Stand up 2 cancer show.mov carol kaplan Rochester Hills MI

The slide show begins with the summer before Carol Kaplan was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Before her cancer her husband had left her in a wheel chair as she was recovering from numerous spinal surgeries. Her dog Bosco became her helper and got her walking again through 4 long years of struggle. Then she was diagnosed with cancer after Bosco kept sniffing her belly and pawing her, trying to signal something else was terribly wrong. She received a total body PET scan which revealed her cancer.
Carol was basically left after diagnosis to struggle on her own.
She was unable to drive and living in a town with no public transportation
she often went without the basics of food until an old friend came to help her and take her through treatments. Deep in grief over the loss of her beloved daughter and granddaughters she decided to try to create a company to help the cause of world peace and increase compassion. Another old friend, a professor of business came to visit and though Carol was very ill he said she and her business idea looked like a better investment than Wall Street. Kenneth Young invested in her project "Nana's Gourmet Comfort Co" which produces halal/kosher marshmallows she called pillowmellows®. Together through her struggle with cancer they created Nana's Gourmet Comfort World Cafe in Auburn Hills, MI which opened this past June. Their hope is to use this as a means to further world peace through compassion of others; specifically peace in the Middle East. Though Carol failed her treatments, she begins each day with the thought 'I have TODAY so I can make a difference'' and continues to build contacts to help this dream come true. Soon her "pillowmellow®" will be available nationally through the web and eventually internationally. Although she has run out of cancer treatment hope she has not run out of hope for a better world. Visit Nana's Gourmet comfort Facebook or nanasgourmet.com. An NPO is in the works to help people and animals. There is a big need for education about the needs of cancer patients and how to help them have a good outcome. Many cancer patients are left or avoided by friends after they are diagnosed she discovered. Carol wants people to understand that just because you have cancer doesn't mean you are worthless and useless. Just because cancer patients need help does not make them weak. Her story proves it is the opposite. Cancer patients continue to be useful members of society and have much to offer. She built a new family in her community and Ken and Carol have a thriving business based on inclusion and diversity and honoring all people.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

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• cancer
• stories