Mission
The Diane L. Esser Memorial Foundation was established…to address needs that are not being met by other breast cancer organizations relating to quality of life issues.
Diane believed that one of the most important factors in beating breast cancer is a strong faith that it is possible. Diane, also known as “The Chemo Ambassador” to her fellow cancer patients, exuded this faith and helped others throughout her chemo room, and in life, to know that it is possible to beat a disease that forces one to be a statistic.
Courtney Cox, Diane’s niece, founded the organization shortly after her death in December 2012. Since Diane’s initial diagnosis in 2002, Courtney became heavily involved in volunteering for various breast cancer organizations. At first it was to end a disease that she saw as a threat to taking her Aunt away earlier than she would have liked; but it soon shifted to helping people whose concerns shouldn’t be research, medical bills, or their loss of hair, but instead enjoying every morning they wake up and fighting to see the next morning. After Diane’s re-diagnosis in 2010, she was introduced to the world of the chemo room. Diane treated the entire experience like a cocktail hour. As they received their liquid IV cocktails, they munched on cookies Diane baked, chatted about their Christmas decorations, their families, and where they were going to go to lunch. She brought hope to a place that hope is not always a priority.
One day after a visit to the chemo room, Diane and Courtney returned home and began to discuss how wonderful some of these women are, but how such little things could restore their faith and hope for beating breast cancer. Some women’s faith was restored simply through learning that Diane’s wig was not actually her real hair, and began to look forward to getting their own. Others were just excited to have a lunch date with friends to look forward to. Others had more complicated financial issues and had to deal with cancer institutes and insurance agencies day in and day out to receive a necessary MRI or chemotherapy treatment. Diane and Courtney decided they would create an organization that would focus on helping people through these issues so they can keep their focus on more than just surviving, but living.
Although the founding of this organization is a bit different from originally planned, there is far more that Diane can do now to help these women. The Foundation is beginning to develop an application process to help support women with quality of life issues and plan various fundraising events. The Foundation will also advocate on behalf of breast cancer patients at the state level to support various breast cancer bills as well as potentially introduce bills that specifically deal with our mission. Our hope is to extend the Foundation to cover the state of Florida, and eventually help women across the nation in living to the fullest despite the diagnosis of breast cancer.
Stay tuned for our development, and thank you for helping to keep Diane’s faith alive.