The lead up to this year's Relay for Life is now underway, following a Survivors' Tea last Thursday evening and the official kickoff Saturday.
The relay will be held June 9 at the Civic Auditorium, and to get things started, relay organizers invited local cancer survivors and their families to sit in on the tea at the Taylorton Room and listen to a couple of speakers.
Debra Polischuk attended the tea from the Canadian Cancer Society branch in Regina. She talked about the importance of every dollar that is donated and what that money goes to. During her address, she found that many there didn't know about how many opportunities there are for people diagnosed with cancer when they require services from the cancer society.
She said she always hears people saying they didn't know about services, like financial assistance and peer supports.
"If we leave here with nothing else tonight, it's to be able to share with somebody the services we provide," said Polischuk.
Saskatchewan is the only province in Canada with a client advocate.
"If you need someone to help you get through the bureaucracy of the cancer journey, if you're running into problems, Sue is the person you can call. She will literally take your hand and walk you step by step by step through the process."
If someone is denied disability insurance or if treatment is taking too long, the client advocate can go through the process and there is legal advice available as well through that program.
"Sometimes for some people who might have an unusual or obscure diagnosis, or I think sometimes insurance companies through work can be a little bit hard-nosed," Polischuk said. "Sometimes they need somebody to talk to them about what compassion is."
Last year, 11 people in the southeast area had to go for treatment in Regina but couldn't afford it, she said.
"The dollars that you raised assisted those people in getting to and from treatment, or it provided accommodation for them while they were staying in Regina for radiation treatment."
About $248,000 was spent on people in Saskatchewan for these kinds of services. Polischuk said many people are doing just fine financially before they start receiving cancer treatments. Taking 40 to 50 trips to the major centres in Saskatchewan often takes a toll on cancer patients, particularly those who are older and on fixed incomes.
"Many times people will go to Saskatoon or Regina for radiation, and we will pay for their stay, the full stay at the lodge," she said. "That's what your relay dollars provide, and it's huge."
Another service is the peer support program. This year's Relay for Life co-chair Carol Cundall is a peer support.
"I have a friend who is going through cancer," said Polischuk. "She had a peer support worker during the first course of her treatment. That peer support worker from my friend's own words, understood and knew her better than any best friend could because nobody else can understand the feeling because they've never been through it. Nobody else can understand what chemo feels like and how you come out the other end of chemo."
The peer support volunteers are matched up on as many points as possible, including what type of cancer, what stage the person is at, what age and even whether or not they live in urban or rural areas.
"There's encouragement and love offered and support," added Polischuk. "You can get up and do it again and you can keep going. I'm OK, so you're going to be OK. These are all the things that my girlfriend was told by her peer support volunteer."
There are other programs as well, like the volunteer driver program, with a number of drivers who take people to and from wherever they need to be during the course of their treatment.
"Over the years, all of the milestones the society has made, come from all the people that have been dedicated and committed to eradicating cancer," she added.
With the money raised from initiatives like Relay for Life, Polischuk said people diagnosed with cancer can get the help they need.
