COMMUNITY

To Jim Dudley, Paul Bunn was as much a friend as he was medical oncologist. So when Bunn, a lung cancer expert, asked Jim to donate money to buy a new spiral CT machine in 1996, Jim made his first gift to the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

The Dudleys take a tour of UCCC labs.

“Jim and Paul were in cahoots on that one,” said his wife, Elisabeth, with a smile. Since then, the Dudley family has continued to support UCCC and the University of Colorado Denver at a leadership level.

“We believe in how (Bunn) does it,” said son Henry Dudley. “He had such a huge impact on all of us from the beginning.”

When Jim was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in 1994, his Tucson doctor gave him six months to live and promised to make him comfortable. David, their oldest son, gave his parents other ideas.

“This is not like the old days,” he told them. “You must educate yourselves about your options.”

A pathologist friend of the family told them that Bunn—the person to see—was in Denver, where David lives. The next day, Jim and Elisabeth moved to Colorado.

“Sloan-Kettering was nearby in New York City,” said daughter Sarah Dudley Plimpton. “But going there was not an option, because my father was treated like an individual in Denver. That made all the difference. It helped him to fight.”

Elisabeth Dudley

By the end of their first visit with Bunn, the family knew what their goals were. He designed a protocol especially for Jim, combining high doses of radiation therapy with chemotherapy—a clinical trial which is now standard of care.

Elisabeth easily recounts all the ways Bunn gave Jim excellent care—the way he looked them in the eye as he explained each point and asked, “Do you get it?”… the time she had to rush her husband to the emergency room, and Bunn beat them there … the renowned radiation oncologist he coaxed out of retirement to treat Jim’s tumors.

“He did so many things; he was so thoughtful … he’s such a compassionate person,” Elisabeth said.

Stage IV lung cancer has had a grim prognosis for many years. Without therapy, median survival is four to five months. Now, about 20 percent of patients are still alive at two years and about 5 percent at five years.

Jim died in September 1998. “We had nearly four years, and a lot of that was good living,” Elisabeth said.

In 2000, the Dudley family created the James Dudley/Paul Bunn Chair in Cancer Research for Bunn. This spring, they made another leadership gift to help create the Paul A. Bunn, Jr., MD, Endowed Chair in Cancer Research.

“It is an honor to hold any endowed chair,” said Bunn, UCCC director and professor of Medicine at UC Denver. “It is all the more special if you have had an exceptional relationship with the donor and his family, as I did with Jim and his family.”

Elisabeth said her family is fortunate enough to be able to make a little difference in the world. They continue to support UCCC, which  she calls “outstanding, with great promise.

“Look at what it’s doing for humanity, for this massive problem we have called cancer,” she said. “It’s a place we believe in.”

You can join the Dudleys by making a donation to UCCC. Make a secure, online gift at www.uccc.info/give.