Motivational speaker finds new drive in cancer fight

San Francisco resident Reva Lee used to do magic tricks when she toured as a motivational speaker for large corporations.

She set a dollar bill on fire, closed it in a book, then opened the book to reveal a crisp new bill.

"I'd tell the audience that we are all magicians and can make resources out of nowhere," she said.

Now, finding resources from out of the blue is a matter of life and death for Lee. Earlier this year, Lee, 46, was diagnosed with leukemia.

Lee, who has her own speaking agency, is currently unable to work and her health insurance is about to run out. She is battling her previous employer's insurance carrier to underwrite the $375,000 cost of a bone marrow transplant.

In all likelihood, Lee will have to pay for 10 percent of the costs plus $50,000 for finding a matching bone marrow donor. She's already filed for Medicare and food stamps. Other medical bills have been pouring in daily while she awaits the Aug. 10 operation.

An active member of the Jewish community, has been a longtime volunteer at her synagogue, the Conservative Congregation B'nai Shalom in Walnut Creek, where she lived until recently. These days, Lee has been talking her away across the Bay Area, asking for donations to keep her going.

"It doesn't matter what education you have. This can happen to anyone. I'm going forward to share my story. I feel I was chosen to have this for a reason. If I'm a speaker, I need to speak out and speak up."

Lee certainly can get her point across. She barrels her way through conversations with enough energy to light a small city.

So far, her fund-raising activities have included organizing a charity ball and auction, sending out hundreds of fliers to former clients asking for donations and convincing several Bay Area restaurants to give 15 percent of one night's earnings to her cause. Additionally, she's received grants from other organizations and a Girl Scout troop had a bake sale for her.

Lee has raised about $20,000 so far.

"I'm known for my creativity and innovation. That's my legacy I'll leave to my kids. I'll have no money left; it's all gone," said Lee, who has a daughter, 15, and a son, 8. Lee's own mother died at the age of 45 from a brain tumor.

If Lee's insurance company takes a different tack and decides to foot the entire bill, Lee said she'd gladly give the money she raised to other leukemia patients. She's also like to start a fund at her synagogue.

Even if Lee can't offer money to others like herself, she's trying to set an example.

"I'm helping other people know how to be resourceful for themselves," she said.

"Most people would crawl up and do victim stuff. God chose me for a reason. Even when you have no money, you can still make a difference for people you don't know."

On Tuesday, Lee will begin four days of radiation therapy. Then she'll receive two days of chemotherapy. She'll have one day of rest and then a bone marrow transplant.

Although Lee can't work, she's been trying to record her experiences in a book and a screenplay. The character of Yoda from "Star Wars" could play her in a movie, she said, because "I'm going to lose my hair. Plus he asks good questions."

Last Friday, as Lee spoke on the phone from home, a volunteer from San Francisco's Jewish Family and Children's Services came to visit.

The visitor had lost his partner to AIDS several years ago and now said he enjoyed coming to help other people. While there, Lee had him hang some art on her walls; she didn't have the strength to do it herself.

"The people I've met on this journey have been incredible," Lee said. "Oy, this is difficult...I'm going to win this one."