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LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR5TuesdayJune182013FortSmithHayRiverWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdayForecastForecastNorms19Cand8CNorms21Cand9C13Low11Low23High24High15Low18High9Low10Low9Low26High28High11Low23High10Low28High30HighYellowknifeInuvikWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdayNorms19Cand8CNorms19Cand10C16Low12Low17Low10Low16Low14Low25High27High17Low21High11Low28High24High30High18High29HighEditorIamwritingaletterinstrongsupportofthePaddle-festorganizationhereinFortSmith.NowImustprefacethisbyindicatingIamnotapaddlernorhaveItakenpartinanyactivitieswiththisor-ganizationduetophysicalobstaclesthatpreventme.HoweverifIwashealthyenoughtogetonthisriverfortheirannualPaddlefestwhichIbelieverunsfromJuly28Aug.5thisyearIwouldinaheartbeatasourriverisoneofthecrownjewelattractionsforbringingtouriststotownandPaddlefestisagreatandgrowingyearlyevent.PeoplecomefromallovertheworldtokayaktheSlaveRiverandlastyearPaddlefesthad226registeredpaddlerswith52paddlersbeingfromoutoftown.TheycomefromplaceslikeGermanyColoradoAustraliaandbeyond.NowthedepartmentofITIchangedtheirprioritiesandcutPaddlefestfundingbynearly50percentre-sultinginabigholeofap-proximately10000.Pad-dlefestspendsover11000inpublicitypromotingFortSmithandtheNWTandisfeaturedinvariousnewmagazinesthisyear.TheTownusestheirimagestopromoteitselfandPaddle-festhasbeensupportiveofthisSothePaddlefestpeo-plewillbegoingtotowncouncilJune18toaskfor5000tohelpsupportthiswonderfulevent.Iwoulden-couragepeopletocomeouttothecouncilmeetingtosupportthisrequest.IdonotunderstandtherationaleofITIcuttingtheirfundingsoseverelyandIwouldhopeourtowncouncilcanseethat5000toPaddlefestisaverygoodinvestment.Inadditiontothe226reg-isteredpaddlerslastyear52beingfromoutoftownandtheybroughtfriendswhowatchedinsomecasestherewerealso300spectatorsinpoorweather.ImagineiftheweatherwasgoodNowifyoufactorinjustthe52out-of-townpaddlersspending100adayoversevendayswellletssayeightdaysastheyneedtogetherebeforeeverythingstartsthenthatis41600thatjusttheout-of-town52paddlersspendnevermindallthepeoplespendingmoneyongasfoodforPaddlefestBBQsetc.SotothetownofFortSmithcouncilIaskisnt5000anexcellentinvestmentonaconservativereturnofalmost42000andagreateventandthespreadingofthewordaboutPaddlefesttothefourcornersoftheworldtootherpeoplewhenourvisitorsgobackhometoraveaboutthiscrownjeweleventNorthof60IknowIwouldvoteyesinaheartbeat.Ihopetowncouncildoestoo.GrantPaziukFortSmithNorthernJournal2013JoinusonlineLikeNorthernJournalonFacebookandgettheweeklynewsdeliveredtoyourfeedFACEBOOKFEEDBACKDozensgatheredonSaturdaytocelebratetheSlaveRiverandmarktwoyearsofsuccessfulpartnershipsbetweenresearchersandcommunitymembersinmonitoringthehealthoftheSlaveRiveranddeltaattheNorthernLifeMuseuminFortSmith.SlaveRiverDaycelebrateswatershedandongoingpartnershipsJamesChristieAndallthewhiletheyknewabigspillwashappening.IwonderiftheirsmileswereforcedTownshouldsupportPaddlefestThecaregivertoacancerpatientDr.AndreCorriveauItisraretofindacancerpatientwithoutacaregiver.Infactforeverycancerpatienttherearemultiplecaregivers.Onecouldarguetherearemorepeoplecar