An Inspiring Woman on a Mission: Sandra Gunn

I remember my mother telling me a long time ago, ‘Memories are the only things you have left before you pass – nothing else matters.’
Sandra Gunn, founder, Leslie’s Week.

Here’s what you need to remember: There is no Stage 5.

Women diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer (particularly cancer that has metastasized to other parts of the body like the liver, lungs or bones) are terminal. Statistics show they might live at this stage for a few weeks, months, even years. But those with Stage 4 breast cancer are essentially on borrowed time.

The question becomes how best to live during the time they have. Sandra Gunn believes that creating memories that will outlast the cancer they are fighting may be the most valuable way to spend that precious time.

Sandra was inspired to start her nonprofit Leslie’s Week in 2011, literally the day after her close friend Leslie Twohig succumbed to inflammatory triple negative breast cancer. Before going into hospice, Leslie made a point of taking a week-long vacation with her family and focused on having a wonderful trip with them. She was gallant, smiling through the pain and determined to enjoy the life she had remaining.

Sandra wanted to make sure that other women with Stage 4 breast cancer had the same opportunity as her friend.

“These are the forgotten women in the breast cancer community,” Sandra says. “They are terminal and the hope of a cure is remote at the present time. We try to make their end-of-life transition a time for happiness with their families.”

Women selected to participate in Leslie’s Week take their families on a week-long, expense paid vacation at the 5-star Dollywood DreamMore Resort and Spa in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The week is filled with donated tickets to the Dollywood Theme Park, Dolly’s Splash Country, Country Tonite Music Theater and many other entertainment opportunities to take a vacation away from cancer.

It allows a time and space for kids to be kids again. It gives women and their partners a chance to relax and not have cancer absorb their thoughts. Most importantly, it supplies the opportunity to make those lasting memories where children can recall their mother laughing, enjoying herself and loving her family.

Initially, it was Leslie Twohig’s nurse at the Kimmel Cancer Center who helped Leslie’s Week pick their first recipients. The outreach has extended over the years and now includes nominations on the Leslie Week website by third party breast cancer centers throughout the country. The Stage 4 Breast Cancer women and their families are chosen regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, and age.

Once a family is selected, all efforts are made to allow them to enjoy their week off without worries. The organization helps them prepare in highly practical ways, from a list or suggested items they should bring with them to the phone number of the local pharmacy. Activities are planned from horseback riding to time in the pool – even spa treatments.

In addition to making memories, Leslie’s Week also looks to the future for these families. The nonprofit’s Educational Assistance program helps children who are between 6 and 12 years old when their family participates in Leslie’s Week. It gives these children a grant once they have graduated from high school that goes directly to the institution of higher learning they plan to attend. The amount is dependent upon charitable donations received by Leslie’s Week, and recipients must maintain a B-average to renew their educational assistance package.

“This becomes our legacy gift for these mothers,” Sandra says. “I know how much comfort it gives them to know that at least part of their children’s educational expenses will be covered in the future after they are gone.”

For Sandra, the importance of the work she is doing became even more relevant when she herself was diagnosed with cancer in early 2013. Instead of just being a benefactor to women struggling with the disease, Sandra was among the women in the fight.

During that winter, she connected with even more women who were valiantly fighting the disease, determined to live positively regardless of difficult treatments and surgeries. She witnessed the bravery of those who volunteered for experimental clinical trials so others could benefit, and perhaps have a better outcome, because of their sacrifice.

It created an even deeper passion and sense of urgency for her mission, she says. “Surrounded by these women and their deeply spiritual sense of hope and courage, and experiencing breast cancer myself defined Leslie’s Week in a way that no other experience could.”

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