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Help Suzanne Aucoin
April 27, 2006 - The St. Catharines Standard
Spinning for Suzanne
The Standard (St. Catharines)
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Page: A1 / FRONT
Section: News
Byline: Peter Downs
Source: The Standard
Series: Suzanne's Story
She thought she had beaten it. But in late 2003, Suzanne Aucoin was
rediagnosed with a terminal case of colorectal cancer. The Standard is
following Suzanne's fight with cancer in this continuing series.
- - -
About 50 minutes into the ride, Rob Hiscock readies his cyclists for their
final hill climb.
The group of about 15 has already made several simulated ascents during the
spinning class -- a training session on stationary exercise bikes.
The occasional sprint has been thrown into the mix to keep things
interesting.
The pace of the workout is showing on the flushed faces of many in the room.
Some take swigs from water bottles to rehydrate. Others dab the sweat away
with towels. And other riders just let the perspiration fall into small
puddles beneath their bikes.
With only 10 minutes left in the session, Hiscock encourages his spinners to
tough it out for one more climb.
"You can do this," he says from his bike at the front of the room.
They dial up the resistance on their bikes. Lift out of their saddles to a
standing position. Strain against the pedals.
"The quads are tired. The hamstrings are burning," Hiscock says, underlining
what they're already feeling.
"Only the mind gives up. Bodies are strong."
And all of the riders in the room -- as well as those at four similar
spinning sessions -- have only one person in their minds.
Suzanne Aucoin.
They're all pushing their own bodies for her.
Suzanne, 35, isn't in the fitness centre at Brock University to hear
Hiscock. She's downstairs helping to register riders in the next spinning
session. But she knows all about the power of the mind mentioned by Hiscock.
It's Suzanne's mind and her mental focus that are strong, not her body.
Her body has been made vulnerable by the cancer that grows inside it.
Each of the 50 or so riders who signed up for the spin-a-thon earlier this
month wants more than just a workout.
They want to help her continue to fight the disease trying to destroy her.
Each of them collected pledges or put in money of their own to help Suzanne
cover the high cost of treatment.
"Suzanne is so likable and the cause is so right. It makes it so easy,"
Hiscock says after his session wraps up.
"Bike people are nuts. I mean, we'll go out and ride in the snow. So to come
out for something like this, it's great."
Suzanne, who lives in Port Dalhousie with her parents, was diagnosed with
colorectal cancer when she was 29. Surgeons thought they had removed all of
the cancerous cells.
But in November 2003, Suzanne learned the cancer had returned. This time,
her doctors told her it was terminal.
Trying to keep the disease at bay has cost Aucoin tens of thousands of
dollars for medications that previously weren't covered by the provincial
government.
Suzanne, who is on a leave of absence from her job as a chaplain at Denis
Morris High School, assembled a fundraising committee to help her oversee
and co-ordinate benefits organized to pay for her medical expenses.
After rejecting her initial application for out-of-country medical coverage
last fall, the provincial government changed its mind last month and agreed
to pay for Suzanne to be treated with the expensive drug Erbitux at a clinic
in Buffalo.
The decision gives her some financial breathing room, but Suzanne says she
still needs to prepare for the day when the drug is no longer effective at
slowing the growth of the cancer growing in her colon, liver and lungs.
When that happens, she'll need to use what's left in her medical treatment
fund to pay for other costly alternatives, such as the expenses associated
with taking part in clinical trials for new cancer drugs.
Over the past two years, fundraising events generated roughly $130,000 for
Suzanne's medical expenses. Much of the fund has already been exhausted on
medications not covered by OHIP.
Suzanne and her fundraising team are trying to build the fund back up to
$100,000 through a variety of events planned for the summer.
"I hope for the best, but I need to prepare for the worst," Suzanne says as
a group of riders legs it out during the spin-a-thon.
The help of friends, family and supporters makes is easier for her to keep
her hope strong.
"It's good encouragement for me to be here," Suzanne says shortly before the
five-hour spin-a-thon wraps up. "It's good for me to see people. I have to
be on and I like being on."
St. Catharines resident Paul Kraus doesn't know Suzanne well. But he knows
of her story. And he had some personal motivation to join the spin for
Suzanne.
Kraus, 50, was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago. He had
successful surgery to remove the cancerous growth and he has been free of
cancer ever since.
But the experience made him want to help.
"I haven't had to go through what she goes through. I'm very lucky," he
said.
"I can't believe all the nonsense she's had to go through with the
government over funding."
The spin-a-thon raised more than $4,000 for Suzanne's medical fund,
according to a preliminary count.
But it isn't only the money that counts, says Gary Bellhouse, a member of
Suzanne's fundraising committee.
