To my team, "Dulce's Dream", and all of you here today:
Thank you all for caring so much and making the commitment to help fight this disease. I have been fighting it since March 1997 when I first noticed a lump in my right breast. After undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, by October 1997, I thought I had it beat. But in January of this year I began to have strange pains in my right arm that were initially thought to be a side effect from my radiation treatments. The pain got worse until my right lung collapsed in April, confirming that my cancer had returned. After another operation, and a stronger chemotherapy, I seemed to be winning, but then in August my left thigh became numb and tests showed that my cancer had spread to my spinal cord and brain. I have now had more surgery, radiation treatments and yet another chemotherapy. The pain and weakness seems never-ending. Thus I cannot express how much it has meant to me every time that Pat Dempster, our team captain, has updated me as the team has grown beyond all expectations. I will continue to fight.
Being a school trustee, my interest has long been in education. This experience has been an education for me.
First there is the shock of breast cancer. So many families are being devastated by this disease. And yet I never gave it much thought before - the fact that a genocide is going on in our midst. This must change.
Second there are the glaring inadequacies of the medical system. There are excessive delays for almost everything. Staff are overworked, mistakes are made, and sometimes the quality of care is terrible. Often the equipment, tests and drugs are just not available in Canada.
For example, in March of this year I was told by my former family doctor that the pain I had been experiencing since January was being somatized, i.e. imagined. Three weeks later when my lung collapsed and my cancer recurrence became obvious, I was told that I might only have six months to live. I had a PET scan in Seattle the next day and it clearly showed how my cancer had spread. I know with certainty that a PET scan a month or two earlier would have caught my cancer then. I could have begun treatments sooner. But PET scanners for breast cancer are not available in Canada. And I did not get the referral that I needed until I had asked seven doctors and finally found one that would help me. This must change.
The final lesson though is one of love. I have much to be thankful for. There has been an enormous outpouring of support for me. My family in Brazil dropped everything to be with me. My parents and niece have been in Canada since April. And in turn, each of my sisters has left their families for months on end so that one has always been with me. My brother has also come from Brazil and all of my husband's family have visited several times from Creston, B.C. The support from my church, Eagle Ridge Bible Fellowship, has been overwhelming, as has the response from my friends in Port Moody, Coquitlam, School District #43 and PMC-Sierra, Inc, where my husband works. The continuing success of PMC-Sierra has meant that my family is financially secure and the understanding of PMC-Sierra management has meant that Kevin has been free to be with me. Everyone is rushing to do almost anything that I request. And they are taking care of my children and husband as well, while my children and husband take care of me. Compared to most of the other patients that I see, I am enormously blessed.
And I am fortunate, too, that this love has led to several transformations in me. I have come to know and appreciate my sisters as never before, after being separated so many years. Both my family and my husband's family have come together as never before. And many, many friendships have been deepened profoundly. And new friendships have been made. I have also been moved to right relationships with old friends and family members, where reconciliation was long overdue. Petty disputes seem so unimportant now. And our relationship with our doctors and the medical system has changed fundamentally from one of fear, distrust and lack of confidence to one of caring and mutual respect. I have come to realize that doctors and nurses are just human, making mistakes, but by and large doing their very best under very difficult circumstances. This disease is horrible. But I have learned that through faith we can all be saved. We all want so much for things to be better. And they can be.
So what in the end is my dream, "Dulce's Dream"? Well there are several parts to the dream.
First would be real progress in finding a cure for breast cancer. We are so close to so many breakthroughs, such as cancer vaccines developed through genetic engineering. But it takes so much time and money. If only I could have the treatments that will be available five years from now...
Second would be things to make the medical system better. These range from big things like getting PET scanners for breast cancer detection to little things like having socks & toques to wear or ice chips to suck on in all hospitals. And, of course, just having enough people and enough beds to allow good medicine to be practiced. Even with what we know now, a much better job could be done.
Third is that we would all be more caring. And that we would all spend more time with our friends and family and learn to value what is really important in life. This time together is precious. We should all use it to store up treasures that will not be taken from us, even through all eternity.
And finally, my dream is that none of you will be hurt by breast cancer ever or again.
Thank you all. I hope to see you next year. Let's keep on
running for the cure.
Dulce Huscroft