Note: This profile about the Terhune family is the cover feature for the July issue of Centerville-Washington Neighbors Magazine, which is mailed monthly to 3,661 homes in Centerville and Washington Township. I am posting it here for people who do not receive the magazine. Photos are by Ashley Mauro of Ashley Mauro Photography.
By Jeff Louderback
On a bright, cheerful Sunday afternoon, the weather reflects the mood in the farmhouse kitchen of Patrick and Kylene’s Colorado lodge-style sanctuary.
Immersed in a conversation with a visitor, they relax around the island adorned with Italian marble and reflect on the start of their new chapter. It’s a journey that is seven years in the making, and it’s an odyssey that has seen them wait through a two-year building process, and more importantly, Kylene’s battle with cancer.
“We are figurately and literally celebrating life,” Kylene said with a smile. “We’ve known each other for nine years, we’ve been married for seven years, and over the last few years we’ve overcome obstacles that have made this moment even more meaningful.”
Move-in day coincides with Kylene’s one-year anniversary of being in remission for Hodgkin disease, and she is commemorating the milestone with their new home and her recently released book, “Healthy Through Hodgkin’s: How one woman combined conventional medicine with natural methods to cure her cancer and support her body.”
A Miamisburg native who earned a degree in vocal performance at Wright State University, Kylene is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and Autoimmune Protocol Coach. A former opera singer who struggled with her own health challenges, Kylene now works with women across the country using functional lab testing to help them uncover the hidden stressors making them feel sick and tired.
She attributes her health background to successfully enduring chemotherapy treatments and surviving cancer. Patrick’s experience contributed to the recovery, too, Kylene believes. A Miami native who earned a degree in military history from West Point, he served for nine years in the U.S. Army commanding Black Hawk units.
“West Point teaches you how to lead, and I’ve been in leadership roles throughout my career,” Patrick said. “No matter what obstacle you face, you develop a plan and start attacking it, inch by inch. That philosophy applies to everyday life, too, especially in times of crisis with your family.”
Almost a decade before this realization of living in their dream home, Patrick and Kylene were introduced through a friend, via social media, in 2011. The couple went on a date – the kind of date where conversation freely flows, and dinner turns into drinks and more conversation. They were married in 2013.
Patrick’s mission-focused leadership, and Kylene’s devoted interest in nutrition, proved beneficial in two separate health challenges she faced.
In 2015, the young married couple faced their first challenging test. Kylene encountered what she terms as a “two-week long panic attack.” Her was frequently in tears. She couldn’t sleep. She didn’t want to be alone, and she was comforted by Patrick and her mother.
“I didn’t know what was wrong, and the doctor offered me an anti-depressant, but I felt like it was something different than that,” she said. “I knew something in my body was really wrong, and I wanted to know what it was.”
She became immersed in natural health books, podcasts, and blogs. That led her to hormone testing, which determined the root of her discomfort.
She earned a certification in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition and started a business working with other women who needed support and help with their chronic and complex digestive issues.
“I had made all of these positive changes with my health and wellness, and I thought that was behind me, and then in February 2019, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma,” Kylene said.
Kylene’s cancer diagnosis was a monumental shock. For Hodgkin’s patients, the efficacy rate of conventional chemotherapy is 95% or above. But Kylene knew it wouldn’t be enough, so she also used nutrition, supplemental support, integrative oncology, spiritual awareness and emotional healing to achieve the best results and limit side effects.
“I was stage 1A when diagnosed meaning there was only one tumor that was active and it was small,” Kylene said. “I knew that everything I had done over the past few years had either slowed it down to stopped the progression.”
She details the experience in Healthy Through Hodgkins. where she shares her journey through cancer utilizing integrative treatment and promotes patients taking an active role in their treatment.
Fast forward to today. Kylene continues to run a practice helping women that struggle with chronic digestive complaints and offering similar support to those who have been out of chemotherapy for six months or more and want support during recovery.
Their new Colorado lodge style home features a basement with two bedrooms, a central living room area, a fitness center, and Patrick’s library. Call it the quintessential man cave. The sliding wooden door that leads to the library has a handle made from Patrick’s West Point sabre. The walls are adorned with framed artwork of Black Hawks presented to him from those he commanded. The room also appeals to the couple’s 16-year-old Keegan, who plays trumpet in the Centerville High School marching bands and is considering attending one of the service academies, or MIT. He carries a 4.5 grade point average while taking AP classes.
Patrick, Kylene says, was her advocate and her emotional support, which helped lift her when she felt she could not fall any lower. She strives to provide support to clients, regardless of what they are facing.
“Hope is an incredible part of healing journey. I’m grateful for every step and every obstacle because it’s led to where we are right now,” she said. “I look at each day with anticipation and the chance to make a beneficial impact because I can tell people I’ve been where they are now, and there is hope for the future.”