This past June, I had the pleasure of attending a book launch and signing for the terrific new book “Lucky Dog: How Being a Veterinarian Saved My Life” by Dr. Sarah Boston. What made this signing unique was that Sarah spent part of her life right here in Saskatoon and studied veterinary medicine at the University of Saskatchewan.

“Lucky Dog” is the touching, mind-boggling, and often hilarious story of how this renowned veterinary oncologist was forced to become her own advocate when she discovered a suspicious growth in her neck. Her experience working with small animals triggered her fears that the growth very likely was thyroid cancer. However, getting the health care system to validate her suspicions proved to be a long and arduous challenge for Dr. Boston.

Drawing from her experiences as a veterinary surgical oncologist, Sarah could not help but become frustrated, and more than a little angry, with how long it took for her to be seen by physicians and oncology specialists. Her furry patients travel quickly along their journeys with cancer from diagnosis, to surgery, treatments, and follow-up – usually within weeks. While, their human counterparts often have to wait for months and months to even begin their journeys.

Once I started reading “Lucky Dog”, I found I simply could not put it down. Through her use of sharp humour, and inner strength, I found myself wanting to stand up, cheer, and shout – “You go girl!” Sadly, Sarah’s story echoes many of stories shared by HOPE members. For those members who do not have Sarah’s medical background, experience, and personal grit, HOPE must step up to advocate and fight on their behalf.

A copy “Lucky Dog” signed by the author is available through the HOPE Resource Library. You have my personal guarantee that you will be inspired and entertained by this marvelous book.

By: Donna Boyce, Coordinator, HOPE Cancer Help Centre

A heartfelt thank you to all the runners, walkers, volunteers and sponsors who made this year's Race for Recovery a success. With help from our friends at Clavet Composite School, HOPE raised close to $50,000 to support people with cancer in Saskatoon.

Check out the action from this year's race in photos, and feel free to share them.

Take a closer look at some of the stories behind this year's Race for Recovery, especially that of 28-year old Lisa Helgason, who convinced 18 co-workers, family members and friends to don leopard-print gear as they walked and ran the Race. Helgason is currently battling adenoid cystic carcinoma. She was diagnosed with the rare form of cancer in March, just one week after she got married. 

You can also see this year's top individual fund-raisers and a tribute to one of HOPE's founding members in our Summer Newsletter 2014.pdf (2.65 mb).

Wow! The rain held off, we had a great walk and fun run, and capped it all off with a relaxed Sunday picnic in the park with music from the Karpinka brothers.  What a great way to celebrate 25 years of HOPE. Have a peek at a few of the photos we snapped along the trail...

Please give yourself ample time to park at the Race for Recovery. There'll be a drop-off zone right at Meewasin Park, but the City of Saskatoon frowns on anyone parking along Spadina. Residential side streets are a much better bet!

The forecast calls for a high of anywhere from 16C to 19C for Race Day, under mostly cloudy skies with a 40% chance of showers. Each registered participant gets a white HOPE T-shirt this year. See you there!

With HOPE in its 25th year, and with just seven days to go until this year's Race for Recovery, take a closer look at what's pushing race chair Dennis Flaherty to the finish line. Here's his recent interview with Ned Powers in the Saskatoon Express. 

Please take a moment to remember Lilah Brehon, one of the three women who founded the HOPE Cancer Help Centre 25 years ago. After a long battle with cancer, Brehon died at St. Paul's Hospital on May 10, 2014. Her funeral will be held at Grosvenor Park United Church at 10:00 a.m. Friday, May 23.

Lilah Brehon was a wonderful person, whose energy and spirit built HOPE into an organization that reaches out to all cancer survivors, regardless of their type or diagnosis. She was an integral part of the Race for Recovery. Always putting others before herself, she won the Saskatoon YWCA's "Woman of Distinction" award in 2001, along with HOPE's other two co-founders, Marie Thiesson and Olga Stefaniuk. 

"I always hated when people who, as soon as they heard somebody had cancer, decided they were going to die the next day," said Brehon, in a Saskatoon Express interview last year. "So I wanted to make this group all that time ago. You have to think positively because if you do it will help your immune system." (Here's a PDF version of that article - Lilah Brehon (April 2013).pdf (65.54 kb))

Congratulations to Julie Krug-MacLeod, the winner of a $50 Wal-Mart gift card in our early-bird registration draw. 

Registering online makes it that much easier to hit up friends and family for donations. It makes race day that much simpler for walkers and runners too. Why not give it a try?

Jean Epp-Gauthier will host a 'Mandala' workshop at the HOPE Cancer Help Centre in Saskatoon, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday, May 10, 2014. 

"The mandala appears in all aspects of life, from the celestial circles we call the earth, sun and moon, to the conceptual circles of friends, family, and community. Through art therapy, this workshop will provide a creative visual and experiential demonstration of healing, unity, and peace." 

The cost is $10 (or a donation). To find out more or to register, call (306) 955-4673.

Sometimes the feelings and emotions evoked by cancer can feel like just too much to process.

That's where the power of the written word, and 'peeling back the layers' helps.