Press | Turner Health

Turning Cancer into Truimph: Survivors Become Entrepreneurs

When Nancy Turner rode home from the hospital, she had a lot on her mind. Doctors had removed her left breast a year earlier, and this time they'd removed her right breast. She had months of chemotherapy ahead of her, two young children and a husband to care for and a business that demanded her attention. She was looking for answers to life's big questions--about her priorities, her family, decisions she'd made in the past and decisions she'd face in the future. One questionn Turner was asking herself was "Why did Mother Nature give the kangaroo a pouch, but not the human?"

It was this question that haunted Turner in the weeks after surgery, the weeks she spent clutching the small egg-shaped drainage tube that hung under her right arm. During a mastectomy, doctors insert drainage tubes to drain excess fluid that could cause infection. Before survivors leave the hospital, doctors may remove one of the tubes, but most people go home with at least one still in place.

Turner describes the frustration of trying to keep the drainage tube in place during the painful weeks after surgery. She tried taping it to her body, but the tape quickly lost its hold. She tried tucking it into the elastic waistband of her underwear, where it slipped and pulled. She tried a number of other options, but none of them was satisfactory.

It was in the shower that the idea for the Marsupial® started taking shape in Turner's mind. Like the kangaroo, thought Turner, the post mastectomy survivor needs a pouch. Turner looked to the healthcare industry for help, but there was nothing on the market for her. So she decided to use her textile and marketing background to find an answer--for herself and for other women like her.

The result is the Marsupial, an adjustable terry cloth belt with attachable pouches. The belt snaps comfortably around the survivor's waist, and small pouches attach to either or both sides of the belt. Women slip the drainage tubes into the belt's pouches, freeing their hands and arms. "Best of all," says Turner, "the Marsupial can be worn at night, during the day--and in the shower." Ater a shower, women pat dry, snap on a new belt, insert tubes into the dry pouches and drop the wet belt in the laundry. "It's a patient care product," says Turner, "just when women need convenience most."

The Marsupial can be worn alone (no need for the elastic waistband of underwear to hold tubes). Turner also has designed an easy-to-put-on lounging robe to wear over the Marsupial. Both products are aimed at offering breast cancer survivors the freedom of movement, comfort and independence so vitally important in the recovery period.

Postmastectomy Drainage Pouch

For women recovering from a mastectomy, Greenville, SC-based Turner Healthcare Products Inc offers a simple solution to a common problem. The Marsupial, an adjustable terry cloth belt that features attachable pouches, gives patients recovering from the surgery a convenient place to carry their drainage tubes. It keeps the user's hands free during every activity, even showering, while safely holding the drainage tube without painful pulling or shifting. The Marsupial was designed by a post-mastectomy patient seeking to solve her own problem of living with a drainage tube. Turner offers other products, such as an easy-to-put on lounging robe, designed to help postmastectomy patients perform activities of daily living during their recovery.

What's Worked for Me: The Practical Pouch--A Place to Protect Your Surgical Drains

In the first few days after breast surgery, the last thing you want to deal with are irritating and clumsy surgical drains. The floppy tubes and bag, which collect the fluid that accumulates after surgery, have to be pinned to clothing or held in your hands--unless you tuck them away in a Marsupial Pouch, a terry cloth bag with an attachable, adjustable terry belt specifically designed to hold them.

Distributed by Derma Sciences in Princeton, New Jersey, this very practical pouch was designed by breast cancer survivor Nancy Floyd Turner.

She first entertained the pouch concept while recovering from her second surgery seven years ago. "I was standing in the shower with a sore arm trying to balance my soap, shampoo, washcloth and drainage tube and thought, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if people were like kangaroos?'"

Turner, who used to work in institutional textiles, took her design to a manufacturer she knew from her days in the business. She quickly sold him on the idea: The Marsupial Pouch was test-marketed in 1994, and debuted at the 1996 Oncology Nurses Society Trade Show. "Nurses kept saying, 'Why didn't I think of this?'" Turner says.

