Monday, June 25, 2012

I recently attended a fundraiser for a 22 year old girl named Courtney. She was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma 2 1/2 years ago. Her doctors were fairly optimistic upon diagnosis stating that there was a 95% cure rate for this cancer, unfortunately Courtney fell into the 5% that don't respond to the drug protocol. So 2 1/2 years later after exhausting all that Canada has to offer medically her doctors told her "sorry, we've done all we can for you." Not the words a vibrant, beautiful 22 year old and her family want to hear. What do those words actually mean? They mean, that all we can offer you now is pallative care, a death sentence, no hope, only the horrible reality that you will have to watch your child die, and the additional knowledge that they know they are dying, is there anything worse? This is what we also faced but, after exploring other avenues we discovered that there are legitimate trials and alternative treatments available worldwide. Deciding to go to Israel was easy, it gave us a purpose, it also gave us back our hope because we all believed that Lex would be cured. The only thing in the way of receiving treatment was money, Lex's 'cure' had a hefty price tag attached to it, $300,000. We appealed to our community and city at large and 1 week later through the generosity of many, we arrived in Israel. It still stuns me how quickly we raised that money. How many people wanted to help us, how many people cared. This wonderful community that I am priviledged to live in was there for us in our time of need. Courtney's treatment will cost $600,000, twice as much as Lex, a daunting amount of money, a number that panicked her parents when they realized that it was her only chance for survival. But because of the support and concern of many, many people, most of them strangers Courtney is well on her way to achieving her goal, and god willing a cure. People helping people! My eyes are now open and I will always try to participate, donate and help each time this type of situation arises. I am grateful and humbled by the thousands of people who unselfishly tried to help us and are now helping Courtney, as difficult as it is to be on the receiving end it is also so inspiring to know that 'we' have the ability to create a ground swell of support for someone in need and that's a beautiful thing. To donate to Courtney: courtney.render@mail.mcgill.ca security question: Courtneys favorite colour answer: Purple Or phone Scotiabank 416 590 7488 RBC 1 800 769 2555 CIBC 1888 872 2422 Thank you for your support