“Breast surgery is just not something a woman wants to go through,” Sarah says. “When you wake up from the surgery and you see the face that you love and trust, that’s a saving grace.”
Little did Sarah know that a few years later, she and Chris would be navigating two different types of cancer together. Sarah’s cancer returned and she was being treated for ovarian cancer. Around the same time, Chris was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, which later transformed into an aggressive blood cancer called acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).
Sarah finished her last chemotherapy treatment just days before Chris was rushed to the emergency room and found out he needed to have chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.
Thankfully, Sarah and Chris found a room at a Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) lodge, which provides a home away from home for people who need to travel long distances to access their cancer treatment.
“When we came here to the lodge, we were both shell-shocked. We didn't know what to expect,” Sarah says. “My cancer treatment was completely different from his. So, it was tough.”
As Chris prepared for the bone marrow transplant, the couple made the decision to get married – as a declaration of their love and to ensure they could face difficult medical decisions together.
Leaving the lodge wasn’t practical. Instead, the lodge adapted to them, offering space, flexibility and care.
“They offered to have the wedding upstairs on the third floor,” Sarah recalls. “They said, ‘we'll close it off. You guys can decorate it any way you want to.’ And it was wonderful.”
All the support from CCS lifted a weight off Chris and Sarah’s shoulders as they navigated the uncertainty of their cancer diagnoses and the joy of getting married.
“Without this support system, I don’t know how we would have handled it," Sarah says.
Last year, CCS lodges supported thousands of people needing cancer treatment, who spent more than 80,000 nights in a welcoming home away from home.
Learn more about CCS’s lodges and transportation services for people facing cancer.
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