-ingforcancerpatientsthantherearecancerpatients.Whoarethesecare-giversTheyarespouseschildrengrandchildrenbrotherssisterscousinsauntsunclesniecesneph-ewsotherfamilymembersfriendsco-workersneigh-boursandacquaintancesofthepatient.Doctorsnursessocialworkersandtherapiststooarecaregiv-ers.DoyouknowanyonewhoislivingwithcancerWhichoftheabovecare-giverareyouIntheNorthcaregiv-ersplayanevengreaterrolewheretravelgeo-graphicandsocialisola-tionaremajorstressorsforcancerpatientsreceivingtreatmentoutsideoftheirhomecommunityorattheCrossCancerInstitute.Thisstressisevenfurthermag-nifiedforpatientslivinginsmallercommunitieswherecancerpatientsareawayfromtheirfamilyandfriendsforalongpe-riodoftime.Manycancerpatientsreceivecareawayfromhomeorathomewiththesupportfromtheircaregivers.Somecaregiverschoosetheirrolesothershavenochoice.Thosewholivewiththecancerpatientorthosewhofeelparticularlyclosetothepatienthavenochoicetotakeonarolethatcanconsumetheirlifepush-ingallothermattersaside.Thosewhoarefriendsfam-ilymembersorco-workerswhodonotlivewiththepatientchoosetheirrole.Somemaychoosetovisitregularlyothersmightchoosetosendane-mailorFacebookmessageormakeaphonecall.Somemaychoosetostayaway.Cancerisalonelyanddifficultjourney.Insmallermoreremotecom-munitiesthereisanevengreaterneedforsupportforcancerpatientsandtheircaregivers.Insomecasescancerisbelievedtobecon-tagiousortaboofurtherisolatingthecancerpatientmakinganalreadydiffi-cultjourneyevenharder.Mythslikethisneedtobedispelledinorderforcan-cerpatientsandtheircare-giversreceivethesupporttheyneed.Manycancerpatientstalkaboutahowlackofknowledgeaboutcanceraswellasfearandappre-hensioncreateabarriertogettingthehelpandsup-porttheyneedwhetheritisincommunitiestheyliveinornavigatingthecancersystem.Theroleofthecaregiver-thepersonwhocaresforsomeonelivingwithcancer-cannotbeadequatelyex-ploredinonearticle.Care-giversplayanimportantroleforthecancerpatientsthroughoutthejourney.Inthemeantimeifyouarenotcancerpatientyour-selftakeamomentrightnowandthinkofthosepeopleinyourlifeclosesttoyou.Closeyoureyesandseetheirfaces.Nowimagineyoubecomeseriouslyillwithadiseaselikecancer.Isityourexpec-tationthatthesepeoplethepeopleclosesttoyouwillbethereforyouwhenyouneedthemmostAlmosteverycancerpatientwilltellyoutheyweresurprisedtodiscoversomepeoplewhotheythoughtwouldbethereforthemthroughthickandthinevaporatedfromtheirlivesastheydealtwithallthatcancerthrowsatthemwhilesomeotherpeoplewhotheyhardlykneworwhotheyfeltnotparticularlyclosetoactu-allysteppedupandplayedameaningfulroleintheircomplexcancerjourney.Theremanypeoplewhodonotknowwhattosayordotobethereforsomeonewhoislivingwithcancer.Wewillsharestoriesofthosecaregiverswhooutofsheerlovepouredtheirenergytheirtimetheircompassionandsetasidethebetterpartoftheirownlivestocareforatreasuredonewithcancer.IfyoudonotknowsomeonelikethatwewillintroduceyoutosomeofthemandyouwillthenbeabletosayIknowthestoryofaheroandIwouldliketoshareitwithyou.Ifyouwouldliketotellusofsomebodyyouknowwewouldliketohearyourstory.Pleasee-mailusatcaringforsomeonewith-cancergmail.comDr.AndreCorriveauChiefPublicHealthOfficerfortheNWTFormoreinformationonsupportingcancerpatientsvisitwww.virtualhospice.cawww.StElizabeth.cawww.cancerview.ca