SCREENING STORIES

Agnes

If you visit the Widzen Kwah Canyon House Museum, you’ll likely enjoy a tour led by Agnes—an expert in Witsuwit’en culture, stories, and traditions. The Museum Coordinator and professional tour guide is able to keep sharing her wealth of knowledge with visitors thanks to a mammogram that caught her breast cancer early.

It’s a 15-minute drive from Widzin into Smithers where Agnes got her first mammogram in June 2018. She was a little nervous because she had never had one before. But everyone was friendly and put her at ease. The technician lowered the mammogram machine to her height and showed her where to put her breast on the panel. It was a little cold and she felt quite a bit of pressure as the panel pressed down. But it was over quickly, and the discomfort was manageable.

Agnes returned home where she lives with her husband, four of her kids, one grandkid and pet dog named Potato. Life was busy between work and family but not too busy to forget about the mammogram and wonder about the results. Agnes was called back in for another mammogram and soon after was told she had breast cancer.

After treatment, Agnes has now been cancer free for five years. She continues to take hormone blockers to keep her that way.

Agnes had a lot of community support during her cancer journey. Her health station as well as lots of cousins, aunties, uncles and family were there for her after her treatment. Something that really helped was finding other people who had been through cancer in her community to share experiences with. It used to be that people kept their cancer to themselves but now they’re opening up about it.

Agnes sees the importance of talking about cancer because there are things you can do to catch it early and have a better outcome. She says, “My advice is to get the mammogram done. There might not be anything wrong but just in case it’s always good to have screening done. It could save your life, it saved mine.”

Agnes is looking forward to seeing her last two kids graduate and plans to be here for a long time. Long enough to see her grandkids get married one day too.

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Balwinder

In late December 2022 Balwinder got a call that saved her life. It was from her neighbour Surinder, phoning on behalf of the Sanjha Vehra Women’s Association, to let her know that the BC Cancer Mobile Mammography Coach was coming to Guru Nanak Sikh Temple. Surinder invited Balwinder to participate in this free service and get screened for breast cancer.

Balwinder arrived in Surrey from India in 2016 and had not had a mammogram since making this her new home. So she signed up for her very first and got it done with other members of the Sanjha Vehra Women’s Association next to the familiar surroundings of her local temple.

The mammogram revealed, after some follow-up tests, that Balwinder had breast cancer. She never would have known without that first mammogram. Balwinder was able to get her tumor removed by Dr. Sonia Cader who performed the surgery at Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre.
After surgery, Dr. Balvindar Johal, Medical Oncologist, oversaw Balwinder’s care. Dr. Johal sent her to Bellingham for priority radiation treatment to help keep the breast cancer from returning.

“Timely detection of the breast cancer, surgery, post-surgery follow-up treatment and wonderful attention and care given by BC Cancer, Surrey centre has not only removed and eradicated cancer traces in my body but also saved my life for which I shall ever remain grateful to Sanjha Vehra Women’s Association, Dr. Sonia Cader, Surgeon (Jim Pattison) and Dr. Balvindar Johal, Medical Oncologist (BC Cancer Centre).” – Balwinder
Balwinder is also grateful to Saroj Ludhera, a pillar of Sanjha Vehra Women’s Association, who kept in constant touch with her throughout treatment and continues to be a source of great support and inspiration.

“Had I not got or availed the opportunity to have my mammogram and breast cancer surgery done, it would have cost heavily to my life! I highly appreciate Sanjha Vehra Women’s Association for taking lead in creating awareness about Breast Cancer amongst the women and arranging free screening in Surrey.”– Balwinder

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Bianca

Bianca, a member of the Tl’azt’en Nation, talks about the barriers she faced to get cervix screening and how cervix self-screening removed them.

Learn more about cervix self-screening.

Christina

Cervix self-screening helped Christina catch her cervical cancer.

