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Help Suzanne Aucoin
Dec. 22, 2006 - The St. Catharines Standard
St. Catharines Standard (ON)
Front, Friday, December 22, 2006, p. A1
Suzanne's story
Outpouring of support for Suzanne
Straight from the heart
By PETER DOWNS
Standard Staff
Part 14
It's only two short sentences.
The words printed in pencil in wavy lines on a white sheet of paper.
Some of the letters are small and squished together. Others roam large and
wide. The spelling of a couple of words is just a little off.
The unmistakable scrawl of a young child takes up every inch of the page:
Dear Susanne,
I had a lemonade stand at my Dad's soccer game. I hope you can buy medicin
with the money I raised for you.
Love Jack Steward.
It's the kind of message that goes straight to Suzanne Aucoin's heart.
He may be just a child, but Jack gets it.
The six-year-old boy understands the importance of an act of kindness for a
person in need.
Jack learned about Suzanne's story from his mother, who went to high school
with her before settling down in Oakville.
He heard about Suzanne's fight with terminal colon cancer and her struggle
against government drug funding policies that make it extremely difficult
for patients to get access to expensive cancer drugs.
After his mom read him a newspaper story about Suzanne, Jack came up with
the idea for the lemonade stand.
Around Thanksgiving, Jack's letter arrived in the mail along with a couple
of photos and a cheque for $70.
"It shows the good in people. It's nice. It's very touching," says Suzanne,
36, who lives in Port Dalhousie with her parents.
"When I read that letter, I just thought, 'Oh, my God, that is so sweet.'
It's just adorable. What a great little guy."
The letter is another reminder to Suzanne that good things come from being
completely open and public about the challenges she faces.
Over the past year as The Standard has told her story in an ongoing series,
Suzanne has received an outpouring of support from the community and from
people like Jack.
Words of encouragement from complete strangers. Donations to a trust fund
for her medical expenses. Fundraisers organized on her behalf. Letters fired
off to politicians calling for change from people who are following
Suzanne's struggle.
All of it because Suzanne firmly believes that by going public with the
fight for her life, she will expose problems with the health system so that
they may be corrected.
"I don't know any other way to be," says Suzanne, who is on leave from her
position as a chaplain at Denis Morris High School.
"I don't do it with the expectation of getting something back. I do it with
the hope of making a difference in someone else's life so that they can have
an easier road."
Suzanne's road has been far from easy, especially over the past couple of
months.
Last month, she learned she'd lost her bid to be reimbursed by OHIP for more
than $51,000 she spent on colon cancer drugs in New York state and in
Hamilton.
That news came a week after doctors ruled out surgery she hoped would
prolong her life by removing cancerous tumours in her liver and lungs.
"I've always had this belief that I'll just find what I need. I think that
belief is being rocked. It's shaken," she says, reflecting on the
disappointments.
But there have also been positive developments.
Suzanne has begun a clinical trial for a pill form of chemotherapy drug at
Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.
And Ontario's ombudsman has launched an investigation into her case.
The provincial watchdog wants to find out why the Ministry of Health
initially rejected her application for out-of-country OHIP coverage in
October 2005, causing her to pay tens of thousands of dollars out of her own
pocket on the intravenous drug Erbitux.
But as Christmas nears, it's thoughts of the kindness people have shown her
that lift Suzanne's spirits.
"For me, it almost feels as if Christmas is not really just one time a year
now. I get all these unexpected gifts and cards and letters throughout the
year," she says.
There was the young girl, Shaelyn Komhar, who sold her old toys at a garage
sale and donated the $35 she raised to Suzanne's medical trust fund.
There are the students and staff at Denis Morris, who regularly fundraise
for Suzanne and invite her to activities.
There is retired teacher Rita Smith of St. Catharines, who has taken the
provincial government to task over Suzanne's situation in a number of
letters and urged the ombudsman's office to investigate.
And there are David Serafini and his late wife, Kari Theobald, of Hamilton
who died of ovarian cancer last August at the age of 29.
Suzanne could easily relate to Kari's struggle because it was much like her
own.
They also approached their fight for cancer medications in similar ways,
relying mainly on fundraising to pay for expensive drugs not covered by
OHIP.
The top prize at a fundraising benefit for Theobald last spring was a $3,600
ring with a pink sapphire stone.
The woman who won the platinum ring in a raffle donated it back to Kari.
Before she died, Kari told her husband she wanted Suzanne to have the ring
so she could use it for her own fundraising.
"I was so touched that they thought of me," Suzanne says.
"People have been very kind to me. They keep saying I'm so courageous and
brave, but I don't see it that way. I see it as this is the only choice and
I'm able to make this choice because of all the support that I have."
pdowns@stcatharinesstandard.ca
© 2006 St. Catharines Standard (ON). All rights reserved.