Turner's light-weight pouch can be worn when showering, sleeping or performing daily tasks. It comes in a twin-pack, and each pouch holds up to two drains.

Breast cancer survivor Jane Crowder of Spartanburg, South Carolina wore her Marsupial Pouch to bed and out on the town. "Before my firend brough me the pouch, it was so embarrassing when I went out--I felt like everybody could see that bloody bag," says Crowder. "Afterwards, I just fastened the pouch belt around my waist and wore a long top over it."

At the Breast Cancer Center at the United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, every breast cancer patient is given a Marsupial Pouch. "It feels more secure. People don't like to feel like the drains are dangling," says Lyn Ceronsky, a clinical nurse specialist. Ceronsky notes that the pouch is also helpful for ovarian and cervical cancer patients who are recovering from abdominal surgery. "When [patients are] walking around the hospital, it's nice to have one less tube to worry about ," Ceronsky says.

Local Businesswoman Invents Mastectomy Breakthrough

Local businesswoman and Greenville native Nancy Floyd Turner--a two time survivor of breast cancer--has patented a medical product to help breast cancer survivors cope with the aftermath of a mastectomy.

"This is a product that can actually impove the quality of life for a patient recovering from surgery," said Turner, the president of Turner Healthcare Products, Inc.

Turner should know. She personally faced the physical and emotional challenges of recoveries from two mastectomies in the last five years. A mother of two, Turner was first diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 29 years old. After a mastectomy and chemotherapy, a second cancerous lump was detected in her breast, prompting another mastectomy.

Besides coping with the nausea of chemotherapy and the emotional trauma of facing their own mortality, breast cancer survivors often must deal with cumbersome drainage tubes, Turner said. The tubes are inserted by surgeons to remove liquid from the surgical site before infection can occur.

As with many new products, the Marsupial®--an adjustable terry cloth belt with an attachable pouch--was born from Turner's own need as a breast cancer survivor.

I was standing in the shower after my second surgery with a sore arm trying to balance my soap, shampoo, washcloth, and drainage tube, and thought, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if people were like kangaroos with a pouch to hold everything?'"

As soon as she was back on her feet, Turner--a veteran textile marketing executive--set out to help other cancer survivors with the invention of the Marsupial.

The Marsupial Pouch, which patients can wear at all times (including in the shower) allows post mastectomy patients to free their hands from the necessary drainage tubes. To complement the Marsupial, Turner has also developed a lounging gown and mammogram examination robe.

Besides helping breast cancer survivors, the Marsupial can be used to treat patients recovering from cardiac and orthopedic surgeries that require drains.

Since she received the product patent in July, the product has been flying off the shelves of her local distribution warehouse. The product has been featured in Coping magazine, a publication devoted to cancer recovery techniques, and has been well received by physicians and patients.

"I recently had a lumpectomy and my drains stayed in for two weeks. I think the Marsupial is the greatest product. Having it was very helpful to me, so I am now ordering one for a friend in Michigan who is getting ready for surgery," said Mary Hrbek, of Dallas, Texas.

To keep pace with the demand for her product and expand distribution, Turner has signed a deal with a Minneapolis distruibutor to market the product in the Twin Cities area. She continues to sell the Marsupial to hospitals, surgeons and individuals through her 1-800 telephone number.

"As I expand my distribution, I take heart in the fact that this would never have been possible without a supportive family. My entire family--my husband, my parents, and my sisters--were a continual source of support during my diagnosis, treatment, and recovery," Turner said.

With the life experience gained from two mastectomies and successful recoveries, Turner remains active in community affairs, sharing her story with other families underoging the trauma of breast cancer and recovery. She speaks to high school students, oncology nurses and others about breast cancer and recovery. Last year, Turner served as co-chair for the Upstate Race for the Cure, a 5K Walk/Run that earns money for breast cancer education and research.