NO TASTE?

STEAMY SECRETS
IT MAY BE YOUR CANCER THE HYPE AND HOPE
TREATMENT FOR GREEN TEA

t WINTER 2010
er-free movemen
into Alberta’s canc

HEALING
TRADITIONS
Honouring loss during
the holidays
TRIP OF A LIFETIME
Mother-daughter travellers
will always have Paris

After the tragic loss of SEXUALITY

her husband, one woman AND CANCER
finds inspiration in Stay close with your partner
during treatment and recovery
his memory

CANADIAN PUBLICATIONS MAIL PRODUCT AGREEMENT #40020055 Non-deliverable mail should be directed to: 10259 105 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 1E3
 “For those facing cancer toda
today,
in honour of those lost to cancer,
and for generations to come,
ess.“
we promise progress.

New year. New resolve. e Team

Patient Car
Be part of our promise.
CONTENTS WINTER 2010 • VOL 1 • No. 3

ON THE COVER: Donna and Jim on their wedding day.

PHOTO: DR Photography
WINTER SPOTLIGHT
35 RELATIONSHIPS:
Supporting happiness and longevity

20

16 TRIP OF A LIFETIME
For a writer, her toddler and her cancer patient
mother, Paris will never be the same

20 LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX

Experts discuss the importance of intimacy

DEPARTMENTS 23 REMEMBERING A LIFE WELL LIVED

4 KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
A message from the Alberta Cancer Foundation
6 FOREFRONT
Broccoli’s superpowers, Youth counselling goes to
40 the dogs, Red-carpet fundraiser, Activity levels in
children, Zumba for a cure and more
A fundraising family strikes a blow against sarcoma
26 THE FAMILY GENES
Breaking down the genetic counselling process
29 HEALING TRADITIONS
Honouring loss during the holidays

12 BODYMIND FEATURES
How to meditate mindfully
32 TOP JOB
13 COOKING SMART Chaplain encourages patients to take a spiritual
Green tea: healer or hype? journey

14 ASK THE EXPERTS 35 WHY I DONATE

Your questions about taste during treatment. Even after losing her husband, one woman’s
Plus cervical cancer screening guidelines love story continues

23 47 CORPORATE GIVING 40 RESEARCH ROCKSTAR

Pharmacy retailer branches out A 22-year-old researcher pursues a cure

50 MY LEAP 43 HARP AND SOUL

World’s Longest Q&A with a therapeutic harp practitioner
Hockey Game
45 LEAVING A LEGACY
Planned giving to enrich the lives of others

48 EXERCISE ON TRIAL
New study asks “what amount of activity can
reduce the risk of breast cancer?”
32
16

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 3

message / ALBERTA CANCER FOUNDATION

Knowledge is Power
We are still basking in the afterglow of our annual research conference,
Alberta’s signature scientific symposium for cancer researchers in the
province. More than 250 researchers – graduate students to veteran
scientists – attended sessions in Banff ranging from the epigenetics of
breast cancer to depression and survivorship. It’s inspiring to see so many
TRUSTEES dedicated cancer researchers under one roof, together for one mighty
purpose.
Leslie Beard, We’re proud of the work our researchers do. And as we told them in
Edmonton Banff, we know that every time someone gives a dollar to the Alberta
Cancer Foundation, it comes with an expectation. Each gift is laden
Angela Boehm, with fear, grief or gratitude – sometimes all three. Each gift trusts us to
Calgary do something, to drive progress on every front – prevention, research,
treatment and care.
Greg Cameron, Donors trust us to change the landscape so fewer Albertans get cancer,
Edmonton to transform treatment so fewer people die of cancer and to provide better
support so patients and families can be fully
Heather Culbert, alive – while on the cancer journey.
Calgary Donors trust us to change the Last year, the Alberta Cancer Foundation
landscape so fewer Albertans get received more than $35 million in trust from
Steven Dyck, cancer, to transform treatment so Albertans. That’s a lot of trust. We invested
Lethbridge the lion’s share of those dollars into research,
fewer people die of cancer and to so our scientists and cancer specialists can
Tony Fields, provide better support so patients continue to push the boundary of medical
Edmonton and families can be fully alive – knowledge every day. Every year, those who
face a cancer diagnosis have better treat-
Dianne Kipnes,
while on the cancer journey. ments and better support than those diag-
Edmonton nosed before them – thanks to research. But
every year, 16,000 more Albertans are newly diagnosed with cancer and
John J. McDonald, they desperately depend on the knowledge researchers are generating.
Edmonton Over 25 years, the cancer mortality rate in this province has dropped
some 10.6 per cent. That translates into more than 600 Albertans each
Brent Saik, year who have survived cancers that would have killed them 25 years ago.
Sherwood Park Research is the key to the knowledge that unlocks the mystery of cancer
and saves lives.
Prem Singhmar, As we head into 2011, we hope you enjoy a wonderful holiday season.
Sherwood Park We are committed more than ever to a new year, a new resolve and making
even more progress towards a future free from cancer.
Heather Watt,
Edmonton
John Osler, Chair Linda Mickelson, CEO
Vern Yu, Alberta Cancer Foundation Alberta Cancer Foundation
Calgary

4 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

 WINTER VOL 1 • No. 3

ALBERTA CANCER FOUNDATION

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND PUBLISHER: LEE ELLIOTT
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: PHOEBE DEY

EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

DR. TONY FIELDS
Vice-President, Cancer Care
Alberta Health Services
DR. HEATHER BRYANT
Vice-President, Cancer Control
Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
DR. STEVE ROBBINS
Director, Southern Alberta Cancer Research Institute
Associate Director, Research, Alberta Health Services,
Cancer Care
CHRISTINE MCIVER
CEO, Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta

VENTURE PUBLISHING INC.

PUBLISHER: RUTH KELLY
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: JOYCE BYRNE
MANAGING EDITOR: STEPHANIE SPARKS
ART DIRECTOR: CHARLES BURKE
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR: COLIN SPENCE
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: BETTY-LOU SMITH
DISTRIBUTION: NICK JAMISON

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Linda Carlson, Elizabeth Chorney-Booth,

Caitlin Crawshaw, Dawna Freeman, Kristiana Indradat, Cailynn Klingbeil,
Scaachi Koul, Debbie Olsen, Lisa Ricciotti, Jody Robbins, Kelley Stark,
Tania Vander Muellen The Alberta Cancer Foundation
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ILLUSTRATORS: is more than a charity—it’s a
Brian Bookstrucker, Allan Budd, DR Photography, Ewan Nicholson,
Raymond Reid, Kori Sych movement for cancer-free lives,
ABOUT THE ALBERTA CANCER FOUNDATION today, tomorrow and forever.
The Alberta Cancer Foundation is Alberta’s own, established
to advance cancer research, prevention and care and serve It’s a movement of those who know a cancer-free
as the charitable foundation for the Cross Cancer Institute, future is possible and who won’t settle for “some day.”
Tom Baker Cancer Centre and Alberta’s 15 other cancer centres.
At the Alberta Cancer Foundation, we believe a cancer-free future It’s a movement of Albertans who stand with those
is possible. When we get there depends on the focus and energy who have no choice but to stand up to cancer.
we put to it today.
It’s a movement of those who know something
can be done and are willing to do it.

For those facing cancer today, in honour of those

lost to cancer, and for generations to come,
Leap is published for the Alberta Cancer Foundation by we promise progress.
Venture Publishing Inc., 10259-105 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 1E3
Tel: 780-990-0839, Fax: 780-425-4921, Toll-free: 1-866-227-4276
circulation@venturepublishing.ca

The information in this publication is not meant to be a substitute for professional

medical advice. Always seek advice from your physician or other qualified health
provider regarding any medical condition or treatment.

Printed in Canada by Transcontinental LGM.

Leap is printed on Forest Stewardship Certified
paper. Publications Agreement #40020055 • Cert no. SW-COC-000952
ISSN #1923-6131
Content may not be reprinted or reproduced without permission from Alberta Cancer Foundation.
w w w. a l b e r t a c a n c e r. c a

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement

000LP.Manifest_1-2V_nBL.indd 1
winter 2010 5
6/21/10 2:13:29 PM
 forefront / PREVENT, TREAT, CURE BY STEPHANIE SPARKS

Cancer

Hotspot Creative Solutions

Navigation
You or someone you love has recently been diagnosed
with cancer – now what? If you live in Fort McMurray,
you are now able to receive help and support from a
cancer patient navigator. The service is in the process
of being launched in Calgary and Edmonton, and is
already available through cancer centres in
Drumheller, Grande Prairie and Lloydminster.
Specializing in cancer care, registered nurses work
as navigators for cancer patients and their families,
guiding them through the treatment process.
Listening to patients and answering questions, the
navigators explain treatment options, prepare patients
for visits and provide resources and information. They
will even connect patients with the appropriate
services. Registration is required.
The Fort McMurray program is offered as of October
thanks to funding from Syncrude Canada Ltd.

Delicious Fundraiser
CLARIFICATION
A Fall 2010 story was improperly titled “The Sixth Vital
Sign.” The researcher profiled, Dr. Bejoy Thomas, is not
the creator of the Sixth Vital Sign but is researching the
impact a person’s race has on it. Leap and the Alberta
Cancer Foundation apologize for the confusion.
What could be more delectable than a lobster dinner in one of your favourite
restaurants? The Earls Edmonton Clareview location adds in a red-carpet gala as
the main course, with a paparazzi photographer and silent auction on the side.
That’s what guests were treated to when they attended the event on Oct. 3.
This Earls location decided to do something different as part of the company’s
annual Keith’s Lobster Party.
“My chef and I wanted to take the popularity of the event and turn it from a
random party and give it a little depth and meaning,” says restaurant leader
Christina Reboh. She explains that several partners of the restaurant have had
family members diagnosed with cancer over the last year. “We thought it
would be a really nice way to show our support for them.”
The Earls Lobster Dinner Gala fundraiser was only opened to 106 ticketholders
who were literally given the red-carpet treatment, while a photographer
snapped photos throughout the night. Instead of the standard sit-down-and-
eat restaurant style, the gala encouraged guests to mingle and explore the
silent auction, which included a signed Oilers jersey, wine gift sets and night-
on-the-town packages.
Earls Clareview managed to raise more than $8,000 for the Alberta Cancer
Foundation to invest in cancer research at the Cross Cancer Institute.

6 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

 Permanent Get Your Kids Off the Couch
Devotion
The Pirate’s Alley It’s time to lift your young couch potatoes off the sofa and drag them away
Tattoo Studio in Olds from the TV. Everyone knows a healthy lifestyle is built on a foundation of bal-
held a 24-hour anced diets and exercise. According to Canada’s Physical Activity Guide,
tattoo marathon to released by the Public Health Agency of Canada, daily physical activity for chil-
support cancer dren and youth should be 90 minutes a day. However, the Canadian Fitness and
research. Owner Dan Lifestyle Research Institute found that 89 per cent of children and youth in
Morgan’s idea was to Alberta in 2007-09 don’t meet this guideline. After school, homework, after-
ink the skin of donors school activities and dinner with the family, where do you find this time?
to raise awareness Keep track of the activities they do during the
and funds as part of day. Do they have 30 minutes of gym class each
Breast Cancer day or 15 minutes of recess? Tally up the results
Awareness Month. and work on a plan from there. Your child may end
Twenty devoted up only needing to spend 20 or 30 minutes being
donors spent 20 active in the evening. Find out activities they’d
minutes each in enjoy, set goals and be supportive.
Morgan’s chair to And remember when it comes to encouraging
receive a permanent more activity in your children, “do as I say, not as I
pink ribbon outlined do” is not effective. Get out there with them. You
in black on their arms don’t have to keep up, but you do have to keep fit.
or ankles. Because
Morgan’s goal was to
get at least 10 people
into the shop through
word of mouth and
the Pirate’s Alley
Facebook page, he
was pleased to
welcome the 20. At
$50 each, Morgan’s
tattoos brought in
$1,000 for the
Alberta Cancer
Foundation.

SOURCE: HEALTH BEHAVIOUR IN SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 7

forefront / PREVENT, TREAT, CURE

Zumba for a Cure

When Leah Kazakoff and Varinka Monbny began brainstorming
fundraising ideas, they knew they wanted to keep the event and the
money they raised local. It only made sense that the zumba instruc-
tor and her student would decide to turn a zumba class into a large-
scale event.
Kazakoff has taught zumba for two years and is the co-owner of
the Precision Martial Arts Academy in Edmonton. Her mother-in-
law had spent the last few weeks of her life at the Cross Cancer
Institute, and it became the organization that Kazakoff and Monbny
wanted to fund. “It would be a great way to get people more familiar
with what zumba is while doing it for a good cause,” she says.
For the uninitiated, zumba is a fitness program that uses Latin
rhythms and dances, like the salsa, merengue and cumbia, along
with belly dancing.

