NONPROFIT
By Tricia Moore | Photo courtesy of Laura’s Chair
Reclining Into Recovery
With every retelling, the story of a cancer diagnosis accumulates a quiet, exhausting weight that survivors and caregivers are forced to carry. As a breast cancer survivor, Laura D’Spain simply wanted to leave that chapter behind and move forward with her life.
Yet, as time passed, she realized true healing meant taking hold of her past to pay forward the overwhelming support that carried her through treatment. Driven by deep gratitude for the community that surrounded her during her cancer journey, she transformed her experience into a lifeline for others. “If I felt that comfort, I wanted others to feel it too,” D’Spain said. “Once you’ve walked through an experience like this, you gain the power to help someone else heal.”
D’Spain’s nonprofit, Laura’s Chair, evolved organically. A good friend, Kim Tandy, provided the first chair. “I bug Kim now about that first reclining chair she brought me, as it had a handle on the side,” D’Spain said, jokingly, “not electric like the ones we now provide to patients.”
During recovery from surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation, D’Spain practically lived in the recliner Kim provided; it became a sanctuary where she slept, ate and spent her grueling months healing.
“Kim saw my need,” D’Spain said, reflecting on the profound impact of having proper support during a time when simple movements felt impossible. “You don’t forget how you have to navigate the world with limited use of your arms following mastectomy surgery.”
Years later, that generous gesture from a thoughtful friend became the inspiration for Laura’s Chair, turning one woman’s personal lifeline into a mission to offer the same comfort and dignity to other breast cancer patients. Laura’s Chair offers the free use of lift recliners to breast cancer patients in recovery in Washington and Benton counties.
The loss of full mobility in the arms following mastectomy surgery makes it difficult to get in and out of chairs without putting pressure on your arms or chest. The recliners also offer body support. “The recliner, for me, was a healing and sanity saver,” D’Spain said. “Sleeping in a chair where you aren’t trying to wedge pillows is a much better option.”
Patients can request a chair on the nonprofit’s website through a simple form, and D’Spain herself will text them back. She and her husband, Jay D’Spain, will drop off the chair — typically a day or two before it is needed — and pick it up when the patient has completed treatment. The chairs are synthetic leather for easy cleaning and come in two pieces.
The couple finds making these deliveries very rewarding. D’Spain also finds joy in texting with the patients because she wants them to know that someone cares about them. “I’m not just dropping off a chair; I’m dropping off hope,” she said.
D’Spain encourages the patient to put the chair in their living area, where their family life is. “This is me, here I am,” D’Spain said, believing this mindset helps with a mindful recovery. Placing the recliner in the family area helps patients continue to be a part of their family and daily life.
Some resist having the chairs at first, D’Spain said, “but when we pick them up, people are grateful.” Laura loves picking the chairs up. It’s usually the patient’s partner that says, “I can’t believe how much we needed it; it’s a lifesaver.”
Attending local cancer support meetings at Washington Regional’s J.B. Hunt Cancer Support Home, Highlands Oncology and Hope Cancer Resources has helped spread the word about the nonprofit. “Through these visits, I have been connected to nurse navigators,” D’Spain said. “I can’t say enough about the nurse navigators. They are truly amazing.”
As word has spread, the number of recliners managed by D’Spain has grown. Now, the growing effort requires a dedicated vehicle to transport and deliver chairs. D’Spain hopes to acquire three more recliners by the end of the year, bringing the total to 20. “We went from two chairs to 17 chairs in three years,” D’Spain said. “Recipients typically keep a chair for four to six weeks during recovery.”
Twelve years after Kim Tandy provided D’Spain with her initial recliner, Tandy had to call her friend with the news of her own breast cancer diagnosis. D’Spain brought her a chair.
Receiving that call was heartbreaking for D’Spain, but after Tandy completed her treatment, the journey came full circle, proving how paying kindness forward really does come back around.