For the past eight years, Jennifer Radjenovich has participated in the Multiple Myeloma March in LaSalle alongside her father. She'll march this year without him.
Guido Vettorello passed away last July, eight years after his diagnosis.
Radjenovich misses him but is grateful for the past eight years, especially since doctors only gave Vettorello just over three years to live with multiple myeloma.
She credits treatments funded by marches like this weekend's at the Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex.
"His diagnosis was a shock to all of us," said Radjenovich, recalling how her father walked daily and ate a Mediterranean diet. "We used to joke that he was healthy before it was trendy."
Vettorello had a respiratory infection in 2015 that he couldn't shake. At first, his doctor thought he was anaemic and prescribed B12 shots. That didn't help. Next came the bone marrow biopsy.
"Due to his age, he wasn't eligible for a stem cell transplant, which is often the first line of treatment, "We were really thankful for Myeloma Canada because we could research the drug protocols that he was able to try. We got eight extra years with our Dad."
Funds raised through the march help support Myeloma Canada, founded by two pharmacists with the disease. Patients can learn more about their options, find others with multiple myeloma, and join a peer support program through the organization. It hopes to raise $750,000 across the country this year.
For Radjenovich, the September event offers an opportunity to meet others facing the same challenge, fighting a disease that 11 Canadians a day find out they have but remains relatively unknown.
"I think the reality is that it's a difficult diagnosis. There's not one simple blood test," opined Radjenovich. "It's often confused with the skin cancer melanoma."
Vettorello's philosophy helped sustain him. His favourite saying was, "Life is good." The family wore t-shirts each year that he designed.
"You don't often hear someone say they look forward to going to the cancer clinic," said Radjenovich. "Week after week, he'd say, 'When I get up and I know it's my day to go to the cancer clinic, I look forward to it because I know there's still hope."
The family will wear new t-shirts this year displaying the new motto, "Life is still good."
Registration for Sunday's march is at 9 a.m.