St. Catharines Standard (ON)
Front, Friday, December 22, 2006, p. A1
Suzanne's story
Outpouring of support for Suzanne
Straight from the heart
By PETER DOWNS
Standard Staff
Part 14
It's only two short sentences.
The words printed in pencil in wavy lines on a white sheet of paper.
Some of the letters are small and squished together. Others roam large and
wide. The spelling of a couple of words is just a little off.
The unmistakable scrawl of a young child takes up every inch of the page:
Dear Susanne,
I had a lemonade stand at my Dad's soccer game. I hope you can buy medicin
with the money I raised for you.
Love Jack Steward.
It's the kind of message that goes straight to Suzanne Aucoin's heart.
He may be just a child, but Jack gets it.
The six-year-old boy understands the importance of an act of kindness for a
person in need.
Jack learned about Suzanne's story from his mother, who went to high school
with her before settling down in Oakville.
He heard about Suzanne's fight with terminal colon cancer and her struggle
against government drug funding policies that make it extremely difficult
for patients to get access to expensive cancer drugs.
After his mom read him a newspaper story about Suzanne, Jack came up with
the idea for the lemonade stand.
Around Thanksgiving, Jack's letter arrived in the mail along with a couple
of photos and a cheque for $70.
"It shows the good in people. It's nice. It's very touching," says Suzanne,
36, who lives in Port Dalhousie with her parents.
"When I read that letter, I just thought, 'Oh, my God, that is so sweet.'
It's just adorable. What a great little guy."
The letter is another reminder to Suzanne that good things come from being
completely open and public about the challenges she faces.
Over the past year as The Standard has told her story in an ongoing series,
Suzanne has received an outpouring of support from the community and from
people like Jack.
Words of encouragement from complete strangers. Donations to a trust fund
for her medical expenses. Fundraisers organized on her behalf. Letters fired
off to politicians calling for change from people who are following
Suzanne's struggle.
All of it because Suzanne firmly believes that by going public with the
fight for her life, she will expose problems with the health system so that
they may be corrected.
"I don't know any other way to be," says Suzanne, who is on leave from her
position as a chaplain at Denis Morris High School.
"I don't do it with the expectation of getting something back. I do it with
the hope of making a difference in someone else's life so that they can have
an easier road."
Suzanne's road has been far from easy, especially over the past couple of
months.
Last month, she learned she'd lost her bid to be reimbursed by OHIP for more
than $51,000 she spent on colon cancer drugs in New York state and in
Hamilton.
That news came a week after doctors ruled out surgery she hoped would
prolong her life by removing cancerous tumours in her liver and lungs.
"I've always had this belief that I'll just find what I need. I think that
belief is being rocked. It's shaken," she says, reflecting on the
disappointments.
But there have also been positive developments.
Suzanne has begun a clinical trial for a pill form of chemotherapy drug at
Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.
And Ontario's ombudsman has launched an investigation into her case.
The provincial watchdog wants to find out why the Ministry of Health
initially rejected her application for out-of-country OHIP coverage in
October 2005, causing her to pay tens of thousands of dollars out of her own
pocket on the intravenous drug Erbitux.
But as Christmas nears, it's thoughts of the kindness people have shown her
that lift Suzanne's spirits.
"For me, it almost feels as if Christmas is not really just one time a year
now. I get all these unexpected gifts and cards and letters throughout the
year," she says.
There was the young girl, Shaelyn Komhar, who sold her old toys at a garage
sale and donated the $35 she raised to Suzanne's medical trust fund.
There are the students and staff at Denis Morris, who regularly fundraise
for Suzanne and invite her to activities.
There is retired teacher Rita Smith of St. Catharines, who has taken the
provincial government to task over Suzanne's situation in a number of
letters and urged the ombudsman's office to investigate.
And there are David Serafini and his late wife, Kari Theobald, of Hamilton
who died of ovarian cancer last August at the age of 29.
Suzanne could easily relate to Kari's struggle because it was much like her
own.
They also approached their fight for cancer medications in similar ways,
relying mainly on fundraising to pay for expensive drugs not covered by
OHIP.
The top prize at a fundraising benefit for Theobald last spring was a $3,600
ring with a pink sapphire stone.
The woman who won the platinum ring in a raffle donated it back to Kari.
Before she died, Kari told her husband she wanted Suzanne to have the ring
so she could use it for her own fundraising.
"I was so touched that they thought of me," Suzanne says.
"People have been very kind to me. They keep saying I'm so courageous and
brave, but I don't see it that way. I see it as this is the only choice and
I'm able to make this choice because of all the support that I have."
pdowns@stcatharinesstandard.ca
© 2006 St. Catharines Standard (ON). All rights reserved.