Originally slated to take place on

the HMV stage at West Edmonton
Mall, the class on Sept. 25 proved too
large and was moved to the drop-
down area in front of the stage. What
can you expect with a group of six
instructors and over 60 participants?
The class managed to raise
$13,300. Participants were charged
a minimum $10 donation, while
onlookers contributed what they
could. Part of the funds were
raised thanks to efforts by the
academy’s taekwondo students
and their parents.
“We’d like to do something again
next year,” admits Kazakoff, “but it
would be at a different time of year, so
we’re not competing with all the fund-
raising efforts going on.”

ady
Elma Sp
In September of 2005, Elma
Spady and 30 friends celebrated
a tugboat launch in Pigeon
Lake Alberta.
The day celebrated friendship and
the vibrancy of 63-year-old Elma,
a lawyer, who had built the replica
of New York Harbour tugs by hand
in her garage.
Elma’s friends gathered with her
again just three months later as
she died of pancreatic cancer.
But her ability to push through
challenges continues. Elma funds
cancer research with her legacy.
She knew that if one small woman
can build a boat, together, we
can build a future without cancer.
To learn more about leaving a legacy to a
cancer-free future, please contact: Derek Michael,
780 643 4662, 1 866 412 4222 or email
derek.michael @ albertacancerfoundation.ca
Eat Your Broccoli
Scientists uncover another benefit of broccoli,
though parents still haven’t figured out how to get
their kids to enjoy it. Apparently, the long-
despised vegetable possesses cancer “battling”
abilities. It plays out like a fantasy adventure tale:
broccoli’s cancer prevention ability, sulforaphane,
is released when it combines with allies found in
lower stomach bacteria. The bacteria absorbs the
sulforaphane and cancer prevention activities in
the colon are enhanced.
For those at-home chefs who overcook vegeta-
bles, the stomach’s bacteria can salvage some of
the sulforaphane that may be otherwise
destroyed.
Other broccoli benefits include vitamin C,
vitamin A, folic acid, calcium and fibre nutrients.
The study by University of Illinois professor
Elizabeth Jeffery and her team can be reviewed
in the November issue of the Food and Function
journal. And in case you’ve been resisting it, broc-
coli can be found in the produce section at your
local grocery store.

Centre Coming Soon

As of 2013, Red Deer and area cancer patients and
their families no longer have to make gruelling trips to
Edmonton or Calgary to receive care. On Sept. 22, Red
Deer residents and special guests arrived for the sod-
turning ceremony for the Central Alberta Cancer Centre.
The $46-million centre is being built adjacent to the Red
Deer Regional Hospital Centre’s Cancer Centre; the
Government of Canada is also supplying the new centre
with an additional $13.6 million. As part of its improved
access to care for area residents, the centre will also contain
additional rooms and will be able to offer radiation therapy –
a first for the region, which will make Red Deer the fourth
city in Alberta, alongside Edmonton, Calgary and
Lethbridge, to offer this treatment.
According to Alberta Health Services, this new facility
will decrease from 28 per cent to eight per cent of Albertans
having to travel 100-plus kilometres for treatment.
The centre follows on the heels of Lethbridge’s
recently opened Jack Ady Cancer Centre at the Chinook
Regional Hospital, as part of the plan for a cancer care
corridor from Lethbridge to Grande Prairie.
Alber ta’s cancer-free movement
Anti-Smoking Strategies Continue
In November, an international conference on tobacco control declared
that Canada was weakening in its stand to put an end to smoking. This fol-
lowed the news that Health Canada would not proceed with its six-year proj-
ect to update the anti-smoking warnings on cigarette packaging. One of the
proposed new images featured anti-smoking advocate Barb Tarbox, whose
image is also being tested in focus groups for packaging in the United States.
Yet Health Canada’s Tobacco Control Program, the Federal Tobacco
Control Strategy for April 2007 to March 2011, will soon be under evaluation.
The following represent its goals for the timeframe.
• Reduce smoking overall from 19 per cent to 12 per cent
• Reduce number of youth who smoke from 15 per cent to 9 per cent
• Reduce number of Canadians exposed to second-hand smoke from 28
per cent to 20 per cent
• Increase number of Canadians who quit by 1.5 million
According to statistics compiled by Alberta Health Services, in 2009, one in 14
men and one in 16 women have a lifetime probability of developing lung cancer.
SOURCE: HEALTH CANADA; SURVEILLANCE DEPARTMENT, ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICES
wiinter 2010 9
forefront / PREVENT, TREAT, CURE

Catch Them If You Can

The holiday season has a reputation for stirring up old family
tensions, but this year, why not bring everyone together with a little
holiday baking? Here’s a handy recipe that’s not only delicious, but
makes use of ginger, well known for its anti-nausea effects as well
as its cancer-fighting properties.

Gingerbread Figures
1/2 cup (125 ml) Butter or hard margarine, softened

Reprinted from Company’s Coming for Christmas © Company’s Coming Publishing Limited.
1/2 cup (125 ml) Granulated sugar
1/2 cup (125 ml) Fancy molasses
1 Egg yolk (large)
2 cups (500 ml) All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. (2 ml) Baking powder
1/2 tsp. (2 ml) Baking soda
1 tsp. (5 ml) Ground cinnamon
1 tsp. (5 ml) Ground ginger
1/4 tsp. (1 ml) Ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. (1 ml) salt

1. Cream butter, sugar, molasses and egg yolk together until light.
2. Add next eight ingredients. Mix well. Wrap in plastic and chill at
least one hour. Roll out. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
Arrange on baking sheet. Bake in 350°F (175°C) oven for 10 to 15
Gingerbread Lollipops
minutes. Cool. Shape 1/4 to 1/3 cup (60 to 75 mL) dough into ball.
Insert wooden stick. Place on greased cookie sheet.
3. Frosting: Beat egg white with spoon in medium bowl. Beat in as
Press with bottom of tumbler to 1/4 inch (six millimetres)
much icing sugar as needed until icing will hold its shape. Ice cookies.
thick. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool.
Makes 12 to 16 gingerbread men cookies or a variety of other shapes.

cott
Wayne S
supporting cancer research chairs at
the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.

What positive can we take away

and learn from this experience?
To learn more about leaving a legacy to a
cancer-free future, please contact: Derek Michael,
780 643 4662, 1 866 412 4222 or email
derek.michael @ albertacancerfoundation.ca
In 2007, when Wayne Scott
told his family he had cancer,
he asked, “What positive can
we take away and learn from
this experience?”

Although he died in January 2010,

today, he’s building a cancer-free
future with a gift from his estate
 There’s Always Tomorrow
The Tomorrow Project arrived
in Lethbridge in November. The
ambitious project aims to recruit
50,000 Albertans between 35
and 69 years, who have not had
cancer, by 2012. For the next
couple of decades (up to 50
years), researchers will survey the
health of the participants to
understand the causes of cancer
and other long-term conditions.
Part of the process will include
collecting urine, blood or saliva
samples, taking body measure-
ments and asking questions
about health and lifestyle.
Since 2008, the Tomorrow
Project has expanded to form
the Canadian Partnership for
Tomorrow Project, with Ontario,
Quebec, the Atlantic provinces
and British Columbia, with the
ultimate goal of reaching
300,000 participants.
The project’s brief presence in
Lethbridge gave residents in the
area the opportunity to visit the
mobile clinic at the Jack Ady
Cancer Centre.

Counselling Goes to the Dogs

Five-year-old Tallulah is the
youngest (and furriest)
counsellor of the Kids and Teens
Can Cope program. Offered
through the Department of
Psychosocial Resources at the
Tom Baker Cancer Centre in
Calgary, the program enables
the Labradoodle to comfort
youth (nine to 19 years old) who
are coping with their parents’
cancer diagnosis or treatment.
Tallulah freely interacts with
them as they share their stories
in a group environment.
The program has run for
more than 20 years, but this is
the first time a dog has become
a member of the team. The
after-school program is
provided free by the
Department of Psychosocial
Resources with support from
the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

alber tacancer foundation.ca winter 2010 11

bodymind / MAKING POSITIVE CONNECTIONS

Instructions for
Mindfulness Meditation
BY LINDA E. CARLSON, PH D

Last column, I introduced the notion of mindfulness

and outlined how applying this way of being can
decrease your stress level and improve your overall
mood and ability to cope with daily life. Mindfulness,
you may recall, is simply the practice of paying atten-
tion to whatever is happening in the present moment,
with an open, accepting, nonjudgmental and kind atti-
tude. It is simple, but by no means easy. In this issue,
I’d like to provide specific instructions so you can begin
applying mindfulness meditation in your daily life.
First I’ll address some common myths about
meditation that might stand in the way of your practice.

Myth #1 To meditate, your mind has to be when you will not be interrupted – this can just be a few minutes at first, and gradually
completely blank build up to 20- or 30-minute stretches.
Actually, for mindfulness meditation, it doesn’t matter 1. Take a seat, either in a straight-backed chair, on the floor with crossed legs
what’s on your mind – your worries, plans, fears, aches with your buttocks elevated by a cushion or even lying down if you cannot sit
and pains can all be the focus of your mindfulness upright comfortably. Allow your shoulders to drop away from your ears and
practice. Your mind can be calm and placid or full of your chest to expand as you breathe.
metaphorical storm clouds. To meditate, you simply 2. Begin paying attention to your breath, without trying to change it.
have to be where you are and focus your awareness on 3. Note silently to yourself “in” with each in-breath and “out” with each out-breath.
your direct experience in each 4. At the same time as your are noting “in” and “out,” notice
moment. This type of breath the rising and falling feeling in your belly or alternatively,
awareness meditation the feeling of your breath flowing in and out through
Myth #2 To meditate, you your nostrils.
need to sit on the floor, twisted
is excellent for 5. Continue until your attention wanders (this may only take
up like a pretzel and never training the mind to a few breaths).
move a muscle stay focused where 6. As soon as you notice your mind wandering, mentally
Again, not necessary at all. You you’d like it to be. congratulate yourself for becoming aware of the wandering
can sit in a comfortable chair, on and simply return to noting “in” and “out” with each breath.
a cushion or even lie down flat. The important thing 7. If you begin to feel impatient, restless, bored or sleepy, accept these and any
about the posture is simply that you can breathe freely other feelings or thoughts as just passing mind moments, let them go and
and remain relatively still and comfortable. return to the breath.
8. Keep at it for five minutes, then 10 and eventually 15 or 20.
Myth #3 People who meditate are hippies,
Buddhists or gurus This type of breath awareness meditation is excellent for training the mind to
You don’t have to belong to any specific religious, stay focused where you’d like it to be. It requires practice and patience, but will
philosophical or social group to practice mindfulness pay off over time by improving your capacity for paying attention and eventually
meditation. Most every spiritual tradition or religion help you gain insight into the causes and remedies for your suffering.
has its own form of mind training or meditation – the
practice can easily be integrated into whatever religious Dr. Linda Carlson is the Enbridge Chair in Psychosocial Oncology at the Tom
or spiritual practices you already follow. Baker Cancer Centre, a professor and a clinical psychologist at the University of
Calgary and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and co-author of Mindfulness-Based
Now that we’ve addressed the myths, here’s how to Cancer Recovery: A Mbsr Approach to Help You Cope With Treatment and Reclaim
get started. Begin by setting aside a short period of time Your Life. Learn more at lindacarlson.ca.

12 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

cookingsmart / FOOD FOR LIFE

Green Tea:
Healer or Hype?
BY TANIA VANDER MEULEN

Genmaicha, Jasmine, Gunpowder, Yerba Mate. All

of these names have one thing in common – they are
all varieties of green tea. Walk down the supermarket
aisle and you will be amazed at how many varieties of Green Tea Noodle Soup
tea are available. This is no surprise when you consider
how important it is in many cultures and is second only 8 oz skinless chicken 1/4 cup (60 ml) melted butter
to water in worldwide popularity as a beverage. breast, or tofu cut 1/2 cup (125 ml) cremini or button
Many cultures already believe in the healing powers into 1/2-inch squares mushrooms, sliced
of green tea. It offers protection against cardiovascular 1 cup (250 ml) brewed green tea 1/2 cup (125 ml) zuccini, diced
disease and kidney stones, helps strengthen bones 5 oz dried soba noodles 3 cups (750 ml) spinach leaves or
and teeth, as well as boosts the immune system. 4 cups (1 L) chicken stock swiss chard, chopped
Researchers have also been busy trying to form 1 tsp (5 ml) soy sauce 1 Tbsp (15 ml) cilantro leaves
concrete evidence to support green tea and its role in
2 slices ginger root 1 Tbsp (15 ml) green onions,
cancer prevention.
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
There is no evidence green tea fights cancer in
humans, but studies have shown promising results for minced
the drink. Inside that tea bag, green tea is rich in cate- 1) Place the chicken or tofu in a bowl and add the green tea. Cover and
chins (also known as flavanoids), which act as powerful marinate for 1 hour or overnight.
antioxidants in the body. One cup of green tea has 30 2) Cook the soba noodles according to the package. Drain.
to 40 per cent catechins. This compared to the only
3) In a large pot, bring the chicken stock, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and mushrooms
three to 10 per cent found in black teas. The strongest
to a boil over high heat. Reduce and simmer for 2 minutes.
catechin associated with cancer-preventing properties
and most heavily researched is epigallocatchin gallate 4) Add the chicken or tofu, tea marinade, zucchini and noodles. Simmer for
2 minutes.
(or EGCG). Many studies have found that green tea and
EGCG can inhibit tumour growth from occurring as 5) Add the spinach or swiss chard and simmer until just wilted.
well as decrease the amount of times tumour cells will 6) Ladle into bowls and garnish with cilantro and green onions.
multiply during all stages of cancer development.
While the evidence does appear promising, most
studies have looked at animals or isolated human cancer
cells. Few studies have involved humans, and the ones
that have are often mixed or less conclusive. This may Did You Know?
be that the amount of EGCG given to most animals is • In 2737 BC, Chinese Emperor Shen Nung accidently
higher than most individuals would normally choose discovered tea, when a tea leaf ended up in the hot
to drink (greater than six cups per day). It is also diffi- water he was drinking.
cult to draw conclusions in human studies because of • Imported by the Hudson Bay Company, the first
different genetics, lifestyle factors and tea consump- tea shipment to Canada arrived in 1716.
tion among individuals. Some of the more promising • Black, green, oolong, and white tea are the four
studies to date, however, have shown that individuals basic teas. Source: Tea Association of Canada
who drank two or more cups of green tea a day had
lower incidences of both prostate and ovarian cancer
than those who were not tea drinkers. to including tea into your daily routine. Without sugar, honey or milk, tea is still a great
A recent study found green tea may interfere with zero-calorie beverage choice. It can also be a great comfort during those bone-chilling
some cancer drugs. Please talk to your doctor about winter days or a quick pick-me-up mid-afternoon.
any herbal remedies you take. This is no reason to Tania Vander Meulen is a private practice dietician working out of Kensington
throw out your tea bags just yet. There are still benefits Physical Therapy and Dynamic Sports Physiotherapy.

