TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation is celebrating its 20th year of serving breast cancer patients in Sandy Springs, Atlanta, and beyond.
Jill Binkley, a two-time breast cancer survivor, founded the nonprofit organization in 2003 when she noticed there was a lack of any type of rehabilitation offered for those recovering from breast cancer surgery.
Since then, more than 7,200 patients have been treated through more than 40,000 visits, TurningPoint Interim Executive Director Lois Rusco said.
“All the research out there shows that the recovery with this additional rehabilitation is much better and their recovery is often a lot quicker,” she said.
The clinic has seen a 30 percent increase year over year in total patient visits. They even did 1,400 telehealth visits during the pandemic, Rusco said.
What makes TurningPoint different from other rehab center is that they only see breast cancer patients. Physical therapy is specialized to address issues that stem from surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.
The nonprofit also provides massage therapy and support groups for all levels or all stages of cancer patients.
“We also provide nutritional counseling, one-on-one emotional counseling and we just started a new oncology exercise program that is very specific to exercise for breast cancer patients,” Rusco said.
Michel Lee of Alpharetta has taken part in therapy and attended seminars and programming offered by TurningPoint after chemotherapy, radiation treatment and a couple of surgeries. She received her breast cancer diagnosis in 2020, which shocked her because her family and extended family don’t have a history of cancer.
She became aware of TurningPoint after going through the first surgery and started therapy at the Sandy Springs locatioon in early 2021.
Her son, a physical therapist, was visiting Lee during her early recovery process when he mentioned TurningPoint to her. He had hear Jill Binkley, give a presentation to his physical therapy class at the Medical College of Georgia.
Lee said TurningPoint has helped her regain quality of life during her treatment and recovery. That includes treatment for lymphedema, which can set in when lymph nodes are removed.
“Your body becomes stiff and tense and you lose your ability to be flexible. So these exercise classes, for example, are tremendously helpful because they know what part of your body they need to be helping for you to regain control and flexibility,” Lee said.
TurningPoint offers grant-funded programs that focus on the underserved. Its Georgia outreach program reaches northern and southern counties that don’t have the capability for their patients to get to TurningPoint in person.
Virtual sessions of physical therapy also are offered, and transportation assistance can be available by providing Uber, Lyft, MARTA to get patients to the clinic from their homes.
The Atlanta Initiative that opened this summer near Grady Hospital serves patients in Downtown and South Atlanta.
TurningPoint takes all insurances, but that only covers about 40 percent of the cost, Rusco said. Part of that is due to having individual instead of group therapy.
The organization provides funding for those who don’t have insurance, who are underinsured or who can’t afford it, Rusco said. Even those with insurance may get financial assistance.
