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Help Suzanne Aucoin
Aug. 10, 2006 - The St. Catharines Standard
St. Catharines Standard (ON)
Front, Thursday, August 10, 2006, p. A1
Suzanne's story
Getting the word out online
By PETER DOWNS
Standard Staff
Much of her life is revealed in the details.
Pieces of it strung together, packaged and presented for anyone in the world to see.
A short bio. Photos from events organized on her behalf by friends and supporters.
Emotional letters to politicians urging change. Messages of encouragement from
people she's moved.
Add it all up and you'll find out who she is. What she believes in. Her situation.
The cancer that came back.
Her fight against the disease. And her fight for more equitable health care.
Even the details many would find too personal to reveal about themselves.
Her frustrations. Her worries. And the medical findings doctors have told her about
during her latest visits.
Suzanne Aucoin sees no downside in laying her life out so publicly on her website
(www.helpsuzanne.com).
"I think it just reinforces my purpose of educating people about cancer and the
challenges of living with cancer and the challenges of the health-care system," she
said.
"I think it's another venue for me to be able to share my story, with the hope that it
makes a difference."
Aucoin, who lives in Port Dalhousie with her parents, was diagnosed with colorectal
cancer when she was 29. Surgeons thought they had removed all the cancerous cells.
But in November 2003, Aucoin learned the cancer had returned. This time, her
doctors told her it was terminal.
Nearly two years ago, Aucoin, 35, and her oncologists decided the best option to fend
off her cancer rested on new intravenous medications Avastin and Erbitux.
But that would come at an extremely high price.
Neither drug was available commercially in Ontario and neither drug was covered by
the provincial drug plan OHIP.
It would cost tens of thousands of dollars for Aucoin to pay for treatment with the
drugs across the border in New York state.
Aucoin and a few friends struck a committee to begin raising money for her treatment.
And another friend - Vikesh Anand of Toronto - offered to design a website for her to
help get the word out about her health and upcoming fundraising events.
"I thought it was the least I could do to help her with her struggle," said Anand, the
husband of Aucoin's longtime friend, Christine Anderson. "I thought it was a great way
to inform everybody."
The home page of Aucoin's site is cleanly designed and uncluttered.
Visitors are immediately greeted by a portrait of Aucoin flashing a huge smile beneath
her motto: "Living Life Large."
The index on the left of the page has several links that allow visitors to learn about
upcoming fundraising events, check out photos or add messages to a guest book.
But the area of the site that draws the most traffic is where Aucoin posts regular
updates on her health, said webmaster Anand.
Every couple of weeks, Aucoin goes over the latest information doctors can provide
her about the cancer inside her body and how she's feeling.
The online updates save Aucoin the time and the strain of repeating the information
many times to her wide circle of family and friends.
"It's great for my relatives who live in the U.S. or overseas. Even my friends in St.
Catharines will log in to read my updates," said Aucoin, who is on a leave of absence
from her position as a chaplain at Denis Morris High School.
"It's a great way of keeping people informed and it can cross lots of borders and time
barriers."
And it also forges relationships.
Over the past few months, Aucoin has helped form a resource group for people living
with colon cancer - several of whom she met through her website. "It's been an
excellent tool to create connections and to create a resource base for people in
need," she said. "It's a great way of keeping people informed and it can cross lots of
borders and time barriers."
pdowns@stcatharinesstandard.ca
St. Catharines Standard (ON)
Front, Thursday, August 10, 2006, p. A1
Suzanne's story
Getting the word out online
By PETER DOWNS
Standard Staff
Much of her life is revealed in the details.
Pieces of it strung together, packaged and presented for anyone in the world to see.
A short bio. Photos from events organized on her behalf by friends and supporters.
Emotional letters to politicians urging change. Messages of encouragement from
people she's moved.
Add it all up and you'll find out who she is. What she believes in. Her situation.
The cancer that came back.
Her fight against the disease. And her fight for more equitable health care.
Even the details many would find too personal to reveal about themselves.
Her frustrations. Her worries. And the medical findings doctors have told her about
during her latest visits.
Suzanne Aucoin sees no downside in laying her life out so publicly on her website
(www.helpsuzanne.com).
"I think it just reinforces my purpose of educating people about cancer and the
challenges of living with cancer and the challenges of the health-care system," she
said.
"I think it's another venue for me to be able to share my story, with the hope that it
makes a difference."
Aucoin, who lives in Port Dalhousie with her parents, was diagnosed with colorectal
cancer when she was 29. Surgeons thought they had removed all the cancerous cells.
But in November 2003, Aucoin learned the cancer had returned. This time, her
doctors told her it was terminal.
Nearly two years ago, Aucoin, 35, and her oncologists decided the best option to fend
off her cancer rested on new intravenous medications Avastin and Erbitux.
But that would come at an extremely high price.
Neither drug was available commercially in Ontario and neither drug was covered by
the provincial drug plan OHIP.
It would cost tens of thousands of dollars for Aucoin to pay for treatment with the
drugs across the border in New York state.
Aucoin and a few friends struck a committee to begin raising money for her treatment.
And another friend - Vikesh Anand of Toronto - offered to design a website for her to
help get the word out about her health and upcoming fundraising events.
"I thought it was the least I could do to help her with her struggle," said Anand, the
husband of Aucoin's longtime friend, Christine Anderson. "I thought it was a great way
to inform everybody."
The home page of Aucoin's site is cleanly designed and uncluttered.
Visitors are immediately greeted by a portrait of Aucoin flashing a huge smile beneath
her motto: "Living Life Large."
The index on the left of the page has several links that allow visitors to learn about
upcoming fundraising events, check out photos or add messages to a guest book.
But the area of the site that draws the most traffic is where Aucoin posts regular
updates on her health, said webmaster Anand.
Every couple of weeks, Aucoin goes over the latest information doctors can provide
her about the cancer inside her body and how she's feeling.
The online updates save Aucoin the time and the strain of repeating the information
many times to her wide circle of family and friends.
"It's great for my relatives who live in the U.S. or overseas. Even my friends in St.
Catharines will log in to read my updates," said Aucoin, who is on a leave of absence
from her position as a chaplain at Denis Morris High School.
"It's a great way of keeping people informed and it can cross lots of borders and time
barriers."
And it also forges relationships.
Over the past few months, Aucoin has helped form a resource group for people living
with colon cancer - several of whom she met through her website. "It's been an
excellent tool to create connections and to create a resource base for people in
need," she said. "It's a great way of keeping people informed and it can cross lots of
borders and time barriers."
pdowns@stcatharinesstandard.ca