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 13

asktheexpert / A RESOURCE FOR YOU

YOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS

When it comes to health, sometimes it can be difficult to separate
myths from reality. Leap writer Debbie Olsen tracks down top doctors
and researchers to get the facts

Ask the Expert is an opportunity to have

your questions regarding cancer prevention
and treatment answered. We’ll answer
different reader-submitted questions in
each issue of Leap; please submit them via
email to letters@myleapmagazine.ca.
I recently started undergoing chemotherapy treatments
Remember, the advice below is never a
and I’m finding that foods just don’t taste the same.
substitute for talking directly to your
How can I make food more enjoyable?
family doctor.

“Alterations in taste and smell perception can be a

normal side effect of chemotherapy and radiation
treatment,” explains Dr. Wendy Wismer, a sensory
and consumer scientist and associate professor at
the University of Alberta. “In some cases, a person’s
sense of smell can become more acute, but in other
cases it may become less so. Everyone seems to
respond differently; some people don’t experience
very much difference while other people are strongly
affected.”
The exact cause of the alteration in taste and smell
perception that some people experience during
chemotherapy and radiation treatment is not under-
stood. In most cases, those who notice that their
perception of taste or smell is altered by chemo-
therapy find that it typically lasts for a while following
treatment and begins to improve before the next
treatment cycle.
Inadequate nutrition can have a significant impact
on quality of life and a patient’s ability to tolerate that buffet-style restaurants help them find more
and recover from therapeutic interventions like foods that are appetizing. Focusing on the visual
chemotherapy. “There are a number of things that aspect of the food can also be helpful when taste and
Add herbs people who experience changes in taste and smell smell perception is dulled and many people report
to improve
the flavour perception can do to mitigate its overall effect on that a nicely presented small portion can seem more
of foods their health and quality of life,” Wismer says. “Those appetizing to them.
who experience unhealthy weight loss due to this “Don’t be discouraged if you experience changes
problem should try to eat more when they are feeling in taste and smell perception during cancer treat-
better and choose foods that are particularly enjoy- ment,” Wismer says. “Temporary changes in taste
able to them. Don’t shy away from full calorie foods – and smell perception can be a normal consequence
this is the time to treat yourself.” of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Wismer also suggests adding more herbs to Sometimes it can help to participate in a support
improve the flavour of foods and snacking often on a group and share advice and eating tips with others
variety of snacks. When dining out, some people find who are undergoing similar experiences.”

14 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

 “My doctor recently informed me that the recommen-
dations for Pap testing in Alberta have changed and
that I might not require a Pap test annually anymore.
Why did the recommendations change? Is it really “Regular Pap testing can
adequate for most women to get a Pap test every help prevent up to 90 per
cent of cervical cancer.”
three years?

In October 2009, Alberta officially updated

its Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines. The new
guidelines advise that women should have Pap tests
annually for three years and if all three tests are nor-
mal, most women can begin having Pap tests every
three years. It is also recommended that women start
having Pap tests regularly at age 21 or three years
after becoming sexually active, whichever is later.
Women should have Pap tests regularly at least until
age 70.
“The guidelines changed because there have been
a lot of scientific advances that led to new under-
standing about the cause of cervical cancer and the
natural history of how it develops,” explains Dr. Laura
McDougall, medical lead of the Alberta breast and
cervical cancer screening programs and co-chair of
the committee responsible for developing the new
guidelines. “We now know that most cervical cell
changes are caused by infections with certain types
of human papillomavirus (HPV). These types of HPV
are spread by sexual contact and are so common that
at least 70 per cent of people will get HPV during
their lifetime. Many of the infections occur soon after
women become sexually active. In most cases, the
immune system will clear HPV within two years of
infection, but when it doesn’t clear, the virus can
cause cell changes that may lead to cervical cancer.
These changes happen slowly. Delaying screening
until women have been sexually active for three
years allows most of the cervical changes to go away
on their own. The few that persist can still be detected
and treated before cancer develops.”
The new recommendations reduced the number
of Pap tests performed annually in Alberta, but cost
cutting was not on the agenda of the committee who
established the new guidelines. “The committee that
established the new recommendations spent many
months reviewing scientific literature and was guided Got a question? Submit it to:
by what was in the best interest of women’s health,” letters@myleapmagazine.ca
McDougall says. “Although earlier Alberta guidelines
recommended annual Pap tests for women, evidence
from many research studies strongly suggests that McDougall also points out that the new guidelines
annual screening offers very little extra protection are in line with other provinces in Canada and with the
and may result in over-diagnosis of cervical cell new recommendations from the American College of
changes and unnecessary follow-up testing that can Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “Pap testing is as
be very stressful for women. The exception is women important as it ever was even for women who have
whose immune systems are compromised or who received the HPV vaccine,” she says. “Regular Pap
have had high-grade cervical changes in the past – testing can help prevent up to 90 per cent of
these women still benefit from annual screening.” cervical cancer.”

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 15

Relationships: SUPPORTING HAPPINESS AND LONGEVITY

PICTURE OF YOU: Writer Jody Robbins

and her daughter Eve Pigat reminisce
of their mother and grandmother Carol
Anne’s trip to Paris.

16 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

 TRIPOF
A
LIFETIME
BY JODY ROBBINS / PHOTOS BY EWAN NICHOLSON

Travelling, even on the best of days, is rarely stress-

free. For someone living with cancer, it can be
especially challenging. But as one family discovered
on a trip to Paris together, what matters most is the
experience itself and the memories it creates

T
his is a tale of two cities, two daughters, two people that needed
taking care of, and that desire to explore, which lives in all of us.
Travelling can be stressful even for the hardiest of people. For cancer
patients, it’s an even more daunting prospect. Managing a safe and
relaxing journey when you have cancer involves planning carefully and
paying attention to details. This I know now. I wish I had then.
In early 2006, my mother was diagnosed with stage IV uterine cancer
and given 18 months to live. While there is never a good time for this type
of news, the timing was particularly bad. In only a few weeks, my husband’s
new job would be taking our family far away from our home in Alberta to
London, England. For my mother, the idea of having to be away from her new
granddaughter was especially difficult. It turned out nothing could keep her
away, not even cancer.
And so, despite the diagnosis, plans were made for my mother, accompanied
by my sister, to visit us for two weeks at our new home overseas shortly after
we moved. Our main consideration was to work the trip in between her
monthly chemotherapy treatments. We also made arrangements for the four
of us – me, my mother, sister and daughter – to take a quick jaunt to Paris.
Such travel isn’t unusual for cancer patients. According to medical
oncologist Dr. Bernie Eigl at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, “The majority of
patients often want to travel in one way or form. We try to enable people to do
as much as they can, safely.”

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 17

Relationships: SUPPORTING HAPPINESS AND LONGEVITY
Back then we had no clue about her oxygen levels or
airline medical desks. Her doctor’s consent was all the
preparation we thought we needed. Of course, we had
lingering concerns, but the joy on my mom’s face when she
saw her granddaughter at the airport erased any doubts
anyone may have had.
We took the first few jetlagged days slow, wandering
through leafy parks, sampling cream teas and preparing
for Paris. So elated were we to be reunited, touring our
favourite neighbourhood haunts took precedence over
exploring what-if scenarios. Preparation was light.
Passports: check. Diaper bag: check. French-English
dictionary: check. Unfortunately, packing extra
pain medication and prescription refills
somehow escaped our checklist.
Looking back, I was in denial that this trip
was going to be different. Perhaps I wasn’t the
only one in denial. Mom’s exuberance upon
seeing her granddaughter distracted us all
from how frail she was. Yet she was keeping
up on walks and constantly smiling. Getting
through a few rides on the Tube and the high-
speed Eurostar train under
the English Channel
seemed like a non-
issue.
The delayed
Eurostar to Paris
should’ve been our
first clue all would
not go as expected.
Happily distracted by
magazines and lattes,
we remained patient.
But the delayed
train led to a platform
change followed by a
mad scramble of hundreds
of people. We made it onto
the train but when we reached
the Ashford International Railway
Station, it stopped – and stayed
stopped.
Along with 500 other passengers,
we were herded unceremoniously
outside to wait in the drizzle. We
waited and waited until we realized we
18 winter 2010
didn’t even know what we
were waiting for.
Cold and concerned,
we pressed train staff,
who themselves had little
more information than we
did. They were dealing with
crowds that reached more than 6,000
people that day and the resulting confusion. But I had to
deal with a feisty toddler and a 70-year-old with a shot
immune system standing in the rain. I was responsible
for putting Mom in this dangerous situation, and I
needed to get her out of it.
We took matters into our own hands and snuck back
inside the station. Relieved to at least be back under shelter,
we stood in the unheated station for what would become
eight painful hours.
We had plenty of time to worry about a lot of things.
Would we ever get to Paris? Would we even make it home
that night? Was I a bad mother for keeping my daughter
strapped in her stroller for over 10 hours? But a curious
thing happened that day. The thing none of us worried
about just then was cancer.
Though Mom was cold and tired, she was determined.
What sustained her during that long day weren’t the four
energy bars she was plied with, but her attitude.
Our patience and perseverance eventually paid off. After
officials determined a passenger priority list, we were put
on the last train to Paris. Apparently, a house falling into a
sinkhole beside the Eurostar track caused the delay. Who
has a contingency plan for that?
We finally arrived in the City of Light 14 hours after
leaving my flat in London. We couldn’t have been happier
to see that cramped hotel room with its tacky bedspread.
Mom went to bed, and spent most of the trip in it, as the
drama of the journey caught up with her and developed
into a cold.
Lofty plans for climbing the Eiffel Tower and
meandering through the Musée d’Orsay were replaced
with a few short excursions to sites that mattered most.
Changing our game plan allowed us to appreciate the little
things: dunking warm pastries in hot chocolate in the
morning, laughing at French commercials and curling up
under thick comforters.
Our best meals weren’t at Michelin-star restaurants,
but eaten picnic-style on top of the hotel bed. With a
thriving market close by, we feasted on rotisserie chicken
myleapmagazine.ca
 with garlicky roasted potatoes, fresh-out-of-the-oven
breads spread with pungent cheese and ripe, succulent
plums for dessert. I can still see the juice dripping down
my mother and daughter’s chins. These are the memories
that remain vivid.
When we travel, we remove ourselves, and not just from
our daily grind. Being outside our regular environment
allows us to shed the layers that seem to define us – or
how we define ourselves. When you travel, you have the
opportunity to leave your past behind. For my mother, that
was one of the most refreshing aspects of her travels.
After we returned to London, reality replaced optimism.
Mom no longer had enough pain medication to last the
duration of the trip, and Tylenol 3 wasn’t cutting it. We
skipped the airline’s medical desk (see sidebar), assuming
that it would prevent us from travelling with Fentanyl,
which is 100 times more powerful than morphine. Not so,
says Dr. Vincent Poirier, lead medical advisor for passenger
health at Air Canada. “Travelling with your prescription
and pain medications is rarely an issue so long as it’s kept
within carry-on luggage.”
Fortunately, we were able to get Mom into our local
doctor to have a prescription filled. By that time, we all
realized how lucky we had been.
Bottom line, says Dr. Sasha Lupichuk, Tom Baker Cancer
Centre medical oncologist, “Anytime a patient is thinking
of travelling, they need to talk with their doctor and ask
what’s needed to make it a successful trip.”
We had plenty of time to worry about a lot
of things. But a curious thing happened
that day. The thing none of us worried about
just then was cancer.
Instead of being defeated by our adventure en route to
Paris, we kept going and adjusted our plans. What didn’t
change was the joy in seeing each other, and being able to
reconnect after months and miles apart. My mother died in
June of 2008, but not before taking a second trip overseas
to visit our family.
Eigl reminds us that travelling isn’t just about the patient.
“Your mom is gone, but through this experience, she
provided you and your family with memories you would
not otherwise carry with you.”
So take that trip, but please talk extensively about your
plans to your doctor first. Cancer may be a part of you, but
as I saw with my mother in Paris, it’s not who you are.
alber tacancer foundation.ca
TIPS FOR TRAVEL
Important factors to consider before embarking on any
journey, especially abroad.
Considerations
1. Are you fit enough to travel? Talk to your doctor and
explore your plans in detail.
2. If travelling by plane, you might need extra assistance
with early boarding, wheelchair assistance or transfers. If
so, let your travel agent know or contact the airline medical
desk. Don’t be afraid of the medical desk – its role is to
ensure passengers have all the amenities to make the flight
enjoyable, not to deny travel requests.
3. If you don’t qualify for travel insurance, consider the
financial implications should you require hospitalization or an
emergency flight back home. If taking a trip is important, try to
find a way to make it work. Consider asking friends and family
to contribute to your goal.
Preparations
Once your doctor has given consent, you’ll need to plan ahead –
ideally two to three weeks prior to departure – for a safe and
enjoyable journey.
1. Make sure your vaccinations are up to date. Talk to your
doctor as certain live vaccines might not be appropriate
depending on your treatment.
2. Booking through a travel agent can save you time and
money in the long run. Most have suppliers around the
world that can arrange medical requirements on the ground.
Additionally, they can contact airline medical desks on your
behalf and get “fit to fly” forms to your doctor.
3. Don’t assume you don’t qualify for travel insurance. So
long as your doctor verifies you’re stable and controlled 14 to
90 days (dependent upon age) prior to travel, you should be
fine. Stable and controlled is defined as having no change in
treatment or medications.
4. Ensure you have extra prescriptions and keep on top of
your pain medication. Keep all medications in their original
bottle with prescriptions in your carry-on luggage. If
possible, take a last prognosis note summarizing your
diagnosis and recent treatments.
5. Research the nearest hospitals to your destination.
winter 2010 19
Relationships: SUPPORTING HAPPINESS AND LONGEVITY

