Friday, March 29, 2013

Two inspiring cancer-related stories that deserve your attention


Cancer affects us all, both directly and indirectly, not to mention personally or to family members or friends who are close to you. Let's face it ... it's a horrible disease, no matter what it type it is, where it strikes and to whom it strikes. Although medical research and technology has allowed new innovations and treatments that have improved survival rates, the battle to conquer cancer still rages on. 

The following two stories, which have appeared in my Grapevine column in the West End Times this week, deal with cancer ... one who survived it and another who needs our help so that she can get on the road to recovery and survival. I hope you find these stories inspiring, give you hope, and hopefully take some action in the war against cancer. Thank you very much.

______________________________________________________________________________  


Ten years ago, William Brock was living a charmed life.

He was a successful lawyer for a major Montreal law firm, married with a son and a daughter. He was an avid photographer and every summer, would go on a kayaking trip with several of his close friends.

However, on September 21, 2004, William Brock’s charmed life came to a crashing halt.

Earlier that month, he went to the hospital complaining of chest and back pains, and was told it was more related to acid reflux than anything of a serious nature. When he returned from his annual kayaking trip (this time to Alaska), he felt constantly fatigued. He made a appointment at the Jewish General Hospital and on September 21, received the diagnosis of Acute Leukemia, with a critically low white blood count of 500 (which meant he had no immune system). He immediately went through two chemotherapy sessions, which resulted in complete remission.

However, in January of 2005, Brock went into a relapse, and nothing short of a bone marrow transplant could save him. He underwent that transplant on February 5 of that year and after a two-year recovery period is now cancer free.

Since his ordeal with leukemia, Brock has dedicated himself to launching initiatives that helps advance the cause of finding new treatments for blood cancers, including the establishment of the Fund for Research and Education. For his efforts in the fight against cancer, Brock will receive the Community Service Honorary Fellowship Award from the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) during its 36th annual gala, which is taking place on April 9 at Place des Arts. The gala will feature popular American comedians Paul Reiser and Rita Rudner, who will perform in a two-person comedy show called “He Said, She Said”.

Last Monday, Brock spoke to a grade 11 biology class (which studied cancer and cancer cells as part of their curriculum) at LaurenHill Academy in Ville St. Laurent (where he graduated in 1971, when it was known as Sir Winston Churchill High School). He related to the students his experiences dealing with Leukemia, how he survived, and the lessons he learned during his ordeal.

“Illness and cancer are not linear. Things don’t happen in a straight line, because there are always speed bumps along the way,” Brock said. “If you think it can’t get worse, it gets worse.”

He also credited the diligent research by his wife Maryse that led to them finding Montreal’s Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital as one of the major bone marrow transplant centres in the world, which is where he underwent that much vital transplant procedure.

“When I got that bone marrow transplant, it was ‘Day Zero” for me. It was the first day of the rest of my life,” he said.

While he was undergoing his recovery, Brock wondered what he was going to do next, besides returning to his law practice and re-establishing his daily routines. To celebrate his fifth anniversary of being cancer free, he went on a 35-day cycling tour of Europe that took him from the coast of France to Hungary.

Another project he undertook dealt with his passion of photography. In July of 2010, he began to compile stories of different Leukemia survivors (including former Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu) and photograph portraits that captured them in their element that they wanted to best associated with. The end result was “Portraits of Hope”, a handsome 208-page coffee table book that tells the stories of these selected survivors in words and pictures. The book – which is available in both English and French -- is distributed free to cancer patients in different Montreal area hospitals, and is also sold as a fundraiser for $60 a copy. He presented a copy of the book to LaurenHill Academy, and will available in the school’s library.

Brock concluded his presentation to the students by offering seven distinct lessons that he learned during his successful battle with Leukemia: cancer doesn’t have to be the end; cancer strikes without warning, so do something you really want to do; learn how important family and relationships are; your body is important; be proactive; science is real important because science saves lives; and cancer helps you understand the fragility of life.

For more information about the ICRF and its upcoming gala on April 9, go to www.icrfmontreal.org. For more information about William Brock’s book “Portraits of Hope”, go to www.portraitsofhope.ca.

* * *
During his presentation last week at LaurenHill Academy, Leukemia survivor William Brock urged the students that he was addressing to be more proactive. In particular, he urged them to register themselves at a bone marrow donor bank.

On April 3 and 4, those students and many others will get that chance to urgently help save a life at a special bone marrow registry drive that will be taking place at three separate locations in Montreal.

The person who needs our help is Jayden Emerson Roll, a four-year-old girl from Montreal who was recently diagnosed with MDS, a very rare disease that unfortunately develops into Acute Mylodysplastic Leukemia. In order to help stem the progression of this terrible disease, Jayden would require a bone marrow transplant. And now the call is going out to anyone who is between the ages of 18 and 60 and is in general good health to help Jayden and see if they are a match. All that is required of anyone who attends the drive is that they will get swabbed, which takes only a few seconds. As well, the eligible donors have to meet the required guidelines to be part of the registry, and are willing to donate their bone marrow not only to Jayden, but also to any other patient at any time around the world.

This special bone marrow registry drive will take place at the following places and times: the Hall Building of Concordia University, located at 1455 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.); the Ben Weider JCC, located at 5400 Westbury Avenue (4 p.m. to 9 p.m.); and the Richard J. Renaud Science Complex of Concordia University, located at 7141 Sherbrooke Street West (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.). For more information, contact Stephanie Kligman at kligstephanie@hotmail.com.

No comments: