Healing Doesn’t Happen Without You
Trenna was only 46 when she felt the lump.
Probably nothing, she hoped. But her doctor immediately sent her for an ultrasound and mammogram. Within 90 minutes, the phone rang.
Not one, but two suspicious lumps.
In that moment, her world shifted.
Every day in Saskatchewan, 17 people receive a call just like that – a call that changes everything.
When that moment comes, patients need to know the very best care and equipment are already there waiting for them. You can help.
Your donation will be matched by a generous friend of the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan. This means that when you support enhanced equipment for cancer patients, your gift will have twice the impact!
When Trenna went to the hospital for a biopsy, a surgeon came to speak with her about her options – lumpectomy or mastectomy. “I just wanted it out of my body,” Trenna says.
Her mastectomy was scheduled for four weeks later. In preparation for surgery, a CT scan revealed the unthinkable. In just three months, the two lumps had multiplied into six.
The cancer was developing fast.
Trenna received so much support during five months of chemotherapy.
Trenna’s mastectomy was successful and she went home the next day – but treatment was only beginning.
For five long months, Trenna made the drive from Outlook to Saskatoon for chemotherapy. Friends, family and neighbours took turns behind the wheel. Her daughters, away at university in Regina and Red Deer, waited for updates between classes.
Then came five weeks of daily radiation.
Every single day, Trenna lay perfectly still while powerful beams targeted what cancer cells might remain. Radiation is lifesaving – but it demands absolute precision. Even a shift of a few millimetres can put healthy organs at risk or treatment misses its mark.
Approximately 39,000 radiation therapy treatments are provided every year in Saskatchewan. Imagine the courage it takes to lie there, day after day, trusting the equipment. Equipment funded by donors like you.
Radiation demands precision made possible with equipment funded by you.
When you give, you are there in that treatment room. Will you donate today to help deliver hope with accuracy and care?
Thanks to an anonymous friend of the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan, your donation will be DOUBLED! Make your gift today and it will be matched up to $50,000.
After treatment, the words “You have cancer” echoed in Trenna’s mind. She chose to remove her healthy breast, too. She could not bear the thought of hearing those words again.
And when the appointments finally ended, the fear did not. Anxiety crept in. Healing, she learned, isn’t just physical. Trenna joined the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency’s Transitions Program, where she met with a counsellor who helped her move forward.
“The Agency staff are all angels,” Trenna says. “The nurses, the administrators, the people who keep the facilities sterile and welcoming – their work is sacred. They saved my life.”
Trenna, with her care team at the Saskatoon Cancer Centre, on her last day of treatment.
Today, Trenna is cancer-free.
She has watched her daughter walk down the aisle. She has held her first grandchild. She has returned to curling – and in March 2025, her team won provincials and brought home silver at the
Senior Women’s Nationals.
These moments are not guaranteed. They are gifts.
And they are possible because donors like you ensure patients have the equipment and care they need. Healing doesn’t happen without you.
Please give generously today. Someone like Trenna is counting on you.
Trenna, far right, with her curling team
Approximately 39,000 radiation therapy treatments are provided every year in Saskatchewan. Imagine the courage it takes to lie there, day after day, trusting the equipment. Equipment funded by donors like you. Learn more about the importance of patient equipment for radiation therapy.