Victoria family raising awareness, funding to help with mother's cancer treatment

Kathy Horan. (GoFundMe)

A family in View Royal, B.C., is raising awareness about the often forgotten hardships of getting sick, as the mother anticipates a stem cell transplant that’s proving costly.

“I think we’re lucky in Canada that these procedures that are hugely expensive are covered, but I don’t think people realize that it’s not just the procedure that’s part of the treatment,” says Rose Blackwood.

The Ottawa woman has taken a leave of absence from her job to help care for her mom, who is receiving treatment for multiple myeloma.

“It’s been a rough few months,” says Kathy Horan. The retired public sector worker was diagnosed with cancer in March. She’s been going trough chemotherapy and had titanium rods placed in her arms to maintain their integrity.

Horan and her daughter have also learned she’s a good candidate for a stem cell transplant in October, which could help prolong her life by putting the cancer into remission.

The treatment isn’t offered on Vancouver Island, so the duo will be travelling to Vancouver General Hospital. They anticipate needing accommodations for up to seven weeks – with a medical request to stay within 15 minutes of the hospital, have a caregiver (such as Rose), and avoid shared accommodations.

And they’re footing the bill.

“It’s simply not free. In Canada, it’s expensive to be sick,” says Rose. “I think it would be realistic to say that we’re going to have to budget between $5,000 to $6,000 to cover this.”

A GoFundMe campaign is helping the family make it happen. If they can get in, they say the cheapest options are subsidized through Easter Seals or the Cancer Lodge.

But they say more of those options are needed amid the housing crisis. Blackwood says the doctor shortage, perhaps preventing specialists from working in more communities, points to a gap in a universal system too.

“We have public health care but in these kinds of situations, it really is tiered,” she says. “I think that you get change by raising awareness."

CTV News requested a comment from B.C.’s health and housing ministries but neither responded by deadline Friday.

“The reality is the treatment can prolong your life by years. And even if it was six months, it’s my mom. Like, we would find a way to do it,” says Blackwood.