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Caitlyn Cobean & cousin Connor Cobean who had his head shaved in
support of Caitlyn "It all started on January 1st, 2007, when
within a heartbeat, our lives changed forever. At a New Year's Day
brunch, our daughter Caitlyn approached me to tell me that she couldn't
see and from there she developed a headache, nausea and vomiting. The
next day, we were told she had a brain tumour and we were on our way to
Sick Kids in Toronto.
There, we were told that it was inoperable and chemotherapy and
radiation needed to be started in the very near future. Well, after 33
days of radiation to her brain and 63 days of chemotherapy and one year
later, Caitlyn never lost her zest for life.
She was left with right-sided weakness similar to a stroke and used a
motorized chair to get herself around high school as she started grade
9. She struggled with reading and comprehension due to the radiation
and was physically weak and tired at times. None of this dampened her
spirit as she made the honour roll at school with an above 80 average.
She attended every function she could attend and always with a smile on
her face. As she always said, "Cancer is not going to control my life!" (next column)
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(continued)
Then, in may of this year, there were three new spots of cancer on
the frontal lobe of her brain and six weeks later the MRI showed the
cancer had spread to the right side of her brain. Her condition
deteriorated quickly and she lost her battle on August 9th of this year.
What she has left all of us with, though, is the determination to do
everything we can to fight this horrible disease and show it who the
real boss is.
I would like everyone to be able to read a poem that Caitlyn and her
friend Emily read at their grandma's funeral three years ago ... and she
lived every day of her life by it.
What Cancer Cannot Do
Cancer is so limited ...
It cannot cripple love,
It cannot shatter hope,
It cannot erode faith,
It cannot destroy peace,
Iet cannot kill friendship,
It cannot suppress memories,
It cannot silence courage,
It cannot invde the soul,
It cannot steal eternal life,
It cannot conquer the spirit.
Now, I ask each and every one of you to go out there and show cancer who
the real boss is ... and don't ever back down from it!"
Rona Cobean
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