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Photography Donated to New Cancer Hospital in Memory of Wife
Paul Holmes became interested in photography the year he received a digital camera as a Christmas present from his children. He was soon able to combine his love of the outdoors with his newfound interest in photography. Five years after receiving the camera, his photography will be hanging in the new Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven.
Photograph by Paul Holmes
In February of 2008, Paul’s wife Louise was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent treatment with chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy. With only a few small bumps in the road, her treatment seemed to be a success and she was doing well. Paul and Louise had always been an active couple, enjoying downhill skiing, sea kayaking, and snowshoeing. By Thanksgiving of that year, Louise had resumed skiing regularly, but by the middle of December she was experiencing persistent headaches, and she was admitted to Yale-New Haven Hospital; a few months later she passed away. Doctors had found that the cancer spread to her spinal cord, and that she had a small tumor in her brain.
“Louise always enjoyed my photography, and supported me as an avid outdoor photographer. She used my photos for Christmas cards, and would put them on note cards. During her treatment we discussed how the oncology facilities were nice, but in some cases lacked color and brightness. This is partly where the idea to donate my photography came from,” said Paul.
After talking it over with his two children, Amie and Erik, they decided to donate photography to the new Cancer Center in honor of their wife and mother. They received 65 donations of money from Louise’s friends to contribute to professional printing, framing, and matting of the prints. 20 photos were chosen by members of the Smilow Cancer Hospital team to be hung around the new center. 2 additional photographs were set aside as a gift for Dr. Michael DiGiovanna, an Associate Professor of Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center, and the doctor that had treated Paul’s wife.
“Dr. Mike, as he liked us to call him, was wonderful to my wife throughout the entire process. He did everything he could for her and she was thankful for him up until the very end. He was there a half hour after her death to visit with us, and that really meant a lot. It was important to me that he pick out two photos that he could enjoy in his new office,” said Paul.
The 20 photographs that were chosen were taken in four different locations; Vermont, Maine, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The last two locations are where Paul and his wife last vacationed. It is Paul’s hope that his donation will motivate and inspire others to get well and visit the places like those seen in his photographs. Paul enjoys photographing remote locations, and at times when it is likely no one is around, such as early morning sunrises.
“The purpose of donating these photographs is so that patients can look at them and think, ‘Yes, I am sick now, but once I am better I am going to go see such scenes first hand.’ During treatment and recovery the medical treatment must be good, but you also need a positive attitude, and hopefully that can be bolstered with these photographs,” said Paul.
With this donation Paul was able to make a personal contribution that will inspire current and future cancer patients. He has experienced firsthand what going through cancer is like for a family, and hopes that his photographs will provide comfort and encouragement to others. Having gone through treatment twice with his wife, he knows how difficult it can be having treatments in different buildings. Paul commented that with the new Smilow Cancer Hospital it will make it much easier for patients and treatment can be well coordinated.
“It is so uplifting to see everything in one building at Smilow Cancer Hospital. During Louise’s treatment we watched the new center being built. It is wonderful that it is now almost complete and will be a hopeful and bright environment for patients to receive treatment in. It is comforting to know that my photographs will be a part of that, in memory of my wife and her courageous battle,” said Paul.
