{"id":171,"date":"2018-05-24T00:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T00:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kidscancercare.ab.ca\/annual-report-2018\/?p=171"},"modified":"2018-06-06T22:14:12","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T22:14:12","slug":"camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidscancercare.ab.ca\/annual-report-2018\/camp\/","title":{"rendered":"a story of carefree innocence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cCamp Kindle is not only cost-free, it\u2019s worry-free too. As parents, we get the week off and we don\u2019t have to worry because we know they are looked after.\u201d \u2013 Anne Gagnon<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When her youngest child was six-months old, Anne Gagnon had a gut feeling something was wrong. As a mom of three, she instinctively knew her youngest daughter wasn\u2019t as alert as her two older sisters had been.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went for a hearing test and that was all good, but at the vision test they noticed something was wrong right away,\u201d says Anne.<\/p>\n

They went for an appointment where wiggly baby Gabrielle was given an anesthetic so they could look at her eye. The next day Anne and her baby were on a plane to Toronto to see a specialist.<\/p>\n

Gabrielle had retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer in her eyes. \u201cThey told us she had 12 tumours and that was in her good eye,\u201d Anne remembers. Her left eye had a tumour so large that the surgeons had to perform an enucleation. Gabrielle was given a fake eye.<\/p>\n

The family says they are fortunate to live in Canada as treatment and many travel costs were covered. But, there were still many costs. And not all were financial.<\/p>\n

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Gabrielle was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a type of eye cancer, as an infant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The family of five spent much of the next few years travelling back and forth. Robert mostly stayed in Calgary to work and take care of Abbi (four) and Sarah (two), while Anne and Gabrielle travelled monthly to Toronto for treatments.<\/p>\n

Although those treatments were successful, a follow up with the specialist in Toronto when Gabirelle was three brought the all too familiar news. The cancer was back. There were three more tumours. Fortunately, they were not affecting Gabrielle\u2019s vision, but another year of treatments in Toronto would soon begin.<\/p>\n

Anne and Robert count themselves lucky. Gabrielle is now a healthy ten-year-old. She loves to dance, mountain bike and play ringette. She has always pushed herself, looking up to her two big sisters.<\/p>\n

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(T-B) Gabrielle and her sisters Sarah and Abbi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While her parents and sisters strive to make life as normal as possible for her, Gabrielle hears comments at school. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t like her prosthetic eye and she wishes she didn\u2019t have to wear glasses,\u201d Anne shares. She has also recently noticed that Gabrielle\u2019s memory may also have been affected by the more than thirty surgeries she had at a young age.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where you come in. Anne is so grateful for Kids Cancer Care<\/a>. Her family has been able to participate in many Camp<\/a> and Outreach<\/a> programs thanks to you support.<\/p>\n

Kids Cancer Care\u2019s camp programs, which are provided at no cost to our families thanks to supporters like you, have been especially beneficial for the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s climbing, hiking, great food, and so much more for them to do,\u201d says Anne. \u201cThe girls have created so many memories over the past four summers they have been going to camp, when they see their camp friends each summer they get so excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s more than seeing friends and being outdoors.<\/p>\n

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Gabrielle (centre) with friends at Camp Kindle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCamp Kindle<\/a> is not only cost-free; it\u2019s worry-free too,\u201d Anne shares. \u201cAs parents, we get the week off and we don\u2019t have to worry because we know they are looked after.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff and volunteers are fully qualified and trained to meet the unique needs of young people affected by cancer. Camp Kindle has a fully equipped clinic with all the amenities of a big city clinic.<\/p>\n

Anne knows it\u2019s worry-free for all her kids too, \u201cAbbi and Sarah don\u2019t need to worry about anyone asking why their sister\u2019s eye looks different. The other kids don\u2019t even seem to notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s no different for Gabrielle. \u201cI like hanging out at camp. My friends there just get it. They know how I feel. I never have to worry that I will be offended by what they say. They treat you how you want to be treated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank you for giving Gabrielle and her family a <\/strong>break from the worries and stresses of childhood cancer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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