20 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

 LET’S
Talk
ABOUT
SEX
BY LISA RICCIOTTI / ILLUSTRATION BY RAYMOND REID
A cancer diagnosis doesn’t mean your life is
over, or your sex life either. Experts discuss
how and why to treasure the intimacy
Y
ou or your partner has been diagnosed with
cancer. Are you thinking about sex?
Highly doubtful, and your doctor’s probably not
focused on how cancer treatment will impact your sex
life either. “The first concern is always survival,” says Dr. Kelly
Dabbs, an Edmonton surgeon who treats breast cancer and
melanoma. “Initially patients and physicians are so focused on
the malignancy and treatment that the impact on sexuality is
rarely discussed – unless a patient raises the issue.”
Sadly, most won’t, says Dr. John Robinson, a clinical psy-
chologist at Calgary’s Tom Baker Cancer Centre. “Cancer
patients worry they’ll be judged as having their priorities mixed
up if they ask about sex. And often patients think only below-
the-belt cancers bring sexual changes, while treatment affects
nearly everyone, regardless of the cancer type. In fact, sexual
dysfunction is the most frequently cited top adverse effect.”
It’s important to treat the whole person, not just the tumour,
emphasizes Robinson, and sexuality is a big part of who we are.
“The tragedy I see is that couples stop being intimate. As they
suffer in silence, the relationship bond suffers too. But the
good news is sexual pleasure is still possible. It’s been an eye-
opener for medical professionals how creative couples find
solutions and we need to share those possibilities.”
Over at the Traveling Tickle Trunk, an online and
Edmonton-based store that describes itself as “sex-posi-
Alber ta’s cancer-free movement
tive,” owner Brenda Kerber is busy doing just that.
Building on her former career as a social worker, Kerber
moved beyond the stigma usually associated with the sex-
toy industry to create an enlightened adult-toy boutique
where both women and men feel comfortable. Its wel-
coming environment attracts many cancer patients who
seek out the Tickle Trunk following a medical referral or
for their own curiosity.
“Sexuality is often ignored by health professionals,”
Kerber notes. “Often the attitude is you have cancer and
there are more important things to think about than sex.
But you can’t set sex aside and wait until you’re better when
treatment takes months or years. You need to maintain
physical closeness, especially through such difficult times.
Give yourself permission to accept that this area of your
life is important, even during treatment. And give yourself
permission to talk about it, without shame or fear.”
So let’s draw back the curtain of quiet surrounding
sexuality and cancer with some straight talk from these
experts: a psychologist who counsels couples on how to
overcome sexual difficulties and a sexuality store owner
who offers practical aids many couples have never consid-
ered. Interestingly, their perspectives overlap into three
basic themes we’ll call the three prescriptions for good sex
during cancer – recognize, redefine and relax.
winter 2010 21
Relationships: SUPPORTING HAPPINESS AND LONGEVITY
Rx No. 1: Recognize
First, recognize your new reality, and that its cause is usually
a side effect of treatment rather than the disease itself. The
most common problems are lack of desire, difficulty becom-
ing aroused, painful intercourse for women and erectile dys-
function for men.
These changes may be temporary or permanent, but as
Robinson puts it, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Finding the will becomes difficult, however, when treat-
ment leaves patients feeling fatigued, nauseous or in pain.
Surgery may also cause pain and reduced mobility.
“The issue becomes how do you have the stamina and
interest to even want to be touched when you’re in pain or so
sick and tired?” Kerber says.
Hormonal changes add further complications.
“Chemotherapy really messes with a woman’s hormonal
balance, putting them into early menopause, lowering
libido and reducing natural lubrication,” she explains.
Testosterone levels drop for men during androgen-
deprivation therapy for prostate cancer, making erections
difficult or impossible. Add to this the problem of feeling
sexy after hair loss or weight loss or gain following treat-
ment, and it’s understandable that sex drives suffer and rifts
develop in relationships.
Because knowledge is power, ask your physician what to
expect and share the information with your partner.
Rx No. 2: Redefine
“My most important message is just because sex isn’t the
same as it used to be doesn’t mean it can’t be as good as
it used to be,” Kerber notes. “Sometimes it even becomes
better, because partners really discuss their needs and take
nothing for granted. But you can’t cling to wanting things to
go back the way it was, or neither partner will be happy.”
Robinson encourages couples to reframe expectations by
thinking about their sex drive as an appetite. “We’re not
always hungry enough to want the full-meal deal, but that
doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy eating. Sometimes you only
want an appetizer, and nibbling is completely satisfying.”
This approach reduces the pressure on partners and opens
the door to redefining sex as mutual pleasure, rather than the
traditional act itself.
“We put so much emphasis on penetration as the only way
to have sex,” Kerber agrees. “But there are so many other
ways to be physically intimate. You don’t have to shut every-
thing down if one approach no longer works.”
Think of your body as the new and improved string of
Christmas tree lights, Robinson adds. When one bulb doesn’t
work, the others still do. “Men can still become fully aroused
and have orgasms without an erection, or even a penis. You
can still light up.”
Rx No. 3: Relax
Expand your sexual repertoire by using whatever works for
you as a couple – including sexual aids. “Sexuality stores
aren’t necessarily whips and chains,” says Robinson.
“There’s nothing dirty or taboo about exploring options.
Experiment to find what works.”
Shun old-style sex shops and look for those with products
tested for safety, ease of use and durability. Avoid phthalates,
22 winter 2010
a known carcinogen, and look for latex-free labelling
if allergies are a problem. Although ordering online
offers anonymity, Kerber finds she can assist most
couples after in-person or email conversations to
help her match product to particular needs and
preferences.
What’s out there may surprise you: tasteful,
attractive styling designed for ergonomics and
partner-friendly use. “Vibrators aren’t a penis substi-
tute, but a powerful tool for arousal,” Kerber explains.
“They get the blood flowing, stimulating circulation and
desire. They’re also good for massage and reducing scar tissue.”
Vaginal dilators and wands, (far prettier than the name suggests), reduce vaginal atrophy
and pain during intercourse. Constriction rings and vacuum pumps help maintain
erections and are far less invasive than drug or surgical solutions. The new generation of
lubricants to ease vaginal dryness don’t irritate like glycol-based products such as the old
K-Y standby, thanks to water- or silicone-based formulae—and they last longer too. Special
pillows and supports like Love Bumpers make sexual positions more comfortable and
reduce fatigue.
“Sex is such a life-affirming activity when a person is facing cancer,” says Robinson. “Often
couples who try new approaches and communicate more openly tell me they wish they’d
gone this route before cancer forced them to, since sex is much better for them now.”
Like for Gloria* a middle-aged Edmonton woman diagnosed with breast cancer in
2007. Gloria is back at work and doing well today, after a lumpectomy, four rounds of che-
motherapy and radiation treatment. Since she’d already been through menopause, she
didn’t experience radical hormonal changes from chemo, but it had other unsettling effects.
“It took away my energy and ability to focus, and even affected my hearing.” Gloria lost her
hair, but her husband constantly reassured her that he loved her bald head. Still, she felt a
growing distance.
“We’ve never had sex frequently—that was always the story of my marriage—and we
tried a couple of times unsuccessfully while I was in treatment. But what really bothered
me was seeing how my husband felt he always had to be the ‘strong one.’ He would never
discuss how my cancer was affecting either of us emotionally. That made my cancer jour-
ney very lonely for him. It was like a big bruise on his soul.”
Once Gloria felt better, her interest in sexuality returned, but it took a lot of patience
before she and her husband truly reconnected. “We’re more intimate now, but I regret that
he suffered in silence for two long years.”
It takes courage and some creativity to stay close, but couples find the effort pays off.
Kerber says one of her most memorable cases was helping a woman get her groove back
following years of breast cancer treatment. “Her relationship suffered during that time
and she didn’t know how to get back on track. We talked about simple things, then the
conversation branched off into more areas. When she left, she said, ‘‘I have hope now.
I believe things can change.’ And later I received an email saying things were improving.
All she needed were ideas on how to start again. The need to be physically intimate
never goes away. You just need to stay open about figuring things out together and a
willingness to try.”
*name changed by request
RX NO. 4: RESOURCES
Counselling and courses
Individual, couple or class counselling is available through the psychosocial
departments at Edmonton’s Cross Cancer Institute and the Glenrose Sexual
Health Service or Calgary’s Tom Baker Cancer Centre and the Prostate
Cancer Centre. Physicians can advise what’s available in your area.
myleapmagazine.ca
Relationships: SUPPORTING HAPPINESS AND LONGEVITY

a
Life
Well Lived
BY CAITLIN CRAWSHAW / PHOTOGRAPHED BY KORI SYCH

To honour her legacy, the family of

Catherine Pearson has raised almost $140,000
for sarcoma research in less than two years

W hen Catherine Pearson passed away from cancer in

2009, it came as a shock not only for her husband and three
children, but the entire community.
In the small community of Springbank, where the couple raised
their family, Catherine played an active part. The physiotherapist
calmed the nerves of new parents in prenatal classes for nearly two
decades. When the couple’s three children were small, she made
regular cameos at their school, helping with hot dog lunch days and
other school events.
Sometimes, Catherine even made classroom appearances. “All
the kids remembered her because she did the birthing educational
class in Grade 7. They called her ‘the sex lady,’” recalls her husband
Rob Pearson.
On top of that, Catherine served as director of her local chapter of
Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) and helped out in her horse
riding association. With so many community activities, Catherine
touched thousands of lives in her 62 years.
“She left a legacy,” says Pearson.
Catherine passed away on April 11, 2009, from sarcoma, a rare
form of cancer that accounts for only one per cent of all adult can-
cers diagnosed in North America (that’s about 1,000 to 1,200 cases
in Canada each year). The disease affects bones, cartilage and any
soft tissue in the body.
Catherine had a type of soft-tissue sarcoma (leiomyosarcoma).
Only when she had unrelated surgery to remove uterine fibroids did
doctors discover a tumour. Although Catherine had two bouts of
chemotherapy, there wasn’t much doctors could do at such a late
stage. She passed away just four months after her sarcoma diagnosis

myleapmagazine.ca winter 2010 23

 Relationships: SUPPORTING HAPPINESS AND LONGEVITY

MONEY RAISED BY THE PEARSONS

(through donations and the rodeo)
2009: $102, 992
2010: $42,750 (as of Oct. 26, 2010)

“Cathy was a big fan of the Stampede and

she liked horses. The Rodeo was a great
tribute, as well as a way to fundraise that
was a bit different from the usual things.”

and, like many people with the dis-
ease, didn’t feel any pain or discom-
fort from it until the end.
Stunned by Catherine’s death, Pearson and
their children, Leah, Kyla and Stephen, wanted to
do something to keep her legacy alive and, just as
importantly, help prevent other families from going
through what they had.
Pearson began contacting a number of cancer
organizations, which eventually led him to the
Alberta Cancer Foundation. Just months after his
wife’s passing, he established the Catherine M.
Pearson Research Fund. Stephen came up with the
idea of hosting a charity rodeo to raise funds.
“Cathy was a big fan of the Stampede and she liked
horses,” says Pearson. It seemed like “a great trib-
ute, as well as a way to fundraise that was a bit differ-
ent from the usual things.”
In September 2009, the family organized the first
Catherine Pearson Charity Rodeo at the Wild Wild
West Event Centre, near Calaway Park. Rodeo high-
lights included wild-horse (bareback) races, bull and
cow rides (“The only difference between cows and
bulls, is that cows don’t chase you,” says Pearson)
and a goat dressing, in which teams of three attempt
to put a t-shirt on a goat (with mixed results).
The event raised more than $40,000 the first year
and close to the same amount in September 2010.
In addition to the rodeos, Pearson approaches
companies and wealthy individuals in the commu-

24 winter2010 myleapmagazine.ca
 nity who have the means to make large donations. He
has also invested some of his own money. “I’ve been
hoping to show this is a significant effort – not a flash-
in-the-pan,” he explains.
Donations from the second rodeo and private dona-
tions are still being calculated by the Alberta Cancer
Foundation. However, as of Oct. 26, the Pearsons had
raised a little more than $145,000 in less than two
years.
But Pearson is far from satisfied. He says many fam-
ily memorials raise a few thousand dollars before fad-
ing away. “I want to raise $1.5 million,” he says. This is
the amount he needs to set up an endowment that
would fund a sarcoma research fellowship at the Tom
Baker Cancer Centre.

