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A Passing Conversation Leads to an Extraordinary Gift
Bequest will provide clinical department with vital funds
Posted 05/18/09
Barbara and Robert Balderson
Photo by Coe Sweet
Barbara and Robert Balderson credit the UVA Health System and Paul Levine, M.D., with saving Barbara’s life.
Barbara Balderson’s story began in 2002 with a routine dentist appointment. During her visit, a hygienist discovered a lump under Balderson’s jaw and recommended she see her regular doctor for follow-up. That discovery led to a diagnosis of adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare form of cancer that most often develops in the salivary and lacrimal glands. A very slow progressing disease, it is unrelenting and often metastasizes to the lungs and liver. On her doctor’s recommendation, she went to see Dr. Levine, chair of UVA’s nationally-ranked otolaryngology-head and neck surgery department.
“I didn’t realize at the beginning how incredibly fortunate I was to have Dr. Levine as my surgeon,” Balderson says now. “He was incredibly kind and took fabulous care of me throughout two very extensive surgeries.”
One day, in passing, during a follow-up visit, Dr. Levine mentioned an incredible gift being made to the department by a grateful patient.
“That conversation got us thinking,” says Robert Balderson. “We didn’t have any family, and we had thought long and hard about who we could leave our estate to. We wanted to make a real difference with our gift, and I knew Barbara was here today because of Dr. Levine and his team at UVA.”
Bequests Lay Foundation
for a Brighter Future
Every year the University of Virginia Health System is grateful to receive bequests from the estates of our alumni and friends. These gifts make a tremendous difference in the our mission, and the Health System’s future depends on them. Providing future support through a bequest to the School of Medicine or Nursing, or to a select center or program, is a wonderful way to leave a special legacy of support for the UVA Health System’s future. When you create or revise your estate plans, we hope you will include the UVA Health System among your beneficiaries. For more information on making a bequest to the Health System, please call (800) 297-0102, (434) 924-8432, or visit our Web site.
In honor of Dr. Levine’s outstanding care, the Baldersons decided to leave their entire estate to the otolaryngology department, providing for a chairman’s discretionary fund to promote faculty development and research.
“I hope our gift will give these doctors insight into this type of cancer,” Barbara Balderson says, “how to diagnose it earlier and how best to treat it so that more people will be able to live their lives with this disease.”
It’s a gift they hope will dramatically advance the search for new treatments for cancer, while preparing future caregivers for the challenges they will face in their own practices.
Now the Staunton, Va., couple receive all their medical care at UVA, a choice that confuses some of their friends.
“People sometimes cringe when I tell them we receive our care at a teaching hospital,” she laughs, “but I don’t know why. Yes, we see a lot of doctors and residents, but they are all wonderful and they all contribute to our care. These young people are learning to do this incredible job. They are all part of our family now.”
