Saskatoon support group creates community for young women facing cancer
Surviv(her) was started as younger patients wanted to find people their age going through treatments
Kim Swiatecki called it blood work row — the line of people she sat with in the waiting room while she was receiving cancer treatment.
Swiatecki, who was 28 years old and pregnant when she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, noticed something about the people there.
"[I was] sitting in those waiting rooms and being about the youngest one by 20 or 30 years."
That was one of the reasons Swiatecki became involved in the Saskatoon support group Surviv(her).
Amy Smith-Morris founded the group in 2017, the year after she was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 29. While she was able to connect with a support system online, she too noticed that there weren't many people her age going through treatments.
"They're not worried about paying their mortgages because they're paid off or they're not worried about are they going to be able to have children or raising young children," Smith-Morris said.
"I felt like this isn't my community because they don't understand my struggles."
Smith-Morris said that when she did see someone her own age during a treatment session, she "leeched onto her."
"I was like, wait, I've got questions for you, because she was a few months ahead of me."
Surviv(her) meets roughly once a month for an event they call Chai and Chat. They come together at a coffee shop or restaurant where they can share their experiences together.
Smith-Morris said the simple act of getting together is helpful, as going through cancer on your own can leave a person feeling isolated.
Swiatecki said she looked to the ladies on blood work row for advice and answers as she went through her treatments.
Now with Surviv(her), Swiatecki said members can not only find those answers in each other, they can find friends.
"It's become more than just checking in on the cancer side of things but just connecting on the life side of things, too; knowing that there's more to our world than just cancer and that we're more than just our cancer diagnosis."
The group also makes sure to have resources available on its website. It's currently raising funds for its first retreat, which will take place in Saskatoon in March.