The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, May 24, 2013 | 8 continued from p.5 and they are cautiously optimistic they will meet their target and surpass it. The event kicks off with the opening ceremonies which includes a survivors ceremony. One of the participating survivors who will be sharing her personal story is O.T.'s principal, Julie Hunt Gibbons. Principal battled cancer School principal battled ovarian cancer men, and when I went to have it checked out, doctors discovered a 12-14 centimetre mass," she said. "They don't call it a tumour until the pathology tests are complete and there is an official diagnosis, but you always know," she said now of her experience. In short order, Hunt Gibbons was admitted to Credit Valley Hospital where she had a complete hysterectomy and surgical removal of surrounding lymph nodes. Four weeks later, Hunt Gibbons began the first of a six-round course of chemotherapy. "Mine was a very aggressive strain of the disease," Hunt Gibbons recounts. "The tumour grew so rapidly that doctors believe that it likely only began in December." Despite the debilitating side effects of the chemotherapy treatments, Hunt Gibbons is effusive in her praise of the medical staff who travelled with her on her journey back to health. Known as the silent killer As the high school principal says, "Ovarian cancer is known as the silent killer because it is rarely symptomatic; it can go undiagnosed until it has already reached stage four. I was fortunate that the follow-up was swift." She credits the steroids and anti-nausea drugs that were part of her chemotherapy regimen with reducing some of the uncomfortable side effects, though she was not immune to hair loss. As her hair began to fall out, Hunt Gibbons decided that this was just one more element of the disease she was going to "model and embrace", so she enlisted her husband, Rob, to shave her head fully. A couple of wigs and some flowing scarves helped lessen feelings of self consciousness, but she admits that the toughest part of it all was losing her eyebrows and lashes. "Society ties us to our looks," she observes, while commending the `Look Good, Feel Better' program for helping her regain her sense of confidence and style. Two years ago Julie lit luminaries and walked the track in honour of family members and loved ones, including her father who lost his battle with cancer at age 63. She has returned to her duties as principal of O.T. and tonight, she will proudly assume her place at the podium along with fellow survivors, Robert Bateman High School principal Jacquie Pece, and local physician Dr. Alexandra Guinty. To learn more about O.T.'s Relay for Life, visit the Oakville Trafalgar High School website. Exactly one year ago, Hunt Gibbons received the dreaded diagnosis that she had stage three ovarian cancer. "I noticed a bloating that was only on one side of my abdo- The Regional Municipality of Halton Please contact us, as soon as possible, if you have any accessibility needs at Halton Region events or meetings. Notice of Filing of Addendum to the 2008 South Halton Water and Wastewater Master Plan 675 mm Wastewater Main on Easement to North Oakville Pumping Station Town of Oakville, Ward 5, PR-2631B pumping station has been realigned. 19, 2013. Halton Region The Ministry of the Environment 240513