Everything has a silver lining. It’s all about how you look at things.

“Finger pricks meant I could add to my finger puppet collection. Hospital visits meant playtime and art therapy. Losing my hair meant choosing a wig - having had short brown hair, I wanted to try something different, like long blonde Rapunzel hair, but relented, taking my dad’s advice, I went with a more natural look so people would still recognize me.”

Luke was a happy one year old when he started showing signs of joint pains, stiff arms and legs. He was in and out of the emergency room for months. It was at one of those visits, not long after Luke’s second birthday, when everything suddenly changed. The doctors decided to send Luke to London Children’s Hospital for further tests. Dad and son were airlifted from Thunder Bay, with Mom following a few days later. Luke’s 4 year-old-sister Petra stayed with her grandparents.

In London, Luke was subjected to a series of tests. He saw many doctors, including a neurologist and a rheumatologist for suspected arthritis. It was the haematologist who found the problem, hiding in Luke’s bones. High-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

How to entertain your child while they are in a hospital bed wasn’t a question that Tracy had ever asked herself. Why would she? Dracen was always healthy…

In mid-August 2022 Dracen started throwing up in the morning. They took him to the doctors, and despite multiple tests, nothing was found. After a trip to the Emergency Room they were sent home with laxatives and anti-nausea medication. Nothing changed. Dracen was still vomiting 18-20 times per day.

After three weeks, spent in Windsor hospital as Dracen was so sick, Tracy called the patient advocate and pushed for an MRI…which found a tumour on Dracen’s brainstem. The family immediately drove to London to meet with the brain surgeon who had to get as much as possible of the tumour out, or risk it growing back. Pathology determined that it was a posterior fossa ependymoma.

My name is Kaitlyn and I am a three-time childhood cancer survivor and now paediatric oncology nurse. Here is my story:

In December of 1998, my parents say I had complained about a sore stomach. At the time they were potty training me and also thought the tummy pains could be a result of me racing down the stairs on my stomach at Oma & Opa’s with my younger sister.

Shortly after a trip to the emergency department, I was diagnosed with stage 4 Wilms tumour, a rare childhood cancer affecting the kidney. I had my left kidney removed and a kinked bowel repaired before receiving the first round of chemo on Christmas Day. After numerous rounds of chemo I started radiation in July 1999. On March 31, 2000, I finished chemo forever! Or so we thought.

Dominic was born on January 1, 2023, as Owen Sound hospital’s New Year’s baby. A first son for Ryan and Katt and baby brother to 3-year-old sister Blake.

For the first few months of his life, Dominic met his milestones, took his place in the busy household, and captured the hearts of friends and family. Around the third month it was noticed that Dominic’s one leg had grown significantly larger than the other and he was sent to London for genetic testing as his doctor queried Beckwith-Wiedermann syndrome (BWS). BWS comes with a risk of tumour growth, so he would be followed and monitored through his childhood. (As it turns out, the genetic testing would show that Dominic was negative for this syndrome).

In June 2012, young six-year-old Michael was diagnosed with T Cell ALL leukemia and relapsed in 2014 at the age of eight. During Michael’s relapse, his family was notified that he would need a bone marrow transplant to prevent the cancer from returning again. Finding a donor was not going to be easy, and they went on a global search. Each member of Michael’s family was tested to see if they could be an eligible match. After many prayers, they discovered that Michael’s older brother Sam was a perfect match. That was truly a miracle in the family’s life. The bone marrow match was successful and has been cancer free for nine years. During this time the family relied on faith, community, and Childcan.

ON FEBRUARY 25, 2020, only 6 days shy of her first birthday, my baby girl Claire Bear was rushed to the hospital after an urgent phone call from our family doctor. I remember that day vividly. I see it play back in my mind as if I were standing in the corner of the room. I heard words but could not process them, while I stood there holding Claire, as if putting her down somehow meant I would never be able to pick her up again. The doctor said words like blast cells, oncology, hematology, bone marrow, transfer, and critical. Then, almost as if the world stopped, she said the words no parents ever want to hear, “we think your child has cancer, I’m so sorry.” In that instant our lives changed forever. We were transferred to Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre and admitted that night. How we made it through that night of waiting and worrying remains a mystery to me.

Being 4 years old should be fun. Playing and games should be the norm, not doctors visits and hospitals.

It wasn’t long after Matteo’s 4th birthday that he started getting sick. Very sick.

His Mom knew something was wrong, but doctors, pediatricians, nor the hospital could find anything wrong. His belly still hurt. An ultrasound was done and he was sent home from the hospital. They were back the next day as he was dehydrated. IVs. More tests. Multiple phone calls to multiple doctors. Stomach aches, crying, puking, no sleep. X-rays, bloodwork, urgent care visits both in Chatham and London.

Finally, one doctor said: “These could be signs and symptoms of a brain tumour.”

In the spring of 2021, our eight-year-old son, Benjamin, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was immediately admitted to London Childrens Hospital for treatment at the height of the Covid pandemic and our lives were turned upside down. We had three other children at home and I had no idea how our family was going to make it through this.

On the third day of our hospital stay Renee walked into Ben's hospital room and introduced herself. She was soft spoken, gentle, and had the kindest eyes that showed such understanding and compassion for our pain. She told me that she was the mom of a childhood cancer survivor and handed me a bag. Little did I know at the time that bag was the beginning of Childcan's pivotal role in our lives. The bag contained a handmade quilt, hospital parking pass, gas and grocery gift cards, activities for Ben, hospital meal vouchers, and information about Childcan.

Kevin has the coolest job. He flies puppies with champion bloodlines to their grateful new owners in both Canada and the United States. Kevin is 20 years old and has beat cancer twice. He shares his story to inspire other people in the same way that he has been inspired.

At twelve years of age, Kevin was in transition. Transition from a love of playing soccer to a love of playing basketball. Transition from playing sports with friends outdoors to being forced indoors and feeling a growing sense of isolation. “I did something that upset my parents, I was grounded and had to be indoors. My neighbourhood friends would tease me by flaunting the basketball or kickball games that they would play without me, which is when I discovered that video games were a pretty good pastime. In retrospect, it was good practice for what lay ahead”.