Aunt, niece deal with breast cancer

Sickness and injury affects everyone at one time or another.

Sometimes more devastating is when a loved is impacted. Worse again is when that illness is cancer.

Cancer is a whispered word for many people, even though according to the Canadian Cancer Society's statistics an estimated 171,000 new cases of cancer occurred in Canada last year.

For one local family the devastating news of not one, but two members of their family joining this statistic came just days apart.

In June 2009, both Margaret Francis and her niece Jeanette Sloot found out they had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Margaret Francis

Mrs. Francis, currently a resident of La Poile, was diagnosed with breast cancer after a trip to Corner Brook.

"The way I saw it I didn't put it there, and it wasn't like I could put my hand in my pocket a pull it out," said Mrs. Francis, describing how she took the news.

She had surgery on July 8 and from there had six rounds of chemotherapy. They occurred once a month. Over this time she lost all her hair. Her son Shannon has also been shaving his head over this time until his mother's hair grows back.

"Sometimes my blood count would be too low to do it on the scheduled day, but it always occurred within the same week," she recalled.

After all her treatments were over, Mrs. Francis had two videoconferences with a doctor from St. John's.

During her experience the town had a dart game to raise money to go towards helping her pay for some of her expenses. She had lots of support and said this helped her out a lot knowing that she had her family and friends behind her.

If she were to talk to someone today who had just heard the news that they have been diagnosed with cancer she would tell them to take it all in stride and say I will make it through.

"The way I see it why worry before work knocks on you door, you need to enjoy life," said Mrs. Francis.

Mrs. Francis' last follow-up is set for June.

Jeanette Sloot

Mrs. Sloot, currently living in Edmonton, found a lump in her breast pervious to her diagnoses. The former La Poile resident has been living away since 1985, coming home for visits every few years.

"I stayed optimistic; the doctors had said I caught it in time," said Mrs. Sloot.

She endured four rounds of chemotherapy and 30 rounds of radiation therapy, five times a week for six weeks.

"I didn't think that chemo was too bad, however radiation tired me out," said Mrs. Sloot. "Just the first four or five days following chemo made me nauseous."

During her experience Mrs. Sloot had a lot of support.

"I was in touch with family members every day and friends helped, and people from my job kept in contact with me and would tell me if something was going on.

"Sometimes I went into work when I felt up to it," she said, "It was nice to get out, my family and I also did activities when I felt up to it."

She believes her positive attitude got her through a lot of the journey.

"You need to have a positive attitude to get through," she said, "it may have taken a long time but it's worth it."

She has recently come home for some time with her family. She said although it was emotional, it was the last thing she needed to do.

Mrs. Sloot is currently done all her treatments and has her follow-up in April. However, she will continue to take medications for the next five years.