“The Pearson family will leave a lasting

impact on sarcoma research in Alberta.”
“The endowed fellowship will ensure annual fund-
ing for sarcoma research in perpetuity,” says Alberta
Cancer Foundation senior development officer
Marianne Bernardino. “The Pearson family will leave
a lasting impact on sarcoma research in Alberta.”
At the moment, the Pearson family has raised more
money for sarcoma research than any other family in
the province and the largest donation to date for sar-
coma research. The $1.5-million research fellowship
would be the first of its kind in Alberta.
LASSO THIS LINK:
To find out more about the Catherine Pearson Charity
Rodeo, check out www.pearsonrodeo.com.
FORGET ME NOT
Sarcoma has been called the “forgotten cancer”
because it’s less often researched than more com-
mon varieties of cancer – it’s also less well known
among Canadians.
This may seem ironic, given that a great Cana-
dian – Terry Fox – had osteogenic sarcoma, a type
of sarcoma affecting the bones. In an attempt to
remove the cancer, doctors amputated his right leg
15 centimetres above the knee.
While there are more than 50 types of sarcoma,
arising from bones, cartilage and soft tissues in the
body, sarcomas only account for one per cent of
adult cancers. About 15 to 20 per cent of childhood
cancers are sarcomas.
Sarcomas are tricky to diagnose and to treat.
Often, these cancers are misdiagnosed – perhaps
as a sports injury – or don’t cause the sufferer
much discomfort until the final stages. Some
sarcomas also resist current cancer treatments.
Perhaps as a result of these facts, the survival
rate for soft-tissue sarcomas is only 60 per cent
after surgery.

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 25

Relationships: SUPPORTING HAPPINESS AND LONGEVITY

The
Family
GenesBY KELLEY STARK / ILLUSTRATION BY COLIN SPENCE

A family history of cancer doesn’t mean you’ll get

the disease. But some cancers do have a known
hereditary link. Here’s what you should know

W hen cancer is prevalent in one’s family – Uncle Burt has had testicular cancer,
cousin Georgia found a lump in her breast or Grandpa Ted passed away from stomach
cancer – people often say “cancer runs in my family.” Fortunately, cancer doesn’t work
like that. It doesn’t so much run as it saunters along, looking in all the store windows and stopping
to chat with the passing townspeople.
In most cases, even a high incidence of a certain type of cancer in a family doesn’t mean any one
member is at risk. However for those cancers – breast, ovarian and colorectal – where genetic links were
discovered in the 1990s, a diagnosis for you or someone in your family may result in referral for genetic
counselling and testing, and collecting a complete family medical history.
“People don’t always have 100 per cent accuracy in their knowledge of their family history,” says Dr. Dawna
Gilchrist, professor and clinical geneticist at Edmonton’s Medical Genetics Clinic. If you are concerned about
your risk for hereditary cancer (see sidebar on page 28), “Talk to your family doctor or specialist,” advises Gilchrist.
For those patients that meet the criteria, a referral to the Medical Genetics Clinic is the first step in cancer risk
assessment, genetic counselling and possible genetic testing.
If you meet the clinic’s stringent criteria, then you will be contacted by the clinic to confirm interest in pursuing coun-
selling and testing.
Next, the family history must be documented, and then a pedigree is constructed so the clinic can decide whose records
they require. “We need records on your mom, your sister and your cousin Georgia (who had the lump in her breast),” says
Gilchrist. “We’ll send you release of information forms and then you ask your mom, your sister, and your cousin, ‘Are you willing
to sign these medical release forms so that Medical Genetics can review your history?’”
The records are then reviewed and checked against what you have said and if everything still meets the criteria, an appointment is made.
According to clinic protocol, the first appointment involves “assessment of hereditary cancer risk, discussion of potential molecular

26 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 27
Relationships: SUPPORTING HAPPINESS AND LONGEVITY
testing including risks/benefits/limitations and recommen-
dations for clinical management.” Also, if you are still inter-
ested, the clinic will begin genetic testing by administering a
blood test. “DNA is extracted from blood,” explains Gilchrist,
“and we look for mutations in specific genes.”
The results of the blood test are revealed at the second
appointment, and if they show a genetic mutation, there will
be further discussion regarding genetic cancer risk and
recommendations for clinical management will be given.
Cancer may be passed on in a family through the mutation of a
single gene. For example, says Gilchrist, “Everyone in the world
has a pair of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. We’re not looking for the
presence or absence of those genes, because everybody has them;
we’re looking for mutations in one or the other of those genes.”
Gilchrist stresses there are pros and cons to pursuing genetic
testing and it is not a decision to be taken lightly. One benefit
may be an earlier cancer diagnosis thanks to more frequent
screening. Testing also provides patients with the option to
take preventive steps such as surgically removing breasts or
ovaries before cancers have a chance to form. But there are also
possible disadvantages. Because the best way to prevent cancer
is not yet known, a patient may wonder exactly what to do with
a positive test result for hereditary cancer. Removing the
breasts or ovaries will drastically reduce the chances of getting
those cancers, but may not totally eliminate the possibility. And
even a normal result for genetic testing doesn’t mean that the
patient is guaranteed never to have cancer.
Finally, though more attention is given to hereditary breast,
ovarian and colon cancers, just about any cancer has a five to
10 per cent chance of being genetic. The two exceptions are
cervical cancer (“because cervical cancer is almost entirely
due to an infection,” says Gilchrist) and lung cancer, which is
“very rare to be seen in a hereditary situation, although can
certainly be seen in a family if they’re all smokers.”
Ninety to 95 per cent of cancer is multi-factorial.
Contributing factors can come from three domains.
Genetics is one domain, but involving your whole body and
not just the mutation of a single gene. The other two
domains are personal and environmental. Gilchrist
breaks it down: “A single gene abnormality like BRCA1
and 2 is like a genetic trump card. All of those other
factors still exist but they pale in comparison to the
gene mutation. An example of an environmental
trump card would be growing up next to Chernobyl. An
example of a personal trump card, not for breast cancer, but
certainly for lung cancer, would be smoking. It doesn’t mat-
ter how healthy you were born or how healthy you otherwise
live, if you’re going to insist on smoking, you’re going to have
adverse health outcomes.”
28 winter 2010
GET TESTED
The referral criteria for genetic testing in Alberta is one or more of the
following:
For Breast Cancer
• A relative with a confirmed BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation
• A personal diagnosis before the age of 40
• A personal diagnosis before 50 and a relative who was also diagnosed
before age 50
• A personal history as well as two related family members who have also
been diagnosed
• More than one primary breast cancer
• A personal history of triple negative tumours diagnosed before 50
For Ovarian Cancer
• Personal history of invasive serious ovarian cancer
• Personal history, diagnosed before 50
• Personal history and a relative who has also been diagnosed
For Colorectal Cancer
• A relative with a confirmed familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP)
or Lynch gene mutation
• Diagnosis of FAP in the patient or immediate family
• Descendent of Ashkenazi Jew and a personal or family history of
colorectal cancer
• Three family members with colorectal cancer and stomach, pancreas,
gallbladder, endometrium, ovary, kidney, ureter, bladder or small bowel
cancer
• Tumour IHC (immunohistochemistry, a special pathologic technique that is
used to search for the presence of certain proteins in tumours) results
suggestive of a germline mutation in the patient or immediate family
member
Ashkenazi Jewish Ancestry
• Personal history of breast or ovarian cancer (only for individuals who meet
another criteria)
• An immediate family member with breast cancer diagnosed before 50,
ovarian cancer, male breast cancer or multiple relatives with breast and/or
ovarian cancer
Other Cancers
• Suspected or known hereditary cancer syndromes
• Two or more relatives with cases of an uncommon cancer
• A relative who has had cancer diagnosed at a much younger age than usual
and where there is another cancer of the same type
• Clustering of cancer in a family
SOURCE: EDMONTON CANCER GENETICS CLINIC
myleapmagazine.ca
Healing
Traditions
For a person grieving the
loss of a loved one, festive
celebrations can still be
rich with love
Alber ta’s cancer-free movement
BY DAWNA FREEMAN
S
ylvia and Larry Bisson had been happily married
for 30 years. With their two boys now grown up, talk was
turning to future plans when Larry’s heart unexpectedly
stopped the night of Sept. 23, 2006.
“I did not have Christmas for the next two years,” says Bisson.
“I could not have a Christmas tree in the house. That’s the last
thing Larry bought before he died.”
In 2009, Bisson and her two sons and daughter-in-law pulled
out the box from storage, turned up the music and assembled
the eight-foot-high tree, pre-lit with hundreds of little white
lights. “Christmas was his favourite time of year and putting up
his tree together was life-giving.” Now they make an occasion of
decorating “Dad’s tree” each year.
winter 2010 29
Relationships: SUPPORTING HAPPINESS AND LONGEVITY
For most of us, the holiday season is a joyful time, a
merry whirlwind of home baking and house decorat-
ing, letter writing and gift wrapping, last-minute
shopping and getting together with friends, col-
leagues and family. But for someone who has experi-
enced the loss or death of a loved one, it may be the
most dreaded time of the year.
“Society encourages
“Grieving is both a necessity and us to join in the holiday
festivities, but all
a privilege and it comes as a around us are sights and
result of having given love and sounds that reawaken
received love.” memories. And what
triggers memories will
trigger emotions and feelings,” says Mark Sloan, a
social worker with the Medicine Hat Cancer Centre
and member of the palliative care team at the
Medicine Hat Hospital.
For more than 20 years, he has helped people
through the grieving process.
Grief, he explains, follows a loss of any kind:
“Anything that takes the loved one out of the normal
routine of life can result in grief – whether through
an expected or unexpected death, an illness such as a
stroke, or a disease such as Alzheimer’s.”
Dr. Richard Worden has a doctorate in grieving. He
retired in 2006 after 25 years as a social worker with
family services in Medicine Hat and now provides
social work services at the Health Matters Medical
Clinic, part of the Palliser Primary Care Network.
He says a grieving person often dreads the first
30 winter 2010
milestone celebration of any kind, be it a birthday,
anniversary, Thanksgiving or Mother’s Day. But, he
clarifies, if the loss falls around an important date,
the grieving person may still be in shock, and the loss
may be more keenly felt the following year.
The best way a family can help someone in mourn-
ing during the holiday season is to acknowledge their
loss. “I call it the elephant in the room,” says Worden.
“When everyone is gathered around the dinner table
and there is one less place setting, don’t pretend that
nothing has happened. Acknowledge the elephant.”
He encourages families to remember the loved one
by lighting candles, putting flowers on the table or
including their name in a toast or a blessing.
Worden says communicating and planning are key
to helping families cope with their grief. “Share ideas
on how to approach the holiday season. Keep your
traditions but do it a little differently. Do a potluck
dinner or go to a restaurant.” Talk to the grieving
person and ask what you can do, he suggests. Can you
write cards together? Go to the cemetery with them?
“Be present in their emotions. Ask what their
thoughts are. Let them know you still care about
their loss.”
Talking about death is not something our society
does very well, admits Sloan. “We don’t know what to
say or how to comfort someone in pain.” He says it’s
not uncommon to hear family members tell a griev-
ing person that it’s time to get on with things. “We
want them to show us they are okay – but that often
serves to repress their emotions of grief.”
myleapmagazine.ca
 CELEBRATING LIFE
AROUND THE HOLIDAYS
The holidays can also take on deeper meaning for
people diagnosed with cancer or undergoing treat-
ments, as was the case for Andrew Leitch, currently
working in communications for the University of
Alberta.
In January 1996, Leitch was diagnosed with
Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Throughout the year, he
received treatments culminating in a bone marrow
transplant the following January and an injection of
stem cells to boost his immune system on Jan. 22,
which his loved ones began to celebrate as his
“re-birthday.”
“My first re-birthday card from my wife said,
‘Goodness gracious, look at you, one year old and
darling too!’” he recalls with a chuckle. After a few
years, Leitch and his wife, Karen, had their first
child, with their second following four years later.
Before receiving a clean bill of health and having
children, Leitch saw the holidays as a tradition to
follow without always looking into the deeper
meaning as to why we celebrate this time of year.
Since then, he sees the holidays as a time to be
grateful for everything you have and embrace your
spirituality.
“Now I have a life and kids and a great job, so I’m
more likely to use that time of year to be thank-
ful than I ever was,” he says, now 14 years
living cancer-free.
He encourages family and friends to be available
and be good listeners. “We need to reach out and ask
what we can do, rather than giving them a solution
like ‘you need to keep busy.’ They, in turn, need to
teach us what it is like to grieve, to go through that
first Christmas or anniversary without a loved one,
so we can help them.”
Beth Tchir, who lost her husband of 20 years to
colon cancer in February 2005, chose to keep to their
traditional Christmas dinner because it was impor-
tant for her teenage children to be with their sup-
portive family. But on Boxing Day, they headed for
the hills for a few days of downhill skiing in Banff.
“We always skied together as a family. Bob loved it,
and it made us feel good remembering him.”
Sloan says even when people have moved on in
their new lives, they may still have bursts of grief. It
doesn’t mean their reaction is unhealthy; it means
they are remembering someone in a loving and car-
ing way. “Grieving is both a necessity and a privilege
and it comes as a result of having given love and
received love.”
Tchir says she has learned not to hide from her
memories and that it is okay to feel sad and have a
cry. “I accept it as a blessing that I had Bob in my life
for 25 years, and I am grateful for that. I learned so
much and loved so much being with him. That gives
me strength.”
HONOURING LOVED ONES
There is no prescription to take away the
hurt, but there are things we can do to help
prepare for the holidays.
What a grieving person can do
• Acknowledge that the holiday season will be
different and difficult, and accept offers of
assistance.
• Be willing to talk about your grief and your
needs. Find friends and family who will listen
to you about what you are feeling. Sometimes
you may need to initiate the conversation.
• Honour your loved one by lighting candles,
giving a gift in their name or including them
in a prayer or toast.
• Eliminate stressors and choose activities that
bring peace and joy.
• Look after your health, nurture yourself and
learn something new.
• Accept the grieving process, reminisce and
celebrate relationships.
What family and relatives can do
• Let the grieving person talk about their
feelings and what happened. Listen without
judgment. There is no need to fix their
feelings.
• Ask what they need for that special occasion
and what they want to do.
• Spend time with them. Help with errands and
tasks, like gift and food shopping, writing
cards, baking and decorating the home.
• Plan ahead for holidays, birthdays and other
annual events. Encourage family traditions,
but don’t be afraid to do it a little differently,
if only for one year.
• Show you care. Ask what they’re thinking or
what you can do for them.
SYMPTOMS OF GRIEF
Grief can manifest itself in a wide range of
emotions
• Shock and disbelief
• Anger
• Denial
• Sadness
• Depression
• Guilt
• Fear
Many people may also experience physical
symptoms:
• Tightness in the chest
• Sleeplessness
• Shortness of breath
• Lack of appetite
• Inability to concentrate

