‘Embracing life’: Cancer survivors share stories during Daffodil Month

“About five and a half hours later of being tested, it was almost like watching an episode of ‘House,’” he said of the staff’s methods.

“The swelling and the pain wasn’t really diminishing,” Leslie said.

After more time elapsed, the doctor came back and this time with a specialist – an oncologist.

“They told me I had cancer.”

Ames Leslie was diagnosed with testicular cancer in December 2022. (Submitted Photo/Ames Leslie)

Karilee Tady was 48-years-old when two of her friends and her sister-in-law were diagnosed with breast cancer.

“They were young,” she said.

“I was like ‘I wonder when a person starts getting mammograms.’”

After going to her doctor, she was informed that tests don’t start until 50.

Since Tady was two-years shy of that mark, she had the test, and it was clear though it became a yearly routine check-up. Until September 2021.

“The week after [the test] I went to see my friend out in (British Columbia).”

After a few days, Tady started getting calls from numbers she didn’t recognize so she ignored them. When they returned home, she went to collect the mail and there was a letter from the Breast Health Centre.

“I thought ‘Oh, that’s weird,’ so I opened it up and it they said, ‘Something suspicious and we’ve been trying to get a hold of you, can you please call us.’”

Tady explained she thought the abnormality was from known calcification on her left breast but when she made the call, they told her it was on her right side.

Following an ultrasound, she was again informed there was something suspicious and they sent her for a biopsy. After a month of going back and forth with phone calls, early November rolled around.

“November 3rd I got diagnosed and then more appointments and MRIs and this and that and the other thing, and then they said I had to meet with the surgeon,” she said of her early days.

Kerilee Tady visits her dad Don Chartier. (submitted/Kerilee Tady)

April is Daffodil Month and throughout the month, the Canadian Cancer Society is encouraging people to donate and “Help hope bloom.”

“It started out 65-years-ago – Daffodil Month – as a tea party by some volunteers and now it’s a big national movement celebrating that rich legacy of really changing the future of cancer in Canada,” said Robin Speer, volunteer and member of the Canadian Cancer Society board of directors.

“The daffodil is a resilient flower, it survives the harsh Canadian winter and is one first flowers that bloom in the spring so, it’s a really great, strong symbol of hope.”

For Leslie, who believed it was his appendix flaring up, a diagnosis of testicular cancer was unexpected.

“I was shocked and went home and told my wife,” he said.

Critical

The journey of the cancer patient began in earnest and Leslie joined the millions of others navigating the medical labyrinth.

“The medical system worked well for me,” he said of his plan that started within days of him getting the news.

“The tumour had ruptured, and I guess that’s where the pain manifested, it’s a weird situation,” said Leslie.

“It was critical.”

Ames, who is also the Mayor of Battleford, was put on the surgical priority list but was warned by the specialist it might not happen until Christmas Eve.

“It added another level of stress and then without any exaggeration, we weren’t even out of the parking lot when he phoned and said, ‘Can you be here on Friday,’ which was four days from that moment.”

Tady also had a straightforward experience with the medical system. She had been told by her care team that she would be going to Saskatoon for treatment but before she could start chemotherapy, she would need an electrocardiogram first.

“While I was in there, I got another call because I had had an MRI in the meantime that they found another bump,” she said.

“The oncologist called me after my ECG and he just said, ‘the chemo that we’re giving you for the right side is plenty for the left.’”

Kerilee Tady crosses the finish line during last year’s Edmonton MudGirl event. (MudGirl Photo)

Within days of being told she may need to wait because of scheduling, she was hooked up to an intravenous drip and receiving the medication.

“I had to go every week for 12 weeks and then I started another cocktail, and it was every other week for eight weeks,” Tady said, noting she was unable to complete the last dose.

“That got me to the middle of April of 2022.”

By May, she was scheduled and prepped for surgery, after which, she was placed on another drug that summer for a year before moving to an oral drug which she’s still on.

“Here I am.”

According to Speer, the important thing is to talk.

“I think that’s really key. You know, understanding the journey that cancer patients face, and the reality is an issue that affects all of us, he said.

“Nearly half of people in Canada – one in two – are expected to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.”

He explained that currently, about 1.5 million people living with or are beyond the disease nationally and every three minutes someone in the country hears those three words: “You have cancer.”

The experience was difficult for Leslie’s family – his children were out of province for university and were unable to be home.

“Thank goodness for the evolution of Facetime and video calls,” he said, noting he was grateful for his support network.

“My wife was a godsend right, and she put her life aside to make sure mine was everything I needed,” he said.

Support network

“If you don’t have that, I think it would be really hard ‘cause the Cancer Society is underfunded, they’re understaffed, there’s just so many people out there that I think if you don’t have strong support systems at home, going through this experience would be very difficult.”

Getting this particular form he believes came from his career as a firefighter. Around the time of the public announcement of his diagnosis, it was discovered protective gear has cancer causing agents in it.

“It almost compounds the frustration and the anger at the time of when the diagnosis comes out is I was bound to lose,” he said.

“You’re doing something many firefighters – men and women across this country and North America – choose to be firefighters to make a difference and that act could put them at risk.”

Ames Leslie shows off a special Edmonton Oilers jersey. (Submitted Photo/Ames Leslie)

Tady said she too had a good support network around her and was able to do some of her treatment at the Battlefords Union Hospital. As the pandemic raged around the world, she received chemo on her own.

“Every once in a while, I’d think ‘Seriously, this is my life right now?’”

Her diagnosis was also somewhat of a surprise as it the disease isn’t prevalent in her family, save her parents whose diseases were removed without incident or reoccurrence.

“All I did was cry for days and days and days, ‘cause I was basically planning my funeral.”

Speer said to take on cancer and overcome, it takes everyone.

“When people do come together and wear those pins and make those donations and have those conversations and share that information, that’s the profound progress that’s possible,” he said.

The experience has changed the way Leslie sees the world.

A new focus

“I’m embracing life. I think it’s changed my perspective of focus and my ambitions in life,” he said.

Last year he made the decision to make some personal changes and takes breaks that life affords him.

“When you go through something like this it changes your priorities pretty quickly.”

Both are doing well and are working their way through the first five years following diagnosis. Leslie and Tady said becoming your own advocate is important and Tady champions early detection.

“If something is off, don’t ignore what’s happening to you,” she said.

A CIBC Run for the Cure event is scheduled for this fall and the Battlefords are an official location.

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

On X: jls194864

by Julia Lovett-Squires

‘Embracing life’: Cancer survivors share stories during Daffodil Month

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