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Survivor Stories

The Thaw Family

Cancer strikes Thaw family
Inspires cancer crusade

Mark and Lise Thaw are a close, loving couple. When Lise was diagnosed with uterine cancer, Mark was blindsided. It changed his life forever. "Both my mother and my wife were diagnosed with cancer within three weeks of each other." says Mark. "Yet somehow it drew our family closer together." Mark quickly became a one-person crusader in search of the answer. "Not everybody dies of cancer. We need to educate people. We need to be proud of what researchers in our community have accomplished." Mark understands that the government can't do it on its own. "We have to support our own community. We have to help each other."

Lise is no stranger to cancer. A registered nurse in clinical trials at the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Center, her entire life has been devoted to helping people with this terrible disease. Like most nurses, Lise is quick to deflect the conversation from herself to her patients. "You get close to the patients on clinical trials, you get to know them. They are fighting not only for their lives but for the lives of the next person." says Lise. "I am not sure if people know the importance of clinical trials." says Lise. "In my time at the Cancer Centre, I have seen two or three drugs that have gone from trials to standard tools in the treatment of cancer."

"People say to me, 'Your wife is amazing'. I have heard her calling patients from home on the weekend, just checking into see how they are doing. It's a different level of care at the Cancer Centre." says Mark. As if to punctuate his sentence, Lise says; "It's not just about a trial, or research, it's the human aspect. It is up to all of us to light the candle for the next person." It has been four years since Mark and Lise had to share the news of her cancer with their teenage daughter Alayna and son Bryan. Thankfully, today both Lise and Mark's mother are cancer free and living healthy lives.