESOURCES

Unfortunately, cancer can cause more than just physical and emotional stress. It can cause financial stress, as well. ThedaCare Regional Cancer Center will include space and staffing to provide financial counseling for patients in need and help put them in touch with community assistance programs and resources.

CONNECT TO A HEALING ENVIRONMENT

As a community cancer program, we want to create an atmosphere of total wellness. An atmosphere that includes each patient’s personal community of caregivers and loved ones. We believe that providing support to both patient and family will ultimately mean better healing and a better experience for all involved. An atmosphere that takes a patient beyond diagnosis and treatment all the way through life as a survivor. Adequate space and funding will enable us to explore music and art as therapies. We can provide wellness opportunities, such as yoga, meditation, nutrition counseling and massage therapy. We can include integrative medicine, support groups and behavioral health. Complete care for the whole patient.

CONNECT TO EACH OTHER

Whether the patient’s journey is in active treatment or remission/survivor mode, support groups can provide a form of healing that nothing else can. In addition, we’ve learned that patients don’t stop feeling connected to cancer after treatment stops. They need to learn to deal with life after cancer, learn how to move forward, and learn how to make lifestyle changes to help them stay cancer free.

I hope one day a cure is found. Until then, I will do whatever it takes to support the cause so nobody else ever has to suffer through cancer again. My mom (Joyce Bytof) would be overjoyed to see this project happen. She would probably say ‘what took you so long? It’s about time!’”

Kim Peeters, CRPVice President / COO, Coldwell Banker The Real Estate GroupDonor in support of past healthcare initiativesDaughter of Joyce Bytof, who died of colon cancer

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Funds raised through this campaign are not meant to replace an investment by ThedaCare.

ThedaCare will provide the bricks and mortar. ThedaCare will purchase the equipment and create an infrastructure with changing technology in mind. ThedaCare will provide everything required to create a regional cancer center. However, ThedaCare is also fiscally responsible about rising healthcare costs and is conscious of spending on things that some might consider extravagant.

Your charitable gift to ThedaCare Family of Foundations will help provide additional services necessary to treat the patient, not just the disease. Your support will improve the patient experience and provide those little extras that mean the difference between surviving and thriving.

Why do we NEED your HELP?

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Making the Best Better

When Judy Vanman found out she had breast cancer, she was mad. The mother of five and wife of a pastor didn’t have health insurance at the time. But even more important in her mind was that her oldest son had just gotten engaged.

“I just kept thinking: I’m going to ruin it.” Judy says.

Judy tested HER2-positive, meaning her invasive cancer was also aggressive. A second opinion in Madison confirmed her treatment plan from ThedaCare Cancer Care.

She had a single mastectomy with chemotherapy and radiation, finishing her last treatment just three weeks before her son’s wedding.

“I started losing my hair and worried how I would look in the wedding photos,” Judy confesses. “I cut my hair short so I could use my own hair for a wig. Then my daughters and my sister and even my son cut their hair to make enough for the wig. Another sister covered the cost. It turned out great and meant so much to me.”

Always the caregiver, Judy had to learn to let others take

care of her and help relieve as much stress as possible.

“Cancer touches so many lives – not just those of us who are sick, but our caregivers, too. And when people are sick, they need to have nothing else to worry about in order to focus on getting healthy.”

The one thing she didn’t give up was serving as worship leader at church. Singing helped her get through everything else.

“Cancer turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. It taught me to value relationships more than ever before,” Judy shares. “I grew up participating in 4-H, and the motto of 4-H is ‘to make the best better.’ That’s how I feel about this new building. We have a chance to make the best care even better.”

“It would have been easier to always go to the

same place and deal with the same people all the time.”

Judy VanmanJoyful singer, pastor’s wifeBreast cancer survivor

Judy’s Story

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With plans to open in 2016, ThedaCare Regional Cancer Center will house cancer treatments and related services under one roof and will be located near the Encircle Health campus. By putting both mainstream and complementary medicine together, with everyone working toward the same goal, patients will know they’ve tried and done absolutely everything possible to get better.

Patients will go to one place and register one time. They receive care locally with their support system nearby while able to continue working, if possible.

Collaboration will enable multiple specialists to coordinate care, accomplishing in a few hours what used to take a few weeks.

Second opinions will happen organically in joint treatment rooms, but also formally in affiliation with Mayo Clinic Care Network.

Patients will feel valued, guided, calm, and optimistic. Connected.

What does transformed Cancer Care look like?

By centralizing and consolidating equipment, we can eliminate duplication and streamline costs, meaning we can do more, and we can do it better. By having all of the new diagnostic and treatment equipment, we’ll move into the upper echelon of cancer centers in the country.”

Jeff BuchtaWS Packaging Group, Inc.Board of Directors, Theda Clark Medical Center FoundationDonor in support of past healthcare initiativesMother died of lung cancer

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TODAY.

Adequate space for treatment.

Office/treatment space is used to deliver diagnosis and treatment options.

Breast Cancer Navigators, along with some additional navigation for other cancer types.

Small waiting rooms, supplies stored along walls in hallways, and limited space for family and caregivers.

Uninspiring views or activities during long treatments.

Quality cancer care close to home, allowing patients to continue to work and be near support systems.