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 31

Top Job

SHINE YOUR LIGHT: Spiritual care

coordinator Shane Sinclair wants patients
to personalize their spiritual journeys.

32 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

 A chaplain-turned-care-coordinator
allows patients to direct their
own spiritual journeys
BY ELIZABETH CHORNEY-BOOTH

W hen one thinks of a hospital chaplain, Dr.

Shane Sinclair isn’t likely the first person to
come to mind. Young and energetic, Sinclair is
more interested in talking about compassion, dignity
and the way an individual finds meaning through
friends and family than he is about the doctrine of any
specific religion. Sinclair represents a more modern
kind of care facility chaplain or, as he prefers to define
his job, a spiritual care coordinator.

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 33

Top Job
Before Sinclair started at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre
in Calgary as its spiritual care coordinator, the centre did
not have a full-time chaplain. Since coming on board three
years ago, he has expanded the program, gained acceptance
and support from most of the staff and hired on a second
staff member to work alongside him. Sinclair’s job descrip-
tion is simple: he makes himself available to talk to patients
who may need some spiritual guidance. He prefers not to
take referrals, but instead visits different departments
within the clinic to do what he calls “intentional loitering.”
“I don’t sit here waiting for phone calls,” he says. “I go
down into the treatment areas and I visit people and say
hello. Sometimes they respond with just a ‘hello’ and
sometimes it’s a ‘hello, I need to talk about something,
because it’s my first day in treatment and how on Earth
am I going to make it through this?’”
Sinclair says that part of the reason he prefers to approach
patients casually is that many of them don’t know what a
spiritual care coordinator is or they expect he will give them
unsolicited religious advice. Sinclair does not look to any
particular religious doctrine when working with any given
patient. He lets the patients lead the way and gently helps
them reflect on what gives their own lives meaning and
hope. For some people, that might mean their church or
temple. For others it’s their family or love of nature.
“A lot of my work is looking at areas of hope in a person’s
story and how that can be a resource to facilitate what
they’re going through in terms of their chemotherapy
or radiation,” he says, “because people generally dig down
pretty deep when they go through something like this.
So having somebody who is non-judgmental, a positive
presence and really interested in cultivating that person’s
own spirituality is what this department is all about.”
Becoming a certified spiritual care coordinator
or chaplain requires a master’s degree (though Sinclair has
a PhD) and at least one year of residency in a hospital set-
ting. While he is still working on an academic level, specifi-
cally studying how a health care worker’s personal spiritu-
ality can benefit the quality of the care they provide and
issues concerning a patient’s sense of dignity, his greatest
qualification is his innate ability to communicate and make
a patient feel comfortable in confiding in him.
Cathy Lockerby understands that connection. The nurse
and former breast cancer patient was in the chemotherapy
unit for treatment when Sinclair stopped by to chat with
her. “I found him very warm, interested and easy to engage
with,” says Lockerby, who immediately liked him.
From there, she and her adult children attended counselling
sessions with him to overcome challenges associated with
family communication and support strained by cancer. “I felt
honoured and respected by him,” she says. “He’s very skilled at
what he does.”
34 winter 2010
“So much of the work I do is Sinclair does not look to any
based on connection,” he says.
“Whether you call that a spiritual
particular religious doctrine
connection or a personal connec- when working with any given
tion, I would want to know the per- patient. He lets the patients lead
son who is going to care for me in a the way and gently helps them
spiritual way.” reflect on what gives their own
Dr. Neil Hagen, the pain and
palliative care tumour group lives meaning and hope.
leader at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and head of the academic division of Palliative
Medicine at the Department of Oncology at the University of Calgary, agrees.
“The doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other clinicians at the Tom Baker Cancer
Centre deeply care about the well-being of the patients who come here to get treated,”
he says. “When the amount of suffering is huge and when it’s complex is when a person
like Shane, with such depth and breadth of experience in dignity and in meaning, can
help patients tap into their own resources.”
“One talks of pain and suffering, but they’re not the same,” Hagen adds. “They’re
related, but they’re not the same. What I deal with is pain. What Shane deals with
is suffering.”
Sinclair has plans to expand what he does at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre
and has received support to develop music and arts programs that will give his patients
another way to explore their spirituality. He has also recently organized a celebration-
of-life service to honour patients who have passed away. It’s part of an all-encompassing
approach that recognizes that cancer doesn’t just affect a patient’s physical self.
“There’s something mysterious to our experience of cancer,” Sinclair says. “To hon-
our that and be present with that with people in their joys and questions and uncertain-
ties and curiosities is extremely healing, whether they talk through it and figure it all
out or whether they simply had a person who sat beside them in silence as they weep.
There’s comfort in that.”
AWARD-WINNING CARE
In August 2010, Dr. Shane Sinclair was awarded the Dr. Solomon Levin
Memorial Award. The award was established by the Alberta Cancer Foundation
in 2007 in collaboration with the Department of Symptom Control and
Palliative Care at the Cross Cancer Institute and the Alberta Cancer
Foundation. The funds awarded are meant to finance recipients’ continuing
education and professional growth, as related to the realm of palliative care.
Sinclair was given the award so he could continue his research regarding
matters of dignity when it comes to end-of-life care and how that relates to a
patient’s spirituality. “Dignity is one of those fuzzy words that doesn’t exclu-
sively fall into the realm of spirituality,” Sinclair says. “But at the end of the day,
I think it is one of those words like ‘compassion’ that we all know is so important
but have a hard time putting our finger on. It becomes particularly important to
anyone who’s going through a health crisis, but especially for those who are at
the end of life.”
Sinclair is working with researchers in other parts of the country and the
endowment allows him to further those collaborations. While the work is
academic, he says that his findings will be translated practically back into his
work with patients at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.
myleapmagazine.ca
 whyIdonate / STORIES OF GIVING

Higher
LOVE BY KRISTIANA INDRADAT

Only days after their mountaintop

wedding, Deanna Henderson lost her
husband, but that’s not the end to
their beautiful love story

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 35

 whyIdonate / STORIES OF GIVING

36 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

U nder the blue skies of an April morning,
Deanna, in her wedding gown, and James, in his
traditional Scottish kilt, leapt off the helicopter
into three feet of fresh fallen snow and onto the summit
of Mount Charles Stewart just north of Canmore. The
couple had travelled from Calgary to exchange vows
before a small group of loved ones. It was a dream wed-
ding for the love-struck couple, whose fondness for the
mountains and outdoors kept them camping, hiking and
travelling for a good portion of their time together.
They were happily married for four days.
The couple decided that the original wedding date of
Aug. 7, 2010, had to be pushed up after Jim’s doctor
explained the results of his latest CT scan just a few short
weeks before. Hundreds of microscopic tumours, previ-
ously undetected, were blocking up his

PHOTOS: DR Photography
biliary tree and making him jaundiced.
When Jim had first been diagnosed in “I knew what the outcome was going
October 2006 with stage IV colorectal to be, but to run away from true
cancer, the tumours found in his liver love is one of the most detrimental
were larger and more manageable. Now
the only thing to do was to continue
things someone can do in their life.”
living until his body could not endure
the cancer any longer. “True love is rare enough to not go through with the risk.
For Jim, that moment happened in the comfort of his I knew what the outcome was probably going to be, but to
family’s home back in Windsor, Ontario, just days after run away from true love I think is one of the most detrimen-
the wedding. tal things someone can do in their life,” she says.
That morning, Henderson brought him breakfast. She The minute Jim had walked into her workplace where
reached out to help him sit up and then, as he embraced she was making travel arrangements for his family to visit
her, it happened. “I swore that I could see the light just go Australia, Henderson knew he was the man she had
out of him,” she says. “He went very quickly.” To her, it dreamed about for years. The intensity of that first meet-
seemed that he waited until he’d had the chance to talk ing was no different for him. For several moments, they
with his family once more over those four days before simply stared at one another, she recalls, thinking of the
allowing himself his own peace. odd but comforting recognition each one had for the
Henderson knew from the beginning of their relation- other despite never having met.
ship that Jim’s prognosis was poor, but it hadn’t scared From then, the two were inseparable, and Jim, who
her away. once wondered if he’d ever have an opportunity to have a

les
Fred Co
through the bequest he left to
the fellowship program at the
Tom Baker Cancer Centre.

And as in life, others follow his

Fred Coles was a community
builder and industry titan in
Calgary. He was also a leader
in building support for the
Alberta Cancer Foundation.
lead. Every year, family and friends
boost Fred’s legacy with the
proceeds from a golf tournament
held in his honour.
To learn more about leaving a legacy to a
cancer-free future, please contact Derek Michael,
780 643 440 0, 1 866 412 4222 or email
derek.michael @ albertacancerfoundation.ca

Fred died in May of 2008, but

his leadership continues. Today,
he’s training the next generation
of cancer researchers and doctors
 whyIdonate / STORIES OF GIVING
family, had immediately become a loving stepdad to
Henderson’s then 11-year-old daughter.
Even when Jim’s chemotherapy sessions kept him
tired, weak and groggy, the couple made plans for in
between sessions. Jim’s doctor encouraged the couple to
live to the fullest, allowing them to rearrange treatment
schedules in order to accommodate trips they really
wanted to take.
“The whole point was to give him as much life as possi-
ble,” says Henderson.
Following Jim’s death, Henderson set forth to spread
his ashes over some of their favourite destinations from
coast to coast that were special to him. In the end, she
went to 33 different spots over five months, marking each
year of his life.
Her travels also became a personal journey of reflec-
tion and mourning. After all, her first stop at the Bruce
Peninsula – a personal favourite of Jim’s that he hadn’t
the chance to show her – was only a week and a half after
he had peacefully died in her arms. Where the happy
newlyweds should have been sharing the awe and beauty
of these locations together, Henderson often stood there
38 winter 2010
alone with bittersweet memories of their joyous but
shortened relationship.
“It made me realize that life is not about where. It’s
not about the places you go, how much you manage to
see. It’s about sharing it, and sharing with somebody
who really matters to you or even with people you meet
along the way,” Henderson says.
Despite the outcome, Henderson feels Jim’s life is
truly inspirational. Their original wedding date became
a memorial in celebration of his life and accomplish-
ments.
Jim was valedictorian of his high school graduating
class and recipient of the Governor General’s Award for
Academic Achievement as well as a full scholarship to
the University of Windsor. He had several hobbies and
skills, contributed to his favourite environmental causes
such as the Bruce Peninsula National Park trails and he
was passionately involved himself in the creation of
accessible programs and resources for young adults with
cancer in Canada. One such contribution was the
creation of an online Flash game called Mullet Mayhem
for the “Shave for the Brave” cancer fundraiser.
myleapmagazine.ca
 LIFE LIST
Deanna Henderson, a seasoned travel planning professional, is shaping her
career into something even more meaningful: customizing once-in-a-lifetime
dream holidays for people with life-threatening illnesses.
Although it was a challenge, Henderson presents just a few of her top
“life list” destinations right here in Alberta.

