“Camp Kindle is not only cost-free, it’s worry-free too. As parents, we get the week off and we don’t have to worry because we know they are looked after.” – Anne Gagnon
When her youngest child was six-months old, Anne Gagnon had a gut feeling something was wrong. As a mom of three, she instinctively knew her youngest daughter wasn’t as alert as her two older sisters had been.
“We went for a hearing test and that was all good, but at the vision test they noticed something was wrong right away,” says Anne.
They went for an appointment where wiggly baby Gabrielle was given an anesthetic so they could look at her eye. The next day Anne and her baby were on a plane to Toronto to see a specialist.
Gabrielle had retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer in her eyes. “They told us she had 12 tumours and that was in her good eye,” Anne remembers. Her left eye had a tumour so large that the surgeons had to perform an enucleation. Gabrielle was given a fake eye.
The family says they are fortunate to live in Canada as treatment and many travel costs were covered. But, there were still many costs. And not all were financial.
The family of five spent much of the next few years travelling back and forth. Robert mostly stayed in Calgary to work and take care of Abbi (four) and Sarah (two), while Anne and Gabrielle travelled monthly to Toronto for treatments.
Although those treatments were successful, a follow up with the specialist in Toronto when Gabirelle was three brought the all too familiar news. The cancer was back. There were three more tumours. Fortunately, they were not affecting Gabrielle’s vision, but another year of treatments in Toronto would soon begin.
Anne and Robert count themselves lucky. Gabrielle is now a healthy ten-year-old. She loves to dance, mountain bike and play ringette. She has always pushed herself, looking up to her two big sisters.
While her parents and sisters strive to make life as normal as possible for her, Gabrielle hears comments at school. “She doesn’t like her prosthetic eye and she wishes she didn’t have to wear glasses,” Anne shares. She has also recently noticed that Gabrielle’s memory may also have been affected by the more than thirty surgeries she had at a young age.
That’s where you come in. Anne is so grateful for Kids Cancer Care. Her family has been able to participate in many Camp and Outreach programs thanks to you support.
Kids Cancer Care’s camp programs, which are provided at no cost to our families thanks to supporters like you, have been especially beneficial for the family.
“There’s climbing, hiking, great food, and so much more for them to do,” says Anne. “The girls have created so many memories over the past four summers they have been going to camp, when they see their camp friends each summer they get so excited.”
But it’s more than seeing friends and being outdoors.
“Camp Kindle is not only cost-free; it’s worry-free too,” Anne shares. “As parents, we get the week off and we don’t have to worry because we know they are looked after.”
Staff and volunteers are fully qualified and trained to meet the unique needs of young people affected by cancer. Camp Kindle has a fully equipped clinic with all the amenities of a big city clinic.
Anne knows it’s worry-free for all her kids too, “Abbi and Sarah don’t need to worry about anyone asking why their sister’s eye looks different. The other kids don’t even seem to notice.”
And it’s no different for Gabrielle. “I like hanging out at camp. My friends there just get it. They know how I feel. I never have to worry that I will be offended by what they say. They treat you how you want to be treated.”
Thank you for giving Gabrielle and her family a break from the worries and stresses of childhood cancer.
