Turmans seek hope in dark times

After an unsuccessful surgery to remove a grapefruit-sized tumor in her pancreas last October, Lisa Turman noticed the clock in her living room ticking in the background more than ever. 

Lisa was diagnosed with diabetes last July and became progressively more ill as the months wore on.

A whirlwind of grim diagnoses in 2011 left her feeling hopeless as she and her husband, James, who undergoes dialysis treatment in Panama City three times a week, watched their stack of medical bills pile higher and higher.

Lisa's pancreatic cancer seemed unstoppable to most of the doctors they visited.

She was given expiration date after expiration date, and her hope continued to diminish.

"By the first of January, I still hadn't had any (chemotherapy), and you can hear that clock ticking in the background," she said. "But when it seems like we just have our backs up against the wall, we receive another blessing-- it just appears."

Thanks to unabashed support from the community, the Turmans have managed to scrape by.

Lisa began her first round of chemotherapy on Jan. 16 at the Cancer Treatment Center of America near Chicago, a place she finally feels comfortable, where the doctors don't assign her life an expiration date.

"After (Lisa's) surgery in October, I asked the surgeon, how bad was it?" James said. "He said the best thing I can do is extend her life by three months. At the cancer center, they just don't do that. With everybody else it was just finality."

Despite a setback in her first round of chemotherapy at the cancer center, Lisa described a renewed sense of hope that nearly brought her to tears last Friday as she sat in her living room in front of a tray loaded with prescriptions.

"They gave me back some hope, and I had not had any in awhile," Lisa said. "(At the cancer center) they treat you as a whole person and not just a cancer patient in room 307."

"Everything they say in those commercials is true – I have a team of doctors, a nutritionist, a chaplain. They've given me hope that it's possible; they don't give you a set amount of days."

Lisa believes she has ended up where she is supposed to be. She said cancer center patients are 27 percent more likely to live longer than those with regular treatment.

The Turmans have received donations from the Port St. Joe Church of Christ's Benevolent Fund as well as more than $700 in donations from their neighbors in St. Joe Beach.

The Rich family has set up a donations account for them at Tyndall Credit Union in Port St. Joe. Shirley Rich said they would do the same for them.

"We have no family around here," said Lisa; she and her husband are originally from Mississippi. "Our neighbors and coworkers have been wonderfully supportive."

Lisa recalls moving into their house on Willow Street in St. Joe Beach in February 2007. There was a neighborhood get-together going on and the residents welcomed Lisa and James over without a second thought.

"We were still unpacking and they invited us right over," Lisa said. "Now it's a first-name basis type thing."

Lisa said it would be impossible to name off the many people who have helped support them. 

"It's probably the worst thing that's ever happened to me, but it's brought out some of the best memories," Lisa said. "It's shown how wonderful people can be."

James has had to sacrifice some of his own medical needs and push back payments in support of his wife's treatment. He said he is sick of being treated as a number by insurance companies.

"The bill collectors don't understand," James said. "She comes first to me."

Lisa is prescribed 12 medications plus insulin; one of her prescriptions cost $287 to be filled. Lisa travels to Chicago every two weeks for 40 hours of chemo at the cancer center, James travels to Panama City three times a week for dialysis, and the costs are rapidly racking up.

"We just, we don't have it," James said.

As a disabled ex-military man on a fixed income James has struggled with swallowing his pride and accepting the help given to him by the people of the community. He is thankful for every cent. Every bit helps, he said.

"I have a saying, you'll know who your true friends are without asking, when you get in trouble or get sick or get down on your luck," James said. "I didn't expect them to come forth like they did."

The Turmans also have two teenage daughters at home. Lisa's 17-year-old daughter will be accompanying her to Chicago for her next chemotherapy session.

"We try to keep our home life as normal as possible," Lisa said. "We're really trying on that."

Although she admittedly still has her crying days and her days when she doesn't want to do anything, Lisa said she has gone from a glass half empty-type of person to a glass half full-type of person.

She said although she tires out quickly, she is feeling good.

Thanks to the support from James, her two daughters, the community and her team of doctors at the Cancer Treatment Center of America, she now believes there is a fighting chance.

"You should have seen me when I first started this, I was a wreck," Lisa said. "A lot of that was my mental state. Hope is a wonderful help."

Want to help?

An account has been set up at Tyndall Federal Credit Union in Port St. Joe to help the Turmans with medical costs. Donations can be made to account 1968696.