Keynote Presentation: 
Finding Positivity, Gratitude & Humor on the Road to Recovery

Carol Turner, MD
 

Dr. Carol Turner is a mom, wife, physician, outdoor recreation enthusiast, and cancer patient - in that order. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas in Austin and her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She went on to complete her pediatrics residency at the University of Colorado Affiliated Hospitals in Denver, and her fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital. She then practiced pediatric emergency medicine at Children’s Hospital in Denver for ten years before opening her own solo rural primary care pediatric practice in the foothills southwest of Denver.

Despite being diagnosed with a rare combination of conditions, she refuses to let her illness define who she is. She isn’t afraid to get up close and personal with her cancers. “Waldy” is her pet name for Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia, a rare bone marrow lymphoma. Waldy is joined by “Myelo,” also known as Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a cancer that affects the stem cells in the bone marrow. She is the only known cancer patient in the world to experience both conditions simultaneously.

As a physician, Dr. Turner is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with healthcare providers and be her own strongest advocate. Through her knowledge and passion for helping others, her story is a breath of fresh air for anyone who faces similar cancer treatment challenges.