Johnston Canyon, Banff

“This beautiful little gorge is highly accessible and instantly rewarding for
anyone, regardless of age or physical ability.” Taking the wheelchair-friendly
catwalk is just as beautiful a trek to the inkpots – five multi-coloured, fresh-
water spring pools in a high alpine valley surrounded by ridgelines.

The couple had originally planned to donate half the Waterton Lakes National Park
money they received from their wedding to the Alberta “The geological history behind it makes it beautiful and interesting because
Cancer Foundation. The other half was to be spent on it was part of a tectonic thrust that pushed mountains out over the prairies,
their honeymoon, but given Jim’s fate, Henderson felt so there are no foothills.” Highway 2 South is the fastest route to Waterton,
donating the estimated $8,000 was more worthwhile. but Henderson recommends a diversion to Route 22 South. “It is absolutely
As for Henderson, she’s found inspiration to do the breathtaking, cuts through many beautiful and historic towns and ranches.”
best she can to help others experience true happiness like
she has. She’s taken her job as a travel agent to a different Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park and Cypress Hills Provincial Park
level, specializing in planning destination holidays for Both personal favourites of her late husband, Jim, for hiking, camping, wild-
people with life-threatening illnesses. life and wildflower photography and aboriginal and frontier history. “Worthy
“It’s all about what I can contribute to others now. My visits enroute to these places would be the very cool Head-Smashed-In
daughter, for example, now knows what true love looks Buffalo Jump and the High Level Bridge in Lethbridge, or Lethbridge
like. That is one of the greatest gifts I could ever give her Viaduct, the longest train trestle of its kind in the world and still in use.”
because she is going to want that for herself.”

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 Research Rockstar

ON THE BALL: Braden Teitge, 22, is working

towards a graduate degree in neuroscience, while
embracing his interest in genetic research.

40 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

 Young
Achiever
At 22, Braden Teitge is after a cure for
cancer. How he got this far he chalks
up to coincidence and accident

BY SCAACHI KOUL / PHOTOS BY BRIAN BOOKSTRUCKER

W
hen a typical person is 22 years old, he’s fin- He credits his interest in genetic research to his family.
ishing off an undergraduate degree, starting a “My dad loves problem solving,” he says. Cancer has
career or figuring out how to get a foot in the affected his family directly, as both his grandfather and
door. For Braden Teitge, however, his early 20s have been mother had it, and his grandmother died from the disease
spent on researching a cure for cancer. before he could meet her.
As a graduate student at the University of Alberta’s In 2009, Teitge was a student researcher for Dr. Diane
Molecular Genetics program, he had a perfect GPA along Cox at the Department of Medical Genetics in the U of A
with multiple awards from the school and worked as a Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. With Cox, he
summer research student in his second year. He calls it performed an analysis of genetic variants in the Wilson
accidental. “I was just going on whatever interested me,” Disease gene, where he tested for copper-induced
he says. “It was sort of a coincidence.” cytotoxicity. “He found some really interesting results,”
This coincidence led to research work in two other labs says Cox. “He’s an outstanding student.”
at the U of A and at McGill University in Montreal. At And he’s an outstanding winner of numerous awards.
McGill, he researched the genetic resistance to viral infec- Teitge has received eight awards in 2010 alone, including
tions. Currently, he’s attending the University of Calgary the Alberta Cancer Foundation’s Cyril M. Kay Graduate
to earn his graduate degree in neuroscience. Studentship as the top-ranked applicant in 2010. For
While at the U of A in late 2008, Teitge got the idea for this award, Teitge receives a stipend of $41,500 over two
Eureka: a student- years to live off of during
run journal that “I’ve got a lot of life left to seek a cancer cure. his graduate degree. Teitge
focuses on under- I just want to be a good researcher.” also received the 2010
graduate research Dean’s Silver Medal in
at the university. After pitching the idea to faculty mem- Science and the International Scholarship Foundation
bers, he began recruiting friends and editors to contribute Post-Graduate Award for the same year.
in 2009. The first edition came out in March 2010. “He sticks to the job, he’s accurate, he’s thorough, he’s
“I thought there was a lot of really good work being critical,” says Cox about her time with Teitge in the lab. “I
done by undergraduate students that wasn’t being recog- select the top, most outstanding students. I have been
nized,” he says. “The faculty didn’t have enough of a cohe- pretty good at picking good students.” She adds that
sive feeling to it. I wanted to improve upon that.” Teitge Teitge has the opportunity to author an article, which is
says he started the project to help students make the tran- rare for a student so young. In November, he presented a
sition “from the classroom to the bench.” poster on genetic resistance to chemotherapy at the

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 41

Research Rockstar
American Society for Human Genetics in Washington.
“It’s very unusual to have undergraduates go to a meet-
ing,” she says.
Teitge has since handed the reins of Eureka to other
students so he can move onto new projects. He is currently
a master of science candidate at the University of Calgary
working with Dr. Samuel Weiss in the Department of
Neuroscience. He’s assisting in the research of the role of
“I thought there was a lot of really good work
being done by undergraduate students that
wasn’t being recognized. The faculty didn’t
have enough of a cohesive feeling to it.
I wanted to improve upon that.”
C-Myc in Glioblastoma multiforme. With Weiss, he’s
working on brain tumour stem cells and how they are
thought to cause cancer. “Fifty years of chemotherapy
might have been targeting the wrong [cells],” says Teitge.
“Cancer stem cells might be causing the disease. We’ve
managed to grow a bunch of these stem cell lines and are
trying different therapies.”
42 winter 2010
Q&A WITH BRADEN TEITGE
Q: What’s the last book you read?
A: A biography of Abraham Lincoln. I was com-
paring and contrasting what he did in the U.S. to
Pierre Elliott Trudeau. I try to branch out and do
non-science things in my spare time. In my free
time, I try to achieve some balance. Leave work
at work.
Q: When you were little, what did you want to
be when you grew up?
A: A basketball player. I played in high school but
wasn’t good enough.
Q: What do you do when you’re not in the lab?
A: I try to play a lot of sports.
Q: What is one of your favourite indulgences?
A: Beer. Traditional ale. Good, Alberta brew.
Q: Who inspires you?
A: One of the founding fathers in stem cell
research, James Thomson. He’s in the States.
I heard he made a lot of the groundbreaking
discoveries and found human stem cells.
He woke up very early in the morning every single
day for two years straight to make those cells
grow. Just reading things like that motivates me
to work a bit harder.
After hearing a lecture in his third year of his under-
graduate degree about tumours, he became interested in
the research side of it. “I looked all across Canada and
there was [a program] right here in Calgary,” he says.
In spite of having a family history with cancer, Teitge
has never asked his family what they think about his work
with cancer research. “It always comes up in conversation
whenever I go home for Thanksgiving, but I’ve never
asked,” he says.
According to the Alberta Cancer Foundation, one in
every four men and one in every five women could die due
to cancer. Teitge is hopeful that more research can lead to
a cure, or at least more progress.
“Any cancer researcher really wants to cure cancer,” he
says. “I’ve got a lot of life left to seek a cancer cure. I just
want to be a good researcher.”
myleapmagazine.ca
 In the hands of Bev Ross, her beautiful
harp transforms into a therapeutic tool
for patients

Harp Soul BY STEPHANIE SPARKS / PHOTOS BY ALLAN BUDD

I f music can soothe the savage beast surely it can

pacify an ailing cancer patient. Since her teenage years,
Bev Ross has been a professional musician. While she may
be trained in piano and keyboard, she had always had a soft
spot for the harp and Celtic music. Once she had crossed
paths with harp music, she was completely drawn in.
Now she is using her talents to work with patients at the
Cross Cancer Institute. Ross, a therapeutic harp practitioner,
shares what brought her to the Cross, as well as her role and
how it benefits patients.

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 43

 IMAGINE THAT
Bev Ross has reached out to various patients at
Q: What inspired you to work with cancer the Cross Cancer Institute through her harp play-
patients? ing, including young Matthew Cook. While waiting
BR: I’m a certified therapeutic harp practitio- for his chemotherapy treatments at the Cross in
ner. Bedside music and certified therapeutic 2006, his mother, Lynn Anderson Cook, could
musicians are of an increasing interest in the hear “Greensleeves” being played on a harp.
United States and now in Canada. So I com- As the sound grew closer and closer, the songs
pleted a program that was at the San Diego changing to suit each patient in the ward, Cook
Hospice. It was a combination of distance asked her son if he recognized any of the tunes.
learning and a residence program. Only 18 years old at the time, he didn’t know many
of the songs. Cook says by the time Bev Ross
Q: How is the harp used as a tool for therapy? appeared with her harp, the therapeutic musician
BR: We are rhythmic beings, so I can use things I notice about a patient to choose what seemed surprised by the young age of her next
music might be most supportive of them wherever they’re at. While toe-tapping music is patient.
certainly therapeutic in some situations, for someone who is dealing with chemotherapy “After a very long pause, she began to play
or is in a palliative pain clinic, more than likely music that is matched to the tempo of their ‘Imagine,’ by John Lennon,” says Cook, who
breath rate or their heart rate will be more sustaining to them than something that doesn’t describes it as the perfect moment between
reflect their experience. mother and son. “If there is such a thing as a
meaningful moment in Matt’s cancer treatments,
Q: How do the patients respond? that was the moment.”
BR: It depends on the patient. I’ve had some strong visual reactions and very positive Although Matthew passed away in April 2010 to
verbal feedback too. It differs for osteosarcoma, Ross performed “Imagine” at the
I hope the music is another every patient. You can tell when
someone is relaxing. If they’re
celebration of his life.
“It is a wonderful human touch in health care
supportive tool to make people clenching their jaw, you can see and very therapeutic,” Cook says of the harp play-
stronger and better to deal with their jaw relax. If their breath has ing. “Bev is very committed to making a difference
the cancer journey. been rapid, you can see it deepen in patients’ lives through music, and she does.
and slow when they fall asleep. I will always remember what she did for Matt
For me, that’s a good outcome, and me.”
because they’ve relaxed and they can let the music just support them into even deeper
relaxation. I invite them to close their eyes and visualize whatever they want or just fol-
low the music to wherever it takes them, and if they fall asleep, that’s a really good out-
come too. NOTE THE DIFFERENCE
Q: What music do you play? Bev Ross and her peers want the distinction
BR: Some people will see a harp and immediately they’ll associate it with a song or a type made clear. A therapeutic musician (like Ross)
of music a harp might play. Or they might say, “I like country music” or “I’m a fan of ’70s is different from a music therapist. Although
rock.” People have their favourites. Sometimes it is playing a song that’s comforting to a the two roles overlap in that music is used
patient because they know the song and maybe it reminds them of something they have a therapeutically, it’s like comparing apples to
positive connection to. oranges.
“One of the things I think would be fair to say
Q: How often do you play for the patients? is a music therapist is often working with a diag-
BR: I work two hours a week at the Cross Cancer Institute and I work 15 hours a week at nostic goal,” says Ross. “He or she will be part of
the University of Alberta Hospital in their Artists on the Ward program. At the Cross, I a diagnostic team and it will be like physiotherapy.
began volunteering in 1985 as part of my practicum for the program I was studying. When There will be physicians, nurses and others who
I completed it, I was attached to the Pain and Symptom Clinic and we began to look at have identified a diagnostic goal. Then the music
ways that I could be supported to do the work. Eventually I was funded with a contract therapist will meet with the patient and use music
from the Alberta Cancer Foundation. as a tool and a support to meet that goal.”
A therapeutic musician works with the patient
Q: What do you hope patients will take away from their experience with you? as a massage therapist would. After the patient
BR: I hope the music is another supportive tool to make people stronger and better to discusses concerns, the musician will have
deal with the cancer journey. gathered a sense of what physical and emotional
It’s really wonderful that the Alberta Cancer Foundation supports the bedside time I state the patient is in and will begin playing
can spend at the Cross and also through the Arts in Medicine program. It’s a wonderful music and adjusting it according to the patient’s
way of providing patient comfort and I’m very grateful to the foundation for recognizing experience.
the benefit in having the harp music available for patients.

