This week's Pep Talk: "Progress from Pain"

I would suspect most have heard the old adage “adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it.” It’s easy to say, easy to affirm, but let’s be honest, much more difficult – when the storms of life come along – to live it, right? But people do it. Somehow, someway they find the guts to, as I like to say whenever giving a Pep Talk: “Refuse to become a victim of circumstance, instead choose to become a student of experience.”

That is certainly Thelissa Zollinger’s story. Gary, her darling and devoted husband died way too young from a rare form of lung cancer. An active and fit husband, father and grandpa, the energy executive developed a violent hacking cough in his 56th year. Doctors first thought it might be an asthmatic condition. Sadly, it was cancer. By the time of diagnosis, it was already stage four. That’s a sad and familiar story for too many lung cancer patients – the diagnosis comes too late.

Gary fought a brave fight. After conventional treatments proved ineffective, the non-smoker underwent a radical double-lung transplant. The surgery was successful but tragically, ten months later, severe back pain had Gary back in the doctor’s office. The news was not good. Cancer had returned to his spine. Gary Zollinger died six months later.

Married 30 years, the couple made Gary’s final days quite productive. The Zollinger’s started an endowment to fund research to develop an early-detection test. According to the Lung Cancer Alliance, funding dollars for lung cancer research are 1/20th of those for breast cancer despite the fact, each year, three times as many people die in Colorado from lung cancer than breast cancer.

I sat across a conference table from Thelissa and marveled at her passion and determination to raise money and awareness. She achieves each with an annual “The Gift of Life and Breath” 5K walk and run. This year, it’s May 15. Join us, will ya? You can find more info at www.thegiftoflifeandbreath.com. I’m in to honor my father. He died of lung cancer in 2007. When doctors discovered his tumor, it was stage four too, and too late.

Lung cancer took my father and Thelissa’s husband too early. I know you have similar stories. Who hasn’t been touched by cancer’s devastating effects? Today, although it’s early in development, there is hope. Thanks to Thelissa’s crusade, research is focusing on biomarkers as a possible means to catch lung cancer before it’s too late.

Progress has emerged from Thelissa’s pain. Somewhere from above, you know her hubby’s looking down and shouting “you go girl!” This amazing woman has chosen to become a student, not victim, of her experience. Progress from pain, a lesson we should all take to heart.