In November, Edmontonian Paula Clarke received news that no one ever wants to hear鈥攜ou have cancer.
鈥淚f she ever had a headache you never knew,鈥� said Paula鈥檚 daughter, Brooke Clarke, who lives in Jasper. 鈥淪o when she got sick it was weird.鈥�
Early in 2015, Paula began complaining about tightness in her chest, describing it like an elastic band had been wrapped around her chest. She also noticed she was having trouble swallowing.
鈥淭he doctors thought it was acid reflux or that it was problems caused by posture. Then they thought she had swollen glands in her throat,鈥� said Brooke. 鈥淚t was frustrating because they couldn鈥檛 find the problem.鈥�
After several trips to numerous doctors, a diagnosis was made鈥擯aula had gastro-esophageal cancer.
And the bad news didn鈥檛 stop there.
While she waited for the doctors to diagnosis what was wrong with her, Paula鈥檚 tumour continued to grow on top of her diaphragm closing off about 90 per cent of her esophagus making her tumour inoperable.
For several months Paula underwent chemotherapy and radiation in an attempt to shrink the cancer, but to no avail.
鈥淭he doctors offered more chemo and radiation but it wasn鈥檛 going to shrink anything. They said it would just keep it at bay,鈥� Brooke said. 鈥淏asically they said that was our only option left and mom did not want to do that.鈥�
Unsure of what to do, the family took to their computers, scrolling through numerous web pages in hopes of finding an alternative cure. After a few weeks they stumbled across RIGVIR, a virotherapy medication, which is only available in a few parts of the world including Latvia, Georgia and Mexico.
鈥淣one of us had heard of this before, but we started to feel like this was our last option,鈥� said Brooke.
After weighing out their options, the family decided it would be best to send Paula to Mexico for the treatment, which turned out to be an expensive endeavour. The minimum cost for RIGVIR is around $20,000, which has to be paid upfront.
After a consultation, it was deemed Paula would need two treatments.
鈥淢y mom had to sell out of her business but it still wasn鈥檛 enough,鈥� said Brooke. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 something you plan for. We don鈥檛 have reserves of money set aside to cover something like this.鈥� 听
Unsure of what else to do, Brooke turned to the place she calls home.
On June 25, she held a bottle drive, which had a slew of Jasperites lining up to donate their empties. At the end of the day, Brooke said she raised more than $3,000.
鈥淭his town is unreal. The amount of support I鈥檝e received is overwhelming,鈥� said Brooke. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 thank the people of Jasper enough.鈥�
Through fundraising and help from family and friends, Paula was able to pay for her first treatment, planned for July 11. However, the financial struggle isn鈥檛 over. Brooke said her family will need to raise even more money to cover the costs for Paula鈥檚 second treatment, slated for October.
鈥淢om is in a lot of pain right now which is hard to watch, but she鈥檚 feeling optimistic about the treatment,鈥� said Brooke. 鈥淎s a family we鈥檙e having our ups and downs emotionally.
鈥淓very day is different and we just have to remember we鈥檙e doing the best we can.鈥�
Aside from the bottle drive, the family has launched an online fundraiser at www.gofundme.com/paulaclarke. So far more than $6,000 has been raised. There is also a donation jar set up at Hair on Earth.
Due to the success of the first bottle drive, Brooke said she鈥檒l be planning another one later this summer.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]听
