Dave Balch
FOUNDER OF COPINGUNIVERSITY.COM SINCE 2002
Dave Balch has a unique, inspiring, and loving story to share, coupled with the experience, desire, and ability to share it.
Dave Balch supported his wife through four successful battles with breast cancer, going with her to over 250 medical appointments and caring for her during six surgeries, two rounds of chemotherapy, and three rounds of radiation treatments. He did everything from bathing her to making her meals to changing her surgical dressings, all while maintaining his home software business and taking care of a ranch, two horses, two cats, two dogs, and a really mean parrot.
As a result of this experience, he founded The Patient/Partner Project (The PPP), home-based in Southern California, which is focused on reducing stress and restoring hope through:
- online services and information
- an award-winning book, Cancer for Two
- Caring and Coping, a free monthly newsletter
- CopingUniversity.com, an online multi-media library of educational programs to teach coping skills
- CUFeeds.com, over 600 multi-media content items focused on stress-reduction, available for delivery by email and/or web pages, Twitter feeds, and Facebook pages
- Live presentations
- DVDs of live presentation
He considers his wife’s successful four bouts with breast cancer to be his battles, too. Resources for caregivers were limited and now he is providing others with some resources he wished he had had at the time.
Dave received his Bachelor of Sciences degree in Business Data Processing and spent 15 years in the corporate jungle. Then, in 1982, he formed A Few Good People, Inc. and developed a software product for the corporate market that he marketed and supported from his home for over 20 years. Now he is devoting all of his time to helping cancer patients cope and thrive and refers to himself as a “recovering programmer.”
An inspiring speaker, Dave’s presentation is based on his wife’s and his personal cancer journey. “You Can Handle More Than You Think You Can” offers some of the coping strategies that enabled them to get through it successfully.