Meeting with the patients reinforced for me why I started GFC. I am still a photographer, and sometimes my images express my feelings much better than my words ever could.

30 year old woman, battling breast cancer

We are launching our first initiative this Monday in Vietnam. We will be partnering with the doctors and survivors we met there in December 2010 to help expand the scope of the only cancer support group in the country, the Breast Cancer Club(BCC) of Hanoi. We will be working with them to help establish 2 new support groups at the oncology hospitals in Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh City as well as an additional support group in HCMC for families of children with cancer.  Michael Doyle, an American who has been living in Vietnam for the past 20 years and battling cancer himself for the last 3 years, recently founded the Kids With Cancer Foundation of Vietnam. Mike contacted me a few months ago to say the my blog and the video that my husband Chris and I made about the conditions for cancer patients in Vietnam motivated him to create the foundation.

Once again I find myself starting out on a new path with a new role to play, this time as the director of a non-profit, trying to raise awareness and expand education about cancer. I am going to quote from my very first blog post “This project is incredibly daunting to me. I am so excited but absolutely petrified that I won’t be able to pull this off, that I don’t have the eye for it,  or that I won’t do it justice, but I feel compelled to do this project. I have been waiting for an opportunity to do something for the past 3 1/2 years that would express how I feel about having cancer and recovering from it. I am a big believer in going with your gut, and my gut has a great feeling about this, let’s just hope that my mind gets in line!” It is a bit different now, but the sentiment is the same. I continue on this road that cancer has led me down. I see my having had cancer now as an opportunity, almost as a gift. It has helped me grow in ways I never could have imagined and given me more strength than I thought I could ever have. I will return home in time to celebrate my 6th year anniversary of being cancer free. It’s going to be a party!!!

Driving into downtown Nairobi the next morning I was struck by the rutted paths carved into the red earth along the side of the road from the constant shuffle of foot traffic. We drove past Kibera which is the second largest urban slum in Africa. Most of it’s 2 million residents are extremely poor and lack most basic services including electricity and running water.

Main road from Karen into Nairobi

Along the side of the road

We were meeting with Fred Odhiambo of KETCA, the Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance. He gave us a bit of background information about cancer care in Kenya. Cancer awareness and education is minimal here and most people are diagnosed in the later stages of the disease. In Kenya, as in other countries with limited awareness, there is a heavy stigma surrounding cancer. There are very few facilities for diagnosis and treatment and no specialized oncology hospitals. Those with financial means leave the country to receive treatment, but for most a diagnosis of cancer is a death sentence. Fred was kind enough to arrange for us to meet with two women who were undergoing treatment.

Rosemary Okeyo

When Rosemary Okeyo first learned she had breast cancer she considered it a death sentence and refused all treatment. She was 47, married with 5 daughters and 1 grand daughter. Her sister-in-law convinced her to have a mastectomy and to start chemotherapy. When I met her in Nairobi she had just come from Kenyatta hospital where she had her blood tested before deciding to continue treatment with a third round of chemo. She didn’t think it was worth it, that she was  going to die anyway. I told her my story. She didn’t believe that it was possible, everyone she has ever known who has had cancer has died. I was the first cancer survivor she ever met. She also had no idea that mastectomy bras or breast prostheses even existed. I had brought 50 bras and 25 prostheses with me to donate to the Tanzania Breast Cancer Foundation. We had moved into a hotel in downtown Nairobi for a few days, so I brought Rosemary up to our room and helped fit her with 2 bras and a prosthesis. The sad, defeated woman that I had met just a half hour before was gone, replaced by a dancing, singing and smiling Rosemary. A woman with a renewed spirit and a will to fight to survive, because now she knew people do survive cancer. I couldn’t stop smiling for the next 24 hours. I’m not sure which one of us was happier, and it doesn’t really matter. It was a really good day.

Stella

We were introduced to Stella at St. Mary’s Mission Hospital which is located on the edge of Kibera. When we met her last January, Stella was 43 years old and had been battling stage 3 breast cancer since 2008. She is the single parent of a 15 year old boy. She has had multiple surgeries, chemotherapy treatments and radiation, but the cancer always returns. She has exhausted whatever money she had, and now relies on donations to pay for her treatments. When we met her she had been in the hospital for 2 weeks receiving chemo and had one more week to go in this round of treatment. Her son was away at boarding school (a relative pays his way). She hid her illness from him until recently when she finally told him the truth because she was not sure how much time she had left.

Bonnie Kam

Eleanor Fung was in shock when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 at age 58, she underwent a mastectomy and radiation treatments. She has had a successful and full recovery. Years before her own illness her father had been sick and passed away. After his death, Eleanor found great comfort and support from the support groups sponsored by the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society. Once she had completely recovered from her treatments she decided to volunteer to help others that weren’t as fortunate as she was. She is now very conscious of living a healthy and mindful life.

Eleanor Fung

Alice Cheung is a remarkable woman, she has taken a great tragedy in her life and turned it into something positive. Alice grew up with a great passion for language and education, her dream was to become an English teacher. In 1983 she found herself newly married and had just embarked on her teaching career when she was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer. She was 25 years old. It was stunning for her to be diagnosed with cancer at such a young age and at this time in Hong Kong there was still an enormous stigma attached to having cancer. Multiple rounds of radiation therapy left her with terrible pain and permanently effected her speech. Her dream of teaching was over, as it was too difficult for her to speak for long periods of time. She had great support and encouragement from her family and doctor (one of the founders of the HKACS). Without hesitation she switched gears and pursued a career in teaching administration.  Alice was one of the first people to speak out as a cancer survivor in Hong Kong and continues to be an advocate for cancer patients. She is a tireless volunteer, selflessly helping others towards a common goal, to live a good life.