44 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

 Leaving a
Legacy
With research and preparation, planned
giving can enrich the lives of others
W itnessing numerous family members
and friends navigate the difficult journey
through cancer treatments inspired John
Porter to do what he could to help. The 88-year-old
named the Alberta Cancer Foundation in his will, desig-
nating a portion of his estate to cancer research with
the hope that one day a cure will be found.
Porter knows the prevalence of cancer firsthand. He
lost his wife, twin brother and father to cancer and has
been at the sides of many other family members and
friends as they underwent cancer treatments.
“[Cancer] is such a demon, isn’t it? It can strike any-
one,” he says. Watching his loved ones suffer motivated
Porter to give back, as did his knowledge of the researchers
and doctors his donation will benefit.
Porter’s wife of 52 years, Virginia, received treatment
at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary for nearly 13
years. She was treated for uterine cancer in 1987 and
nine years later developed bone cancer, eventually
Alber ta’s cancer-free movement
BY CAILYNN KLINGBEIL
receiving a terminal diagnosis and dying in January 2000. “[The staff members at
the Tom Baker Cancer Clinic] have been very passionate about their work and their
research and their patient relationships. They were extremely kind to my wife, and
that’s a factor too,” he says of his decision to include the Alberta Cancer Foundation
in his will.
While Porter makes an annual donation to the Tom Baker Cancer Clinic every
December, his designation of a share of his estate to cancer research means contin-
ued support for finding a cure.
“I thought they are doing such good work at the Alberta Cancer Foundation that
it would be kind of a legacy for the family,” he says.
Patrick Kirby is also leaving a legacy gift, having designated in his will a specific
dollar amount to the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton. Kirby is a semi-retired
partner with Felesky Flynn LLP, covering a wide array of tax matters including
estate planning. He knows what goes into designating such a gift from both a pro-
fessional and personal perspective.
“Like virtually everybody, cancer has touched me,” says Kirby. His son under-
went treatment for testicular cancer and his father died of liver cancer. Kirby spent
a significant amount of time at the Cross Cancer Institute as his son underwent
treatment, an experience that motivated his decision to include the Alberta Cancer
winter 2010 45
Foundation in his will. “I spent a lot of time up there,
and the people were just so fabulous that I wanted to
do a little bit to help.”
Kirby notes that a will can be revised at any time, as
long as you still have the capacity to do so. While there
“[Cancer] is such a demon, isn’t it?
It can strike anyone.” Watching his
loved ones suffer motivated John
Porter to give back, as did his
knowledge of the researchers and
doctors his donation will benefit.
is a specific dollar amount on his donation, it is an
amount that he hopes to change and increase in the
coming years. “In the future, if things go good for me
and continue, then I’ll be able to increase it,” he says.
He advises people to let family members know
of such donations “so that there are no surprises” –
something he did by reading his will to his family at a
Sunday dinner. “I said, ‘I’m telling you this because it’s
not really coming from me…. It’s really you guys that
are going to be the ones making this donation because
it reduces the amount of your inheritance.’” Kirby’s
idea received great reception from his family, who
understood and supported his decision completely.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU PLAN
TO GIVE
Patrick Kirby, a semi-retired partner with Felesky Flynn
LLP, offers tips for giving to charity through your will.
• For those who do not already have a will, Kirby strongly recommends
seeing a lawyer with expertise in the area of law dealing with wills and
estates. “Like most areas of law these days, it’s complex and something
that you want done right.”
• Including a charitable donation to the Alberta Cancer Foundation in your
will is easy to do, says Kirby. “It’s just a simple matter to put a statement in
your will that says ‘I will leave X dollars to Y charity.’” You can designate a
specific gift amount or contribute all or a portion of your estate to charity.
• First though, Kirby advises people to ensure all of their other personal
obligations are adequately looked after before leaving anything to charity.
He also recommends letting family members know about such donations
to avoid surprises after the fact.
• Significant tax advantages exist when leaving charitable donations in your
will, says Kirby. A gift to a registered Canadian charity through your will
can provide a tax credit, as such donations can be claimed under the
deceased’s personal tax return for the year of death.
hnsto n
Mary Jo
Today, Dr. Alan Underhill keeps
Mary’s resolve by investigating
the inner workings of melanoma,
knowledge critical to driving
development of more effective
therapies.
To learn more about leaving a legacy to a
cancer-free future, please contact: Derek Michael,
Mary I. Johnston knew melanoma 780 643 4662, 1 866 412 4222 or email
derek.michael @ albertacancerfoundation.ca
would take her life. But that
didn’t stop her fighting the
disease. She set a plan in action.
After Mary died in 2004, according
to her direction, family and friends
established the Mary Johnston
Chair in Melanoma Research at
the Cross Cancer Institute.
 TREE OF LIFE
IN SUPPORT OF WOMEN’S HEALTH

DEEP ROOTS
IN THE COMMUNITY
BY STEPHANIE SPARKS

Shoppers Drug Mart locations in Alberta

unite as part of the Tree of Life campaign

As paper leaves, butterflies and cardinals flutter around in September and

October, Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. wants its customers to fill its Tree of Life with
their thoughtful donations. Since 2002, the Canadian retail drug store has raised
more than $13 million through the annual four-week fall campaign. Shoppers
has changed its initial direction of the Tree of Life giving to one charity to allow-
ing store owners (known as “associates”) to decide which charity in their commu-
nity they want to support.
Including Edmonton associate and pharmacist Kelly LaForge’s Summerside
store, 25 locations opted to support women’s health causes and fundraise for
the Alberta Cancer Foundation in support of the Cross Cancer Institute’s Arts in
Medicine program. (In addition, as Shoppers was the national sponsor along
with its Quebec-based Pharmaprix stores for the 2010 Weekend to End Women’s
Cancers, Edmonton locations raised more than $97,300 and Calgary locations
raised more than $68,500.)
While customers who purchase donations in the form of leaves ($1), butterflies
($5) and cardinals ($50) are the main drivers behind the fundraising for Tree of
Life, LaForge says, “There’s a hundred different things happening. Everybody
does it differently at each of the locations.”
The associates set targets for their stores and encourage their teams to hit
those numbers through barbeques, bake sales and raffles – anything to build
awareness and bring in donations. Other times, stores have competed in a
friendly rivalry to see who can raise more.
Although the final numbers for this year’s Tree of Life in Edmonton weren’t
yet in at the end of October, LaForge says the estimate is $48,810. In 2009, the gram’s patients and facilitators.
Edmonton stores brought in almost $60,300 for the Cross Cancer Institute. This LaForge is hopeful that 2011 will have bigger and
was an astounding increase over 2007’s nearly $35,250. LaForge attributes this better results. She plans to work with the Alberta
to each store’s responsibility to choose a cause. Cancer Foundation in the new year to strategize an
“Now that we choose our own, people are more passionate about it and have introduction for the next campaign as well as learn
their personal reasons for choosing the charity.” about different programs needing support.
The decision to donate to the Arts in Medicine program came about when the “Everybody in the community is touched in some
Edmonton associates learned that one of their colleagues’ wives who had breast way by cancer,” she says. “As pharmacists, we’re
cancer was taking part in the program. involved with patients and their families every day.”
“She was so passionate about the program and what a difference that it made
in her life being able to sit down with a group of people where she didn’t feel like
she was in a health group. It was about just having fun, learning something and For more information about Tree of Life,
not thinking about cancer.” visit www.shoppersdrugmart.ca.
To learn more about the program, the Edmonton associates visited the pro-

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 47

 A new research study aims to
determine just what amount
of physical activity can reduce
the risk of breast cancer

BY KELLEY STARK

M
eeting new people, getting in shape and boosting your
body’s production of happy endorphins are no longer the only
benefits to hanging out at the gym. Researchers have found that
exercise can help reduce breast cancer risk. Studies, like the
ALPHA trial, have shown evidence of this in postmenopausal women, but
the new question to be answered is just how much exercise is necessary?
To test the accurate amount of exercise, principal investigators Dr.
Christine Friedenreich of Alberta Health Services-Cancer Care and Dr.
Kerry Courneya, professor and Canada research chair at the University of
Alberta, have come up with a new trial. The Breast Cancer and Exercise Trial
in Alberta (BETA) will ultimately determine what amount of exercise can
reduce breast cancer risk as measured by changes in biomarkers linked to
this cancer.
Participants in the trial will be randomly assigned to either a high-volume
exercise group (one hour, five days a week) or a moderate group (30 minutes,
five days a week). They will be followed for an entire year and are expected
to complete a series of assessments throughout. They will provide blood
samples at the beginning, midpoint and end of the study, complete fitness
tests every three months and have CT and DXA scans to measure their body
fat levels. They will also be asked to complete several questionnaires to
provide the researchers with as much information as possible. The partici-
pants will wear accelerometers three times during the study for a one-week
period to measure the amount of activity they do throughout the day.

48 winter 2010 myleapmagazine.ca

 Friedenreich and Courneya are look-
ing for any changes in sex hormones,
insulin resistance, inflammatory mark-
ers and body fat measures. They are
also interested in psychological factors
such as perceived stress, quality of
ABOUT ALPHA
sleep, general well-being and any other Previously, a study was done that tested the
barriers that people might experience. likelihood of breast cancer risk in postmeno-
pausal women who exercised against those
who didn’t. The ALPHA (Alberta Physical
Participants in the trial will be randomly assigned to Activity and Breast Cancer Prevention) trial
studied how one year of aerobic exercise for at
either a high-volume exercise group (one hour, five least 45 minutes, five days a week, influenced
days a week) or a moderate group(30 minutes, five sex hormone concentrations, body composi-
tion, mammographic density, insulin-
days a week). They will be followed for an entire year like growth factors, insulin resistance and
and are expected to complete a series of assessments markers of obesity and inflammation. Dr.
Christine Friedenreich, principal investigator
throughout. of the ALPHA trial, explains that “the more
exercise [participants] did, the more they
The participants in this trial are postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 adhered to the program, the greater the
and 74 who currently lead sedentary lifestyles. The screening process is extensive impact on those biomarkers.”
and many women have to be screened to fi nd sufficient numbers of those who are As in the BETA trial, the eligibility require-
eligible. The women must not be actively exercising but still be healthy and physi- ments were extensive. The participants had to
cian-cleared for an exercise program. They cannot smoke, have had any form of be English-speaking residents of Edmonton
cancer, be on hormone-replacement therapy or have diabetes or other metabolic or Calgary, between the ages of 50 and 74 and
conditions. Participants have to commit to being around for an entire year of the postmenopausal for a minimum of 24 months.
trial (no snowbirds) and must be residents of either Edmonton or Calgary. They They could have no previous cancer diagnosis,
also cannot be on any sort of weight-loss program since changes in diet may also had to be healthy, physician-approved for an
affect the test result; this study is meant only to focus on the impact of exercise. exercise program, have a body mass index
The women who make it through the screening process will meet with a between 22 (normal) and 40 (obese) and could
personal trainer who will guide them through the exercise program, keeping them not be on hormone replacement therapy.
motivated and able to meet their exercise goals. They also receive a free member- Smokers, heavy drinkers or snowbirds need
ship to a health facility (Westside Recreation Centre in Calgary and the University not apply.
of Alberta Exercise Oncology Lab in Edmonton), a gift certificate for new running The researchers for the ALPHA trial con-
shoes, running shirt, water bottle, journal and exercise manual, as well as other cluded that there was a decrease in body fat
incentives throughout the year. and some estrogen levels, and less insulin
The trial and “rolling enrolment” began in June and will take about five years to resistance and inflammation in the exercise
complete. Each participant is on the exercise program for one year and all partici- group compared to the control group who did
pants will be contacted 12 months after completing the study to determine if they not exercise during this year-long study. These
have maintained their activity. The results are expected to be released in 2015. positive results are what led to the BETA trial.
The BETA researchers are excited to see the results. Friedenreich points out that
although studies like this are extremely complicated, they are definitely worth-
while. “It’ll be interesting because basically what we’ll be able to come up with is
much better guidelines for women … on how much exercise you need to do – TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BETA TRIAL
what intensity, what kind, what volume is necessary – to reduce their risk or find out how to participate, visit www.beta-trial.com.
of breast cancer.

Alber ta’s cancer-free movement winter 2010 49

myleap / INSPIRING INDIVIDUALS
STICK IT: Team Hope and Team Cure
unite to put cancer on ice.
The Big Score
Before he passed away from cancer, Brent Saik’s father wanted to do
something for the children at the Cross Cancer Institute. “He had a hard time
seeing the kids that were there,” explains Saik, a Sherwood Park optometrist who
organizes the World’s Longest Hockey Game in honour of his father and wife who
also passed away from cancer.
After a year of setup and with the help of 800 volunteers, two hockey teams of
20 players each take the outdoor ice in a Guinness World Record attempt for the
World’s Longest Hockey Game. The fourth event takes place on Feb. 11, 2011. He
says the coldest day they’ve played so far hit -51 C, but the frigid temperatures
don’t deter them.
“Everybody that plays has to have some tie to cancer unfortunately, so we
remind each other of the battles our family members and friends had to go
through. That’s sort of our little battle.”
The first game lasted 82 hours, the second game 240 hours and the third game
50 winter 2010
Check out:
www.worldslongestgame.com
241, which raised $750,000. Because Guinness
does not allow substitutes, players are on the ice
for about four hours straight before they can take
a three-hour break, but every year, they’ve been
able to break the previous record.
“The Guinness record is always second,” says
Saik. “We’re always about raising money for the
Alberta Cancer Foundation to support pediatric
research at the Cross Cancer Institute, so this year
we’re calling it the million-dollar game because
we want to raise a million dollars. If we raise a
million dollars after five days, we’ll quit. If not,
we’ll play to beat our old record.”
– Stephanie Sparks
myleapmagazine.ca
“To see all the people
out there supporting
research that saved my
life―it’s truly amazing.
I could never be more
thankful.”
Lorna Mutzbauer, Weekend Walker

Make this
Weekend
matter!
Register to Walk endcancer.ca
877.394.WALK (9255)

Make this a weekend you’ll never forget. A Weekend to remember those we have lost,
and celebrating the lives we are saving each day. A Weekend creating hope for the
future as we journey together towards the ultimate goal: a cure for all women’s cancers.

This is the Shoppers Drug Mart Weekend to End Women’s Cancers™ benefiting the
®

Alberta Cancer Foundation. Be part of our groundbreaking movement in the quest to

end breast and gynecologic cancers.

Join this amazing journey today!

The Weekend to End Women’s Cancers is a trademark of Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, used under license; Shoppers Drug Mart/PHARMAPRIX is a registered trademark of 911979 Alberta Ltd., used under license.
EPIC RIDE. EPIC IMPACT.

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