Cancer's journey: online resource launches for Inuit

At one point the only food Sophie Keelan could eat was seaweed and Arctic char mailed south by a friend in Nunavik. Everything else tasted like iron.

The 67-year-old breast cancer survivor from Kangiqsualujjuaq, Que., — a tiny hamlet in the northeast of the province near the border with Labrador — is sharing her story in the hopes of educating other Inuit women about her journey with the disease.

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Keelan is part of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada. For the past three years the non-profit has been compiling resources to educate Inuit about cancer, one of the leading causes of death within the community.

Pauktuutit recently launched a website Inuusinni Aqqusaaqtara – My Journey combining a glossary of Inuktitut terminology, videos profiling cancer survivors and information on where to access health care and support.

"For a long time 'cancer' in Inuktitut was 'aaqiktaujunnangittuq' which means 'it can't be cured,'" said Rebecca Kudloo, president of Pauktuutit.  

"We wanted to provide more awareness so patients can have more ownership on their healing."

Keelan's healing

After coming home one evening from work in 2007, Keelan noticed a sharp pain in her breast.

In the fall of that year, Keelan found herself in a Montreal doctor's office where she received her diagnosis. 

"It was as if I was floating on the floor and not knowing exactly what I was doing," she said.

"I finally found the phone and gave the news to my husband that I had breast cancer. I called him at home in the North and only then I was able to cry."

For the next several years she would undergo chemotherapy and IV treatment, nearly dying from a reaction to the drugs.

"I was so far away from home," Keelan said. "My family was up North and my husband was up North. I had to deal with staying by myself for so long."

Keelan now goes south for yearly mammograms. She travels to other Inuit communities with Pauktuutit and encourages women to self-check once a month for breast cancer.