KAMLOOPS — A local group is researching what it would take to bring a supportive cancer care centre to Kamloops.
The effort is part of a larger campaign to help cancer patients navigate the care they need.
When research concludes, the goal is to have a support centre built in the Tournament Capital to compliment existing cancer treatment.
Spearheading the project, Give Cancer the Finger organizers Steve Passmore and Derek Strokon have taken their desire to help cancer patients to the next level.
“When Derek and I started the whole doing our own little Movember thing here in town, we thought it was cute,” Passmore laughs. “We were going to have some burgers, some beers, raise a little bit of money, high five each other and be done with it.”
“I think we all have been touched by it. I’m sure you have been touched by it, I’m sure everybody watching this has been touched by it at a certain level,” says Strokon. “To go to the stats, one in two Canadians are going to be diagnosed by it in their lifetime. (It’s) mindblowing.”
Three years ago, their Movember event raised around $400, and last year the campaign total passed $5,000.
Using that fundraising base, the pair have penned a service agreement with the City of Kamloops, and managed to raise around $54,000 to research oncology patient needs.
“All of our surrounding communities come to us here in Kamloops. Whether it’s Lillooet, whether it’s Barriere, anything like that,” Passmore explains. “So it’s not just going to affect people here in Kamloops, it’s going to have a very wide reach.”
Most of the money comes from a Thompson Rivers University grant, and the city’s Exercise Specialist Coordinator, Jen Edgecombe has also agreed to help with the project.
Edgecombe says the concept would not be finding flaws in the existing system, but extending the care offered.
“Our health authority, our cancer agency, does a really great job at diagnosing and treating cancer. So that’s not really the issue that we’re talking about,” she stresses. “What we are noticing is that people are then, after therapy, ending up with these side effects that are just so horrible. Missing body parts, depression, anxiety, unable to return to work, heart disease, the list goes on and on. And that’s the piece right now that is the disconnect.”
“In order to apply for the grant that we’ve received, we had to get support from BC Cancer, and Interior Health,” says Edgecombe. “So everybody is very excited about this idea. We all recognize that there is a gap in the service delivery and what we’re looking to find out is, how does that effect us here in Kamloops?”
Part of the study will look into how costly visits cancer patients make to the emergency room can be reduced through post-treatment support and therapy.
“We want to run pilot programs here so that we actually have some proof in the pudding to prove that this works,” Strokon says. “I don’t think a lot of us need to really be convinced that we need this centre, but it’ll be really nice to have the numbers behind it.”
Once enough money is raised, and about two years worth of research is done, the group hopes to build a supportive care centre within walking distance of Royal Inland Hospital.
“What I hear from people over and over again is they’re just not sure how best to take care of themselves,” explains Edgecombe. “They’re not sure how to best manage the conditions that they have, and I think people can feel hopeful. I think that this is going to move towards a really exciting future.”
In the coming months, the team behind Give Cancer the Finger aims to be named an official not-for-profit charity, and will spread fundraising efforts to the public.
“The next target is $900,000, and we have so many businesses in town that are saying they are committed to being part of this,” Strokon says. “We don’t know exactly what that fundraising piece looks like right now, but we have a good idea of what we want to do with it.”