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Dave

Dave is pretty tough. After you’ve worked 400 feet in the air as an industrial scaffolder, not much scares you. On one job, he hung off the Port Mann Bridge, seeing tug boats passing so far below that they looked like toys. On another he was knocked 14 feet off the ground and separated his shoulder.

To get back to work post-pandemic, Dave went in for a routine health check that included a fecal immuno-chemical test (FIT) – screening for colon cancer that looks for blood in your stool (poop). When that came back abnormal, Dave didn’t balk at having to get a colonoscopy.

Some of his friends said they’d rather die than let someone touch their bum. Dave responded by asking “When you take your car in are they allowed to look at your car’s rear end? Yes. Well it’s the same with your behind.”

Dave feels like many men worry about looking weak and needing to just tough it out. But the strong thing to do is get things checked and take care of what needs doing so you can keep living. And when you do things that scare you, it helps make them less scary and you can feel proud that you faced that fear. Whether that’s extreme heights or getting a tune-up for your colon.

During Dave’s colonoscopy, the doctor removed three polyps (growths inside the colon that sometimes turn into cancer) and found cancer. The great news was that it hadn’t spread and could be fully removed with a simple surgery. And, after surgery Dave was cancer free.

Dave spent some time recuperating with his grandchildren and son-in-law in Langley, and then went right back to work up in Kitimat. He was doing 15k steps a day, climbing 5-30 stories carrying steel in snow and ice. It was tough. But he took it one day at a time and built his strength back up. He says if you want to embrace getting older, don’t stop yourself from doing things.

If you are aged 50 to 74, talk to a health care provider about getting screened for colon cancer today. Learn more.

Diana

As a member of the BC Cancer communications team, I’ve written a lot about cervix self-screening. So when my family doctor offered me the newly launched test during a routine visit, I was curious to try it myself.

I had actually gone in for the Pap test I was due for, but I thought it would be helpful and honestly interesting to experience firsthand something I had only described in my work. I had no idea how much more I was about to experience.

I’m in my early 30s and live in Squamish, where I spend as much time outside as possible. I’ve always been pretty proactive about my health, so when my doctor called me back in to discuss the results of the self-screening test, I didn’t think too much of it. The test indicated I should return for a Pap. That Pap showed abnormal cells, which led to a referral for a colposcopy at the hospital.

The colposcopy itself was quick and painless. The doctor explained that I’d hear back about whether I would need a LEEP procedure (to remove abnormal or precancerous tissue from the cervix) and sent me home with an information pamphlet.

The pamphlet was super helpful – but reading through it was the first time I felt a wave of discomfort and nerves. Even though I knew logically that this was all preventative, I couldn’t help worrying about whether I’d need the procedure.

And I did.

I built it up in my head a lot. The pamphlet had outlined what to expect afterward (the potential cramping, the discharge, the aftercare), and it stressed me out. But when the day came for my LEEP procedure, my doctor and nurse were so kind and reassuring, helping me feel more at ease.

I won’t pretend the procedure was comfortable – it wasn’t – but it was also quick, about ten minutes from start to finish, and surprisingly not painful. The local anesthetic was actually the worst part, but that pain passed quickly. I’ve had period cramps that were more intense, and getting an IUD inserted was, in my experience, significantly more painful.

The aftercare was honestly more annoying than anything else – mainly because I had to use pads instead of tampons, which are not my favourite. But that was it. And now I have the peace of mind that those precancerous cells won’t have the chance to become something more serious.
I’m sharing this because I’ve heard so many friends say that Pap tests are uncomfortable and that they’ve been putting it off. But cervix self-screening was fast and easy – I could have done it at home.

And while I didn’t expect to need the follow-up test or a LEEP, I’m incredibly grateful I screened. Each step happened quickly, I felt cared for throughout, and the discomfort was nothing compared to what a future cancer diagnosis could bring.

My advice? Do it! The worst that can happen is you prevent cervical cancer from developing – and that’s a pretty great outcome.

Request a cervix self-screening kit today: screeningbc.ca/cervix