CLEVELAND — Spending time in the hospital on days like Valentine’s Day can be difficult and isolating.
That’s why Julia Oppman decided to spread love in a special way by delivering care packages with handwritten notes and goodies to cancer patients undergoing treatment at Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.
“This year I didn’t even know if I was going to get to it, but she (my daughter) is the one that really pushed me. She said, 'Mom, we’re still doing it this year,' so she was the project manager this year and he (my son) was the little helper,” Oppman said.
On Valentine’s Day seven years ago, Oppman said she started this yearly tradition as a way to celebrate what she thought would be her last day of chemotherapy for AML, a rare and aggressive form of leukemia.
“Unfortunately, the tables were turned, and things happened, and I relapsed and needed a transplant,” said Oppman.
Eventually, Oppman did receive the life-saving transplant and is now cancer-free.
But her mission of spreading love has continued, which is a journey we’ve been following since we first met Oppman in 2023.
RELATED: 2-time cancer survivor spreads Valentine's Day love to cancer patients for 5th year in a row
“Every little thing that we can do for them in addition to the treatment we give goes a long way. It makes them feel heard, seen and loved and I think we all need that,” said Mitry Patel at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center.
“We’re all thinking of people undergoing treatment and cancer,” said Oppman. “We wanted to share the love and spread awareness that don’t be lonely. There are people out there that have been in your shoes and have been there.”
Oppman said she looks forward to carrying on the tradition once again next year.
