Clark: Strong spirit sustains her

When life hands you a lemon, so the old cliché goes, you’ll hopefully find the inner grace to whip up some lemonade.

But what do you make when life pelts you with lemons at the speed of major league fastballs?

Find out in “Loose Screws & Skinned Knees.”

That’s the book Care Tuk has written to chronicle her upbeat and spiritual response to the medical mess that is her life.

“If I wasn’t living this life I wouldn’t believe it, either,” said the former Spokane-area resident who now calls Wasilla, Alaska, home.

To recap:

Tuk’s bouts with cancer now number 11. She’s endured over two dozen knee surgeries and four knee replacements.

Tuk refers to her entire right leg as a prototype. This is due to the way surgeons saved the leg, by skillfully piecing together a number of disparate mechanical parts.

This sort of stuff has been going so long that Tuk’s orthopedic surgeon is the son of her first orthopedic surgeon.

In 1985, both shoulders and her facial bones had to be reconstructed thanks to a drunk driver who nearly killed her.

Her back and neck have been fused twice.

Let’s see. What am I missing?

Oh, yeah. The “brain bleed.” I almost forgot.

Tuk, 56, said she had to re-learn how to walk, talk and feed herself after that event laid her low in 2001.

Tuk and Bill, her carpenter hubby, are back in the area this week on a speaking and book signing tour.

Tonight (4:30-7) Tuk will appear at the Community Hall in Elk. The visit, she said, is sponsored by the Church of the Open Bible.

( You can also order Tuk’s book online through www.CareTuk.com. The price is $15 plus shipping.)

“We’re taking the obstacles and taking all the adversities and turning them into incredible adventures and opportunities,” she said.

Classic Tuk.

It was good to see her again. I wrote a column about Tuk 10 years ago this month. Her unsinkable attitude impressed me so much that I have always considered her a hero.

To be brutally honest, however, I never expected this inspirational woman to survive long enough for a column sequel.

Tuk responded with a knowing laugh when I told her that Wednesday.

Yep. The woman’s seen more close calls than a first base coach.

Cancer struck the first time before she was 20. Her health problems, she once told me, stem from the DES her mother was given to prevent a miscarriage. Years later it was discovered that children of DES recipients incurred cancer at a high rate.

Plenty of people have bum health, of course. What makes Tuk so special is the lack of whining.

She won’t feel sorry for herself. Nor will she blame fate for dealing her a bad hand.

Instead she has channeled her energy into helping others. Tuk became an occupational therapist. She has volunteered with numerous charities like the American Red Cross, the Arthritis Foundation and the Cancer Society.

A decade ago, as Tuk began her comeback from the bleeding inside her skull, the couple moved to Alaska.

Why Alaska?

Family members live there. Plus living in our most remote, rugged state had always been a dream of Bill, a burly ex-wrestler with a shaved head and vice grip of a handshake.

Sunday, by the way, marks the couple’s 35th wedding anniversary. “I don’t know too many guys who would stick it out for this wild ride,” Tuk quipped.

Wasilla, of course, is best known for being the stomping grounds of a certain politician. Tuk said she often would bump into Sarah Palin at places like the local market. This was prior to Palin becoming a national lightning rod, of course.

Today Tuk is in another mortal battle, this time with an aggressive form of colon cancer. After five cycles of chemotherapy, she said the drugs had to be stopped when “I got too toxic.”

Now it’s a waiting game with cancer checks every three months.

Tuk remains nonplussed.

“Everybody expects this to be moan-and-groan,” she said. “Why? You just get it out and every day you live is a bonus.”

And so it goes for the remarkable woman with a catchy name.