a rally for her cancer

I have a very important story to share with you about the kindest and strongest woman I have ever known. Many of you may not be aware, but our dear friend and sister Becky Beaton was diagnosed with cervical cancer in November 2017.

Christmas dinner and New Year's eve were bookended with chemotherapy and radiation treatments; and a year later, Becky was told that the radiation had successfully eliminated the tumour. We celebrated, breathed a sigh of relief, and toasted to a second chance at life.

But unfortunately, Becky’s fight is not over. Just a few weeks ago she was told this aggressive form of cancer has spread further. Her doctor’s prognosis was "incurable," meaning she has reached the limit of radiation and chemotherapy treatments, as she has already been through as much as safely permitted.

Despite this latest development, Becky, the fighter and the optimist that we all know, has not yet given up on a cure. She has researched for months, consulted with doctors, and has found several reputable clinical trials for cancer. She is applying for as many trials she can, most of which are in the United States. Her doctors are trying to DNA sequence the tumour in order to match it to a trial.

Like so much of cancer treatments, you do not know until the 11th hour what to expect. So, although we don’t yet have all the information regarding specific details around potential trials and treatments, we need to act fast. Things will move quickly once she is accepted into the programs, and international patients at renowned hospitals like Sloan Kettering in NYC are required to provide the funds up front. We want Becky to have every single option available to her; and even if Becky does not get accepted into these trials, she will still need money to live and rebuild her life. Because of the physically taxing nature of cancer treatments, she hasn’t been able to support herself financially in over 2 years.

The US treatments will come with a cost. Using a foreign health care system, getting treatment, living and traveling there, it is going to be at least $150K - which was our original fundraising goal. In all honesty, it is likely to be more, but we wanted to keep our goal as achievable as possible as there is no time to spare. UPDATE: In an incredible display of love and support, we flew right past our goal of 150K in three short days, with the help of all of you. We were hopeful we would reach this hefty goal but never thought we’d reach it so quickly. We'll continue to keep our fundraising going by increasing our goal to 225K to help bring Becky even closer to a full recovery, and with hope, thinking of her future beyond.