Care That Reaches Beyond Our Community

When Petruschka walked out of the Radiation Bunker following her final treatment in July, her daughters Bianca and Nicola were right beside her. The three of them had made the hour-long drive from Stoney Lake, but when she rang the gong, marking the end of her chemo and radiation treatments, she was surrounded by far more than just family.

Cheers and tears from fellow patients and the Radiation Therapy team at the R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre (DRCC) filled the room. A team that had become a key part of her treatments.

“I never feel like I’m just part of a process or just the next patient,” Petruschka explains. “The minute you come in, they greet you. They introduce themselves. I always know who they are and they take the time to get to know me.” She smiles as she describes not only her experience, but how she has watched the team support other patients like her.

Petruschka’s relationship with the team in DRCC was built quickly on trust and understanding.

“We talk about everything. And they remember, too,” she laughs. “The tech who I had today for my last treatment, I saw her a few weeks ago on the day before my daughter’s birthday party. She asked what I was doing that weekend, and I told her. Today she asked, ‘How was the party?’ She sees so many people every day and yet remembers me and made me feel like I’m not just someone who’s going through it. She truly cares.”

It’s those personal touches that have helped Petruschka build a high level of confidence in her specialists in a very short time, including her oncologist, Dr. Fawaad Iqbal.

“The very first appointment, he (Dr. Iqbal) came in as friendly as can be. He pulled up my scans, and we went through everything. From day one, there have been no surprises because he took his time to go through everything.”

The family she’s found at DRCC has helped Petruschka navigate a journey with rectal cancer that she never envisioned.

“I was very negligent of the symptoms in the beginning,” she admits. “At first it was just a little blood, and I didn’t think anything of it. But the symptoms kept getting worse.”

After suddenly passing blood multiple times in the span of a few hours, Petruschka would head to the emergency department at the insistence of daughter Bianca, a nurse at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, on the day before Good Friday. She would spend over 24 hours with her family by her side, receiving tests and scans while doctors ruled out other conditions.

“I just remember sitting there looking at my family, wondering ‘what is this?’” she recalls. “I never expected that my hospital stay would lead to a cancer diagnosis.”

Petruschka’s journey has taken her to Toronto for certain tests and scans, and her radiation treatments have all taken place at DRCC, in a Hospital that now feels like home.

Behind the scenes, Petruschka’s team relies on specialized radiation equipment that isn’t available in her community. Since 2020, donor support of cancer care at Lakeridge Health has helped fund the replacement of two Linear Accelerators (LINACs), the machines that deliver Petruschka’s radiation therapy. Without access to this technology in Durham Region, all of her care would take place in Toronto, more than two and a half hours away from her home.

“When you first get diagnosed with cancer, you just think, ‘OK, I’m going to beat this.’ You take for granted that there’s going to be machines that will take care of it.

Ringing the gong marked the end of Petruschka’s radiation treatments, but not the end of her journey. Surgery is ahead in the fall, and possibly another round of chemotherapy at DRCC. Through it all, she knows she’ll have her husband Steve, her daughters, and the care team at Lakeridge Health cheering her on.

“It’s just one step at a time. Everything is temporary, right?” she laughs. “If I remain positive, I know I’m going to be fine. I’ve got my team behind me.”

And thanks to the generosity of donors, that team has the tools they need, and they’re ready for whatever comes next.