Alice Cheung

My Mother, Dorothy Kapica

My Father, Stanley Kapica

Growing up during the great depression, my parents faced life’s challenges in the most practical and reasonable way possible, and they passed this onto their children. No need for hysteria or drama, life is what it is and you deal with what it gives you, the good and the bad. My father was also a veteran of WWII where he earned a purple heart, was captured and held as a German prisoner of War on Ile de Groix, France. He was one of a handful of prisoners exchanged during the war and immediately returned to serve on the front lines fighting for the freedoms and values that he believed most deeply in.

The day that my father died was the most surreal and strange day of my life. I went to visit him at the hospital about 6:30am on my way to work. My husband Chris had spent the night with my Dad at the hospital. I was so grateful that Chris was with him, he cared for him as if he were his own father. My father was heavily medicated and I spent about 1/2 hour with him, then kissed him on the head and began driving the 25 minutes to my studio. Just as I was pulling into the parking lot at work my phone rang, it was Chris telling me that my father passed away a few minutes after I had left his room. My family was as prepared as one can be for this, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. I had a shoot booked for that day with clients who had traveled quite far, 2 food stylists, art directors, account people, my family supported me by saying that honoring my commitment to my clients would not be dishonoring my father…thankfully everyone was extremely understanding and with my very dear friends working with me, we were able to shoot very quickly and I was with my family by 2:00pm.

That evening Chris and I had been invited to attend a gala dinner at the Pierre Hotel in New York City hosted by the American Cancer Society (ACS). It was the final event of a 3 day summit that brought together global cancer ambassadors and journalists from 44 countries to NYC to meet with their UN missions in advance of the first ever UN High Level Summit on Cancer to be held this September. 11 of these ambassadors were people that I had worked with over the past year through my project and had introduced to the ACS. At the beginning of the dinner my photos were to be featured in a slide show in the main dining room for the 500 guests in attendance. My family insisted that we attend, I knew that my father wanted us to be there too. So in the span of 12 hours, I experienced one of the worst moments of my life, losing my precious father that
morning, and then that evening, one of the most amazing moments of my life, knowing that I had done something that contributed to making a difference in the world. At the dinner were Shakti Gurung and Dr. Bijesh from Nepal, Poonam Bagai from India, Orajitt Bumrungskulswat from Thailand, Carol El-Jabari from Jerusalem, Suzan Murad from Jordan, Linda Greef from Cape Town, Elisabetta Iannelli from Italy, Dr. Thang from CanTho and Mrs Huong from Hanoi. And on the 2 huge screens in the front of the ballroom the faces of the incredible people that I had met over the last year were shown, and my father was one of those faces smiling down on all of us as we were seated for dinner. I know how proud he would have been that night. I know how proud I am to be his daughter, and how very much I love and miss him every day.

Dr Bijesh, Shakti and me

Sheldrake Elephant Orphanage

First of all,  let me begin by apologizing for my lack of posting over the past 3 months. Life and work has literally been taking up every spare second of my time. At the end of January and early February I traveled to Kenya and Tanzania and in late March I used my final British Airways flights to travel to Rome and then back to Switzerland where this whole journey had started a year before. And what a truly amazing and life changing year it was in so many ways. I am so appreciative of the kindness and generosity shown to me by so many people around the globe and I look forward to sharing these new stories here very soon.

Rome

Kwong Fung Yee

Kwong Fung Yee was diagnosed at age 38 with stage 2B breast cancer, that was 22 years ago.  She had a lumpectomy and diligently went for her annual check ups. In 2009 she didn’t feel quite herself, she felt a strange lump in her neck. A pet scan revealed that the breast cancer had returned and invaded her body-her lungs, her bones, all of her was full of  the cancer she thought had left her 20 years before. Her bones were so fragile they were on the verge of breaking.  She had surgery on her arm to support the bone and keep it intact. She went through 6 rounds of chemo. When I saw her in December, she was improving all the time. She has been using only Chinese medicine for the past year and continues to be strong and well. Her advice to others is to always treasure every friend and special person in your life.

Man Kwok Wai

Man Kwok Wai is 52 and has been a carrier of hepatitis B since he was 18. He ignored it until January of 2010 when he started to have pain after eating. He went to the doctor who prescribed pain medication and sent him to a specialist who ordered a CT scan. When he went back for the results, he could tell that the doctor was nervous. He told Man that he had liver cancer. He was referred to another doctor at the Queen Mary Hospital where he received target therapy to relieve his pain. He asked what the plan was to cure me and they said there was no other treatment option, no plan. So Man found a new doctor and a new course of treatment which he started in July of 2010. It was a target treatment combined with 12 rounds of chemotherapy. In December after 10 rounds a CT scan revealed that 80-90% of the disease was gone and his liver function had returned to normal. His CA fluctuates around 1500, and he still had 2 more chemo treatments to take. He was searching within himself to decide if he would continue treatment or not as it was physically shattering. He was using an herbal tea prescribed for him by the Chinese medical doctor at the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society facility which helps to relieve the side effects from his treatments and practices Chi Gong. He has wonderful support from his family, and he lives his life fully, making sure not to deny himself the simple pleasures in life. Hopefully both Man and Kwong will continue to live long, happy and healthy lives.

The Connecticut Challenge www.ctchallenge.org is once again generously helping to sponsor and support me  and I greatly appreciate it! Please take some time to check out their web site. Every day they help to improve and enrich the lives of cancer survivors with programs and information they create and fund. If you can PLEASE join us on July 30th for their annual bike challenge. It will be a fantastic event! If you can’t ride then please sponsor someone who is riding, like me! Here is the link team page to my team page where you can sign up to ride with us or sponsor us, thanks so much!