My story began just shy of my eighth birthday. We were living in small town Saskatchewan, just a “normal” little family of four. I would bruise easily but I was always a klutz and covered in bruises so that in itself didn't stand out! I started to get pretty tired all the time and my legs were eventually so sore that I didn't want to walk the half a block to school so my mom knew something wasn't right and booked a Dr's appointment. She worked in the health field herself and decided not to wait for my Thursday appointment and took me to work with her Tuesday instead. By 10pm that night, my parents got the call that I had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and by 6am the next morning, we were on the road to Saskatoon, basically moving overnight.
The Doctor at the Cancer Clinic told my parents had they of waited for my appointment on Thursday, I wouldn't have made it. I immediately began 26 months of chemotherapy and amazingly, went into remission in just six days.
I'm 41 now and in some aspects, it seems like a lifetime ago but in others, it still seems like just yesterday. I went for annual checkups at the pediatric cancer clinic until I was 35 and many of the staff there felt like family after all those years.
Looking back, the support of the community and complete strangers was nothing short of amazing and mind blowing. People stepped up in such a huge way to support my family and I and it's reasons like that why I want to give back. I participate as a Survivor but I do it for all my fellow Warriors, past and present.
