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C N h'H O CN I Spotlight continued from p.1 "I can' t believe people think about me this much. It' s a wonderful feeling," she added. Before beginning chemo in September, Crowe joined the Healing Journey program at the Well spring Cancer Support Foundation. She quickly realized she was going to need some help, she said, which is why she also joined a breast cancer support group. "It really helps you with the emotional im pact of it. I was pretty good about talking about my diagnosis and accepting it for what it is. The only thing that ever really got me emotional was when I talked about my kids," said Crowe. Because there was history of the disease in her family, Crowe underwent a genetics-screening test, which was the "only thing that got me really emotional at any given time," she said. The test came back negative, though, so her daughter, Kaitlin, 21, didn' t have to take it. "I don' t carry any of the genetic mutations, so that' s great. She doesn' t have to go through all of that. But, the reality is, one in nine women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. That' s another stat that blew me away," said Crowe. Having breast cancer has weighed on Crowe heavily because her primary concern is always "How is this impacting everyone else?" she said. "You're trying to manage everybody else' s emo tions. Sometimes you forget you just have to take care of yourself. It' s a challenge," said Crowe. The Halton officer noted she had eight chemo treatments, which she completed recently. Now that "Phase 1 is over," Crowe will meet with the surgeon soon to choose a date for her operation and aims to have it at the end of this month or early February. "I will have five weeks of radiation to follow that," she said. "It' s still a long road ahead, but Phase 1 is in the books. I'm happy about that." While the chemo treatments weren' t as "bad as I had anticipated," Crowe said, she still experi enced days where it was tough to get out of bed. "Everybody has a different experience. The type of chemo I had, four treatments of one kind and four treatments of another, you have very dif ferent side effects from each of those," said Crowe. "The last ones give you really terrible body aches, like you've got the worst flu. Everything hurts." What "really surprised" the Halton resident was the impact of chemo on the heart, so simple tasks such as climbing stairs caused a shortness of breath, Crowe explained. "They stressed with me, at the beginning, to exercise as much as I could, even to get out for "Connected to your Community" Cancer doesn't define you - it re-defines you: Crowe Halton Regional Police Deputy Chief Carol Crowe is thankful for the support of family, friends and her extended police family and friends as she battles breast cancer on her own terms. a walk during the day because of the impact it has on your heart. Also, it can cause blood clots," said Crowe. With the treatments now behind her, the Halton police Deputy Chief is "feeling pretty good now," she said. Crowe was warned, however, the disease can be very arduous to manage. "It' s supposed to be the toughest one to sort of bounce back from. I'm actually feeling pretty good today (Jan. 4). I had a bit of a rough week end with pain, but it is what it is. I try to rest when I can. I try to move when I can," said Crowe. The mother of two, Kaitlin and Andrew; 20, has endured more than just her own diagnosis in recent months. In January 2016, Crowe lost one of her sisters, Linda Barnett, to colon cancer. Just months later, she found she didn' t know how she was going to tell her family about her own diagnosis. "That was probably the hardest part of all this. We had just sort of come to terms with losing |Nikki Wesley/Metroland f0 ,C > °*e % \c u e o Linda. That' s when I started searching for help. I didn' t know how I was going to tell them," said Crowe, through tears. "The hardest part with (Linda) was not having answers when w e had so many questions." Just two months before her sister passed away, Crowe' s mother died. "It hasn' t been easy, but thankfully, I've got lots to support me. It' s been great having the kids home. Andrew has been a huge sup port," said Crowe. "Kaitlin was here to take me to my last treat ment, so that was good." Last year, approximately 750 pink bracelets, which nearly sold out, were created for Crowe as part of a Wellspring fundraiser. A trainer at the Ontario Police College (OPC) sold the custom-made bracelets to the enure re cruitment class. At the end of an OPC graduating ceremony, which Crowe attended, the deputy police chief was mentioned in a prepared remark. This was followed by a standing salute from the class, with everyone wearing the bracelets that say, "Your battle is my battle. Carol Crowe." "As much as I don' t want to be defined by the disease I have, it changes you. I'll still be search ing for that new identity when I walk through the doors at police headquarters. I don' t know how much it' s changed me at this point in time," said Crowe. "In some ways, I feel like I owe it to people to get back to doing the job that I've loved for 27 years." Beaver. Volume 55 | Number 1 LIE > m etrolandm edia Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. 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