"It's important to have a lot of positive people coming out and saying to
Suzanne, 'Don't give up. Give it another shot.' "
pdowns@stcatharinesstandard.ca
Spinning for Suzanne
The Standard (St. Catharines)
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Page: A1 / FRONT
Section: News
Byline: Peter Downs
Source: The Standard
Series: Suzanne's Story
She thought she had beaten it. But in late 2003, Suzanne Aucoin was
rediagnosed with a terminal case of colorectal cancer. The Standard is
following Suzanne's fight with cancer in this continuing series.
- - -
About 50 minutes into the ride, Rob Hiscock readies his cyclists for their
final hill climb.
The group of about 15 has already made several simulated ascents during the
spinning class -- a training session on stationary exercise bikes.
The occasional sprint has been thrown into the mix to keep things
interesting.
The pace of the workout is showing on the flushed faces of many in the room.
Some take swigs from water bottles to rehydrate. Others dab the sweat away
with towels. And other riders just let the perspiration fall into small
puddles beneath their bikes.
With only 10 minutes left in the session, Hiscock encourages his spinners to
tough it out for one more climb.
"You can do this," he says from his bike at the front of the room.
They dial up the resistance on their bikes. Lift out of their saddles to a
standing position. Strain against the pedals.
"The quads are tired. The hamstrings are burning," Hiscock says, underlining
what they're already feeling.
"Only the mind gives up. Bodies are strong."
And all of the riders in the room -- as well as those at four similar
spinning sessions -- have only one person in their minds.
Suzanne Aucoin.
They're all pushing their own bodies for her.
Suzanne, 35, isn't in the fitness centre at Brock University to hear
Hiscock. She's downstairs helping to register riders in the next spinning
session. But she knows all about the power of the mind mentioned by Hiscock.
It's Suzanne's mind and her mental focus that are strong, not her body.
Her body has been made vulnerable by the cancer that grows inside it.
Each of the 50 or so riders who signed up for the spin-a-thon earlier this
month wants more than just a workout.
They want to help her continue to fight the disease trying to destroy her.
Each of them collected pledges or put in money of their own to help Suzanne
cover the high cost of treatment.
"Suzanne is so likable and the cause is so right. It makes it so easy,"
Hiscock says after his session wraps up.
"Bike people are nuts. I mean, we'll go out and ride in the snow. So to come
out for something like this, it's great."
Suzanne, who lives in Port Dalhousie with her parents, was diagnosed with
colorectal cancer when she was 29. Surgeons thought they had removed all of
the cancerous cells.
But in November 2003, Suzanne learned the cancer had returned. This time,
her doctors told her it was terminal.
Trying to keep the disease at bay has cost Aucoin tens of thousands of
dollars for medications that previously weren't covered by the provincial
government.
Suzanne, who is on a leave of absence from her job as a chaplain at Denis
Morris High School, assembled a fundraising committee to help her oversee
and co-ordinate benefits organized to pay for her medical expenses.
After rejecting her initial application for out-of-country medical coverage
last fall, the provincial government changed its mind last month and agreed
to pay for Suzanne to be treated with the expensive drug Erbitux at a clinic
in Buffalo.
The decision gives her some financial breathing room, but Suzanne says she
still needs to prepare for the day when the drug is no longer effective at
slowing the growth of the cancer growing in her colon, liver and lungs.
When that happens, she'll need to use what's left in her medical treatment
fund to pay for other costly alternatives, such as the expenses associated
with taking part in clinical trials for new cancer drugs.
Over the past two years, fundraising events generated roughly $130,000 for
Suzanne's medical expenses. Much of the fund has already been exhausted on
medications not covered by OHIP.
Suzanne and her fundraising team are trying to build the fund back up to
$100,000 through a variety of events planned for the summer.
"I hope for the best, but I need to prepare for the worst," Suzanne says as
a group of riders legs it out during the spin-a-thon.
The help of friends, family and supporters makes is easier for her to keep
her hope strong.
"It's good encouragement for me to be here," Suzanne says shortly before the
five-hour spin-a-thon wraps up. "It's good for me to see people. I have to
be on and I like being on."
St. Catharines resident Paul Kraus doesn't know Suzanne well. But he knows
of her story. And he had some personal motivation to join the spin for
Suzanne.
Kraus, 50, was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago. He had
successful surgery to remove the cancerous growth and he has been free of
cancer ever since.
But the experience made him want to help.
"I haven't had to go through what she goes through. I'm very lucky," he
said.
"I can't believe all the nonsense she's had to go through with the
government over funding."
The spin-a-thon raised more than $4,000 for Suzanne's medical fund,
according to a preliminary count.
But it isn't only the money that counts, says Gary Bellhouse, a member of
Suzanne's fundraising committee.
"It's important to have a lot of positive people coming out and saying to
Suzanne, 'Don't give up. Give it another shot.' "
pdowns@stcatharinesstandard.ca