In last week's issue of The Observer, Manor native- and now Regina resident- Cheyenne (Geysen) Chartrand brought readers up to date about her life after cancer. Since her last treatment Chartrand has found a new job, is working to rebuild her physical health, has earned an award for “Top 10 Cancer Blog of 2016” and now, is planning to take part in a charity climb of Mount Everest- with her husband, Evan Chartrand- to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.
“'Why are Evan and I planning to climb Mount Everest?'” asks Cheyenne Chartrand, as she and her husband prepare for their upcoming 18-day Charity Challenge, scheduled for November 11-27, 2017.
“Well, the short answer is: Evan and I do everything together,” she says. “But the main reason is people helped us when I was sick and we want to pay it back.”
“Our (charity) climb is through an organization called Charity Challenge,” explains Chartrand. “Evan and I pay for the cost of the expedition plus flights- which goes to Charity Challenge, who organizes everything- and all of our fundraising goes directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. The LLS has an initiative where they take $100 off your flight costs for every $300 you raise over your minimum fundraising goal.”
“Our minimum fundraising goal is $2,500 but we're striving to hit way above the goal- both for the flight incentive and- mostly- because through this experience I've connected with a lot of people who have various forms of lymphoma, some of which have zero chance of a cure.”
“That's really scary and sad,” adds Chartrand. “Often people think of lymphoma as the 'good cancer' because Hodgkin's in particular, when caught early- which it wasn't in my case- has about a 90 percent cure rate. Frequently, it's not caught early because it can be confused for a lot of other things. I know of people who were misdiagnosed for years.”
“Luckily for me, it was only about six months before I was diagnosed, but that was enough to take me to Stage II cancer.”
“But Hodgkin's only accounts for about 10 percent of all lymphomas,” says Chartrand. “There are so many different sub-types of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and they need cures, too.”
After months of feeling ill, Chartrand was diagnosed with Stage IIA Hodgkin's Lymphoma on November 26, 2014. She underwent intensive chemotherapy immediately and also received radiation treatments. She was declared cancer-free in the summer of 2015, but still undergoes scans every six months, with the final one scheduled for May of this year.
“Life is really good right now,” she says. “I thrive on being busy and I have a full-time job I love as communications coordinator for Ranch Ehrlo in Regina. I also freelance and I still blog. Writing is a downtime activity for me- I'd much rather write in my downtime than sit and watch TV.”
Chartrand is also a “proud fur mom” of four dogs and when she and Evan aren't caring for their pooches, she can be found strength training at a Regina gym.
“We've been sent a training schedule for the Everest climb. And I'm a little concerned about altitude training in Saskatchewan,” she laughs. “But I'm pretty sure I'll have the endurance. I used to almost exclusively run, but after cancer, strength training is really important and it not only helps my physical health; it helps my mental health, too.”
Chartrand says that although the Everest trek is “a huge challenge,” she is also enjoying both big and small post-cancer milestones.
“Evan and I celebrated my 27th birthday by jumping out of a plane,” she laughs. “But at CountryFest this summer, I was super excited just to have hair, because the year before, I wore a wig and let me tell you, wigs and summer are not ideal!”
“I am an adrenaline junkie,” she says. “And I'm doing things I have never gone for before. But I want to do things that are worth doing, which is why this charity trek is so important to both of us.”
“One of my favourite pictures is of me, Evan and one of our dogs. I don't have any hair, but I've had my last chemo treatment and it was really our first decent walk since I got sick. I remember feeling so happy and I want everyone who has cancer to have that feeling.”
To make a tax-deductible donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada via Chartrand's trek to Everest, check out : http://bit.ly/2jmvZLJ
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