Over fifty years ago a young, Filipina American mother, Gloria Gutkowski was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had surgery and was informed the cancer had metastasized-her prognosis was not good. She endured harsh radiation and chemotherapy treatments, and she and her husband and young daughter took what they thought might be her last vacation and went on a trip to Europe. Despite having a loving family and many friends, Gloria wanted someone to talk to about her fears and the dread around the many medical appointments. Like many mothers and wives, Gloria didn’t want to be a burden to those she cared for and had an innate understanding that those she cared for didn’t really understand what she was experiencing. She declined offers from her oncologists to refer her to a psychiatrist, knowing that she might feel the need to talk to someone who truly understood what it meant to be faced with a life-threatening diagnosis, and she might need that support outside of a pre-scheduled appointment. There were no other options.
Gloria set out to change that.
And in 1973, she did just that. With the assistance, counsel and support of her oncology team, and her husband Ed Gutkowski, Cancer Lifeline was founded.
I recently had the honor of connecting to Ed Gutkowski, Gloria’s surviving husband. Ed has stayed in touch with Cancer Lifeline from his home in the San Juan Islands and graciously allowed me to interview him about that time so many years ago. Despite living with multiple myeloma and getting monthly treatments himself, Ed was exceptionally thoughtful, funny and straight-forward and the following are excerpts from our conversations.
Joseph: Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story with us on the occasion of Cancer Lifeline’s 50th Anniversary! It is an honor!
Ed: It’s my pleasure. It’s good to talk to you, too, Joseph. You’ve brought a great energy to Cancer Lifeline.
Joseph: Thanks. Well, I’m going to dive right in. First, I want to tell you that I’ve learned more about Gloria in our brief emails than I learned from working here for 15 years! I had no idea Gloria was a Filipina American. Where was she from?
Ed: A small town in Wyoming-she was born in Buffalo, Wyoming in 1933 and her father was Filipino and her mother Scotch-Irish. She had three siblings. Being a family of mixed race was very difficult in those days, especially in such a rural area.
Joseph: How did Gloria’s Filipina American heritage play a role in her cancer journey?
Ed: I think, because the family was often discriminated against, it gave Gloria thicker-skin and a determination and an ability to persevere. When we married, we relocated to the Seattle area and ended up moving her whole family out.
Joseph: Did you and Gloria have any children? If so, how did her cancer diagnosis impact them?
Ed: Gloria had one daughter from a prior marriage. It was very difficult on her, very stressful. She was 7 years old when Gloria was first diagnosed, and so worried that her mother would die, and uncertain of what would happen to her if she did.
Joseph: What inspired Gloria to found Cancer Lifeline?
Ed: Gloria wanted a telephone service, a neutral place where she didn’t have to burden family or friends and could talk about the concerns that come up when living with a cancer diagnosis, because treatment can be a long and difficult process. We talked about it, and she took the idea and ran with it. She brought in some of her oncology team, and Dr. Paul Johnson at UW Medicine was a great help.
Joseph: What did Dr. Johnson help with?
Ed: In the beginning, the medical community was wary of Cancer Lifeline. I’m not sure why. Dr. Johnson was able to convince the medical community that Cancer Lifeline’s aims weren’t to become involved in the clinical care for cancer patients, but to help provide emotional support that would actually compliment the work of oncologists.
Joseph: Where were the first Lifeline calls taken? At someone’s home, or an office?
Ed: The calls came in through the Crisis Clinic and then would be routed to the home phones of the volunteers on duty if they were calling about cancer.
Joseph: Starting a nonprofit is not easy work, where did the earliest support come from?
Ed: Gloria took the idea to the Crisis Clinic who had a telephone line and had experience with the format. Crisis Clinic leadership helped shepherd early funding through the United Way and helped us train the volunteers that we brought forward. Later, while keeping the independent incorporation, the organization became a part of Family & Child Services before striking out on its own. By that time, Barbara Frederick was involved. Barbara was a long-time, much loved Executive Director for Cancer Lifeline for over 20 years.
Joseph: How did you manage fundraising for a newly independent nonprofit Cancer Lifeline?
Ed: Well, it wasn’t easy! We tried a number of things that failed or made very little money. Luckily the expenses were low-the majority of the team were volunteers!
Joseph: What were her hobbies?
Ed: Gloria liked to crochet. I remember one Christmas she made 17 Afghans! She loved to cook and was very good at it. She and I entertained quite a bit.
Joseph: Did she have a job?
Ed: She worked in the family business as a bookkeeper.
Joseph: What were Gloria’s goals for Cancer Lifeline?
Ed: Very modest, just to provide support for people with cancer. We never had any notion that the organization would have a larger infrastructure and grow to help so many people.
Joseph: What would Gloria say about Cancer Lifeline today?
Ed: She would be so pleased. Cancer Lifeline has maintained the general philosophy that she imagined for it; the services are still free, and the organization is doing exactly what she hoped to see in the beginning. She would be amazed that Cancer Lifeline makes such an incredible contribution to this community. I am so impressed!
Joseph: Tell me something fun about Gloria.
Ed: Fun? (Laughs) Gloria had an amazing amount of energy, which was wonderful when she focused it in the right direction. Her favorite vacation would be to go to Reno and play the slot machines & bingo-she loved to gamble!
And there you have it, Gloria’s gamble. Her best hand was always Cancer Lifeline and the beneficiaries were thousands and thousands of people across the country.
Fifty years ago, a young Filipino American mother, wife and friend to many founded one of the first nonprofits in the US designed to provide emotional support and accurate information to those struggling with cancer. Today Cancer Lifeline has grown to include cancer focused educational presentations, support groups, and mental health counseling in addition to the Lifeline and serves over 8,000 individuals each year and provides over 23,000 points of service support to patients, survivors, family members and caregivers impacted by a cancer diagnosis.
The staff and I are proud to continue realizing Gloria’s gamble, because no one should have to deal with cancer alone. And we send our deepest gratitude to Ed Gutkowski for sharing his time and recollections of a pivotal time for Cancer Lifeline.
Note: Gloria lived for twenty years after receiving her cancer diagnosis and the news that she would likely die within that first year. Today, Ed lives in the San Juan Islands with his second wife and Gloria’s daughter lives two doors down.
Read more about our 50th Anniversary Here