Mostly centralized care with some providers in nearby offices. Additional treatment opportunities in satellite communities.

TOMORROW, WITH YOUR HELP.

Ample space for treatment and for family members to accompany patient to treatment. “During my wife’s cancer journey, I know it was important to her that I was doing well as her primary caregiver,” explains Dean High, whose wife Pat died of cancer. “I think it’s hard for cancer patients to focus on their own needs if they’re worried about their caregiver.”

Private rooms provide space to digest and process overwhelming information such as diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis.

Dedicated navigators for every cancer type.

Spacious waiting rooms to support caregivers and provide privacy if necessary. Separate supply storage.

Comfortable and inspirational views and interior spaces.

Exceptional care close to home that eliminates any concern about whether you’re doing everything that could be done.

Centralized care all under one roof. Additional treatment opportunities in satellite communities. All area communities connected to ThedaCare Regional Cancer Center infrastructure and communication network.

Cancer center on par with national leaders in cancer care that serves as a magnet to attract additional talent and more physicians who continue to practice at the top of their fields.

A level of health care that helps build the local economy by enabling area businesses to recruit top talent to a region that provides impressive “quality of life” benchmarks.

You feel better in a facility that’s beautiful and soothing and inspiring. Your environment can change your frame of mind. You believe you can beat this!”

Tom BoldtThe Boldt CompanyDonor in support of past healthcare initiativesMother is a cancer survivorSister died of breast cancer

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“I’m a teacher; not a wealthy man, but I would give what I have to

make this happen.”

Tom StepanEk Woodworker, band teacherProstate cancer survivor

Space to wait. Space to grieve. Space to grow.

At 57 years old, band and choir teacher Tom Stepanek was shocked to find out he had prostate cancer.

“I had my tonsils out in the second grade. That was the last time I had any type of health issue,” Tom explains. “Absolutely no one in my family has ever had cancer. Zip. But this brought it home pretty fast.”

Luckily, Tom’s cancer was caught very early with a PSA test at his annual exam. He drove to Appleton from Wild Rose for 42 days in a row to receive radiation treatments.

Tom never minded driving to different buildings for different appointments, but he believes the familiarity of going to one place would be valuable.

“I kept thinking about my mother and wondering how she would find her way,” Tom shares. “Then one day, I saw an older woman about my mom’s age in the waiting room crying with her two sons. They needed a spot to talk…a spot to grieve.”

That was when Tom started to notice supplies lining some of the hallways.

“It reminded me a little of my band room and the way we always have stuff stored along the walls because there just

isn’t enough room. We need a facility that can keep pace with the growing number of people who are dealing with cancer, as well as a facility that can keep pace with new technology.”

Despite the space constraints, Tom always felt he was treated with a great deal of dignity.

“I can’t say enough about the staff and providers,” Tom says. “They deserve a world-class facility because they are world-class people.”

Tom’s Story

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Building Trust

Patient Donna Beck has trust issues when it comes to health care. After spending years getting her bladder scraped for cancerous cysts at regular intervals, her insurance changed and her new primary care doctor suggested a second opinion. Donna learned she could have – and did have – a one-time procedure to never deal with her cysts again.

“I was floored,” Donna says. “That was the moment I decided I would always get a second opinion.”

So after getting diagnosed with breast cancer near where she lives in Mishicot, she sought out a second opinion with Honnie Bermas, MD, at ThedaCare Cancer Care.

“I felt like I was in a place where they were explaining every possible option, and I could make the best choice for me,” says Donna. “After researching ThedaCare, I

discovered they were number one in the state for breast cancer, and it was only an hour away!”

Donna said she would have gone to Madison or Milwaukee or further, if necessary, to feel as though she were getting the best care available.

“Keep doing what you’re doing. Keep looking at the best treatments possible despite the cost. The patients will come and be thankful! Listen to what the doctors and other team members are saying that patients need. I needed my dressings changed twice a day, but there was no room for that. If the doctors say they need a table to set things on, give it to them. If they suggest flowers or calming scenery, give it to them. These people are so kind and generous with themselves. They made this experience not just bearable, but actually pleasant.”

“If I had to have cancer, I’m glad I could go through it at

ThedaCare.”

Donna beckAmateur artist, avid runner

Breast cancer survivor

Donna’s Story

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Make a connectionYou have the power to connect multi-disciplinary cancer providers for better collaboration.

Your donation will help connect cancer patients with other cancer patients and survivors who understand their journey.

Your support will connect our many smaller communities to a regional cancer center providing a level of care not possible when fragmented into individual pieces.

And your contribution may even help you connect with yourself – a piece of you that knows you or someone you love might become one in twenty who will face cancer someday.

Please help us reach our $7 million goal.

To make a gift or discuss giving opportunities, contact Michael Frohna, CFRE, ThedaCare Family of Foundations Executive Director. Call (920) 738-6503.

For online giving visit: thedacare.org/connect

We can often do so much better for patients and their loved ones by making even relatively small changes.”

Dean V. HighHigh-Bardon Wealth Management LLCVice President, ThedaCare Family of FoundationsPresident, Appleton Medical Center FoundationDonated funds for the High Hopes Salon in memory of his wife Patricia Ann High

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ThedaCare Family of Foundations