Journal entry by Gayle Joehl —
To all of us that love Paula,
During Paula’s cancer journey she read one day that ovarian cancer was one of the lowest funded cancers for research. This brought her to tears. Not for herself of course, but for all the women in the future that will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Paula knew that research would not be in time for herself but for all the women that are someone’s loved ones; whether a mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughter, niece, aunt or friend, that could be diagnosed with this disease. As all of you know though, Paula was always positive. She didn’t stay in tears for long. She decided at that point she was going to do something to help raise money for this greatly needed research. She contacted several resources such as the American Cancer Society. She discovered there wasn’t a way to specify that the donations were to go to ovarian cancer research.
Soon after that Paula had an appointment with Dr. Fuh, an oncolosist at Washington University. They discussed the importance of early detection and research for effective treatment. Bob and I were with Paula and we were all very impressed with Dr. Fuh and the work that she does. (If you would like to read about Dr. Fuh you can google “Dr. Katherine Fuh and it will take you to her bio.) Paula immediately knew she had found the avenue of how to get donations to go specifically to ovarian cancer research.
Paula reached out to her podcast followers and friends and single handedly raised $20,000 for Dr. Fuh’s research lab. Now in addition to that, $40,000 has been raised in Paula’s honor to be used towards saving women’s lives.
Bob and I, along with our families, cannot thank each of you enough for everything you have done for us and for Paula. We have read each and every card you have sent and have found comfort in the words you have shared with us. Paula’s legacy will live on in many ways.
It’s so good for all of us to be a part of something of this magnitude. Paula would be so proud of this accomplishment.
Sincerely,
Gayle and all of our family
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