(Posted 7:30 a.m., Aug. 23)
Community turns out to support young woman battling cancer
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Stéphanie Lanctôt (middle) poses with her two sisters Julie and Chantal, her parents Maggie and Henri and several supports during a fundraising event held in her honour on Sunday. Fred Sherwin/Photo

Love was in the air on Chenier Way in Fallingbrook on Sunday as more than 350 people came out to support Stéphanie Lanctôt, a 25-year-old school teacher who has been battling cancer for the past year.

Stéphanie was first diagnosed with cervical cancer last September. After undergoing a hysterectomy last fall she thought she was in the clear, but then her doctors discovered the cancer had spread to her abdomen.

When chemotherapy failed to shrink the tumours, Stéphanie agreed to undergo a clinical trial of a new cancer drug at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto which required her to drive back and forth for treatments.

Needless to say the bills started piling up quickly. Since she only just started teaching when she was diagnosed, Stéphanie is not covered by health insurance, and because she's 25, she's not covered by either of her parent's medical plans.

Stéphanie's father Henri is a community police officer in Orléans and her mother Maggie works at Health Canada. Both of them have received a tremendous amount of support from their coworkers. They've also received a great deal of support from the fellow members of their church at Paroisse Sainte-Marie d'Orléans.

Although the support has eased the financial burden on the family, it can't eliminate the often debilitating effect of cancer. On Friday, Stéphanie was suffering from excruciating pain and had to be rushed to the hospital by ambulance. After receiving medication to take care of the pain she was allowed to return home for Sunday's fundraising event.

The huge turnout and positive energy that was generated by the hundreds of well-wishers gave Stéphanie a tremendous boost.

"I don't feel any pain right now only love," Stephanie told the crowd. "I'm going to keep this feeling with me and when I'm sick or I'm going for treatments I won't feel any pain anymore."

Throughout most of the day Stéphanie rested in a big armchair at the end of her driveway as a steady stream of friends and neighbours came by to give her a hug and wish her well.

"With all this positive energy I know I'm going to get better. My goal is to see my doctors at Christmas and I'm going to laugh because the cancer will be all gone and they won't know what happened," Stéphanie said "I'm going to beat this thing because I have a lot of love to give and I want to go back to teaching, I want to get married and I want to have a family. There's so much I have to do, so I have to get better soon."

Stéphanie will resume her treatment in Toronto next week and when she does, her positive attitude and passion for life will go a long way in her struggle to beat her cancer and join the growing list of cancer survivors.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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