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This Week | Thursday, February 24,2022 durhamregion.com | 26 Caitlin Hufana and Rebecca Howe can attest to the importance of diagnostic imaging offered at the R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre. Both are cancer survivors who received their care at the centre, which is in the midst of a $20-million fundraising campaign, Our Cancer Campaign. Hufana was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, when she was then 28. She's about 10 months past chemotherapy, finishing all her treatments in May. She was diagnosed Oct. 20, 2020. "It was definitely something that wasn't expected. At 28 years old, to hear those words. It definitely changed the direction of my life. It's not anywhere I thought I was going to go. I was focused on my career. My husband and I were thinking of starting a family and then all of sudden, (you've got) cancer and everything is just crazy." She said it "didn't seem real. It's the worst possible news I could have gotten." Hufana was diagnosed during the pandemic, so her family, including her husband and mother, couldn't attend to treatment sessions with her. "I had to do the whole thing alone. It was terrifying. I looked at a lot of re- sources, like 'how to prepare for your first day of chemo'. It says bring a friend, bring a support person, but I couldn't do any of that. So it was a huge struggle. Some of the scariest things I've ever had to go through and I had to do it alone," she said. "It sucked to being alone." Her husband, Michael, drove her to the hospital for her treatments. "I just loved it more local like that. Having to spend hours having to go into Toronto, in that traffic and paying for parking, would have been horrible. A lot of my family didn't know Oshawa had a cancer centre either," she added. Howe was diagnosed with stage 4 Papillary Thyroid Cancer in 2017. She said the diagnostic imaging technology saved her life. "If it weren't for the machine that we purchased through the money we donated, I wouldn't have had the early detection that I got. Because of the donation, early detection and the awesome doctors they have there, I'm here today," Howe said. John Biglow, the general manager of Whitby Oshawa Honda where Howe works, said the dealership is giving $120,000 to the cancer campaign because Lakeridge Health was always at the top of the list of groups to help. The money is specifically for diagnostic imaging. "It felt good and the right thing to do," he said, adding staff members voted to give to the campaign. "We know that diagnos- tic imaging is a really, really important first step in fighting cancer. We know that quick and effective detection is instrumental in beat- ing this brutal disease that has touched almost all of us. So, yes, we're really proud to have assisted Lakeridge Health in early detection," Biglow said. She was recently told she's in full remission. "I went home and cele- brated. I phoned all my family. It's been four years. It's been an up-and-down roller-coaster and in all honesty, for this place here and the support I have here at Whitby Oshawa Honda, I don't know if I would have made it through. It's an awesome team here." Dr. Geoff Donksy is a radiologist and the chief of di- agnostic imaging at Lakeridge Health. The technology is used for everything, he said. "As technology im- proves, it allows us to see things we couldn't see before or see things earlier. And, also see things in greater detail," he said. The evolution of radiology over the last few decades has made it "exciting. Because we are technology based, there are always advances in how we can image people. As technology improves, there are benefits to the patient," Donksy added. To learn more about the fundraising campaign, visit ourcancer.ca. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: The R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre is trying to raise $20 million to continue to offer state-of-the-art treatment to cancer patients from Durham and beyond. We're highlighting some of the areas of the campaign to put a human face on the need for treatment here in Durham. DURHAM CANCER CENTRE CAMPAIGN CHUGS ON Lakeridge Health's Dr. Geoff Donsky, radiologist and chief of Diagnostic Imaging, spoke with patient Caitlin Hufana in the breast assessment room. Susie Kockerscheidt/Metroland KEITH GILLIGAN kgilligan@durham region.com NEWS A Pickering father and his twin sons recently walked 32 kilometres in a single day to raise money for lunches for health-care workers. On Feb. 9, Trevor Gillis and twin sons John and Gabriel, 12, set off from their home in Pickering and walked all the way to the Hospital for Sick Children in downtown Toronto. The trek took six hours and 15 minutes and was especially challenging for John, who has mild cerebral palsy. "They have never walked anywhere close to that far before; we had done some walks that were about 12 kilometres," Gillis explained. "The last couple of kilometres were tough ... I offered them the chance to stop if they need to, but they really wanted to finish." He describes watching the boys arrive at Sick Kids as "emotional." So far the fundraiser has brought in about $6,000. Funds are being used to purchase individually packaged lunches for health-care workers in GTA hospitals. Area restaurants like Union Chicken, The Six Social and The Oakwood Hardware are providing the meals, which Gillis says gives them a boost as well. About 200 lunches have been delivered so far, with plans to provide at least 500. "It's a way to show appreciation. With Omicron, hospitalizations have been through the roof," Gillis says. The project started last year an initiative at Tangerine, where Gillis works. He says employees were eager to give back and raised about $3,000. His sons wanted to contribute and came up with the idea of walking to Sick Kids. "When people heard they were doing this, it generated a heck of a lot of excitement," Gillis says. DAD, SONS WALK 32 KM IN A DAY TO BUY LUNCHES FOR NURSES Pickering resident Trevor Gillis and his twin sons, John and Gabe, recently walked 32 kilometres in one day from Pickering to Sick Kids to raise funds for healthy lunches for fronline health-care workers. So far they have raised more than $5,000. Trevor Gillis photo JILLIAN FOLLERT jfoller t@durhamregion.com THE FUNDRAISER HAS BROUGHT IN ABOUT $6,000 SO FAR