I am honoured to have this opportunity to share my experiences and gratitude of the Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer. Over the past four years our family has been at war with an enemy we are not able to see but have been witness to its effects on every aspect of my little boy’s life.
On the night of his sixth birthday, he was diagnosed with a brain tumour and transported to Sick Kid’s Hospital in Toronto. From that time forward he has had to endure two more recurrences which consisted of two 6-week periods of daily radiation treatments, twelve months of chemotherapy, five surgeries and a permanent shunt placed along with countless hours spent on the road, in waiting rooms, inside MRI scanners and not being able to just be the 9 year-old boy that he wants to be.
The NOFCC stepped in, in the beginning, and provided assistance when we were still too naïve to understand what this all meant. They knew we would need support and were there for us. Although they offered much needed financial help to our family, the emotional support from their many involved families that have traveled the same road was invaluable. In a situation such as your child having cancer, the support of someone who has experienced what you’re going through brings an understanding and comfort that you that you will find nowhere else. As I now know how little time and energy there is left for anything else, I am so proud and appreciative of all the good work and people involved with NOFCC. I can only hope they are able to continue to receive financial support from the communities and businesses in the North which will allow them to carry on their work for unfortunate families yet to come.
I will be forever grateful for the efforts of the Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer.
Cindy Mokononuk
Espanola
