As we fight for the cure, we also fight for the caregivers. It is the caregivers who shepherd patients to remission or to the great beyond. I fight for my mum, my dad, for my grandparents, and for all the caregivers who give so much to patients as they face cancer.

I have watched first hand how care providers allow people in palliative care to maintain as much autonomy and dignity as the cancer allows. My mum spent 5 years of her life taking care of her parents at the end of theirs. My maternal grandparents both suffered from cancer (melanoma & lung). My grandfather declined first. Before my mother arrived, he was largely confined to a chair. My mum reworked his nutrition, hired a physical trainer, and talked with him. By the last year of his life, my grandfather could swallow home cooked meals and even managed one last swim in the ocean (first in many years). After he died, my mum stayed and took care of my grandmother for the last few years of her life. Both my grandparents were able to die in the home they loved, surrounded by family. My dad cooked his mother’s favorite breakfast one morning, from scratch, just as he used to when he lived at home. She died a few days later (from leukemia).

All direct donations go directly to CancerCare, to help caregivers be the amazing people they are as they care for our loved ones in their battle against cancer.