Untitled Document

This is an article that Brad's cousin Alana wrote for a special Women's Edition of THE UBYSSEY a Univerity of British Columbia Newspaper.

the ubyssey WOMEN'S ISSUE Friday March 3, 2000 volume 81 issue 39

SARA'S STORY

by Alana McFarlane

Sara Taylor is a young, articulate woman. At home in her Fairview Slopes condo with husband Brad, the 26 year-old tells me about her struggle living with a deadly cancer. The glow of the fireplace is tranquilising and Sara settles into her comfy chair. She begins to recount the past few years of her life starting with the diagnosis. It is difficult listening to her describe the intimate details. Not because she is a stranger, but because she is family.

On October 10, 1997 Sara was diagnosed with Desmoplastic Small Round Blue Cell Tumour (DSRCT), a rare form of cancer usually appearing in the abdominal area. Only a handful of cases are recorded in North America. The first stage of treatment was chemotherapy followed by stem cell replacement. The exhausting series of medical procedures lasting six months was successful, eradicating any visible signs of the cancer. Sara's prognosis was encouraging.

A year after the diagnosis, to the day, Sara married my cousin, Brad Gibson, a kind-hearted, charismatic actor raised in Salmon Arm, BC. He met her in Barkerville, the historic 1870s gold rush town where her parents own the theatre. It was a fairy tale wedding in an old mansion-turned-community-centre by Jericho Beach. Heaps of family and friends came together to celebrate that day.

April the following year, a CT scan revealed irregularities. The cancer was back. Sara's doctors said she could not survive the rigorous chemotherapy program from before.

We are interrupted by the meowings of her cat, Paxil, named after an anti-depressant drug Sara was taking before the cancer appeared. Sara's battle with her health began long before the cancer. Seven years ago Sara found out she had vulvar vestibulitis, a gynecological disease affecting approximately one in 100 women. The skin tissue of the vulva is constantly inflamed, making intercourse difficult and often painful. "Women shouldn't feel bad about themselves [for having it]," says Sara. "Most women are born with it." At 19, Sara was still exploring her sexuality. Curing this disease and moving on was the most important thing in her life--until she discovered the lump in her stomach.

"Why does this happen? Why do people get so much on their plates?" Sara asks. "Why do I have so much on my plate?"

Shel Piercy, filmmaker and producer of the Variety Club Telethon, documented Sara's story in a film airing on Global TV in March. The two met when Sara hosted and sang at the telethon in 1998. Originally, Sara volunteered to take pledges over the telephone. But after talking with Piercy, she was invited to host a segment of the show.

When asked why she talks about her experience with cancer, Sara admits she sometimes wonders that herself. "Talking about it gives me something to do," she says. "When you find out that someone else has gone through it, it's a little less scary."

Pain management is now the approach to treatment through Sara's naturopath, Dr. Chan, and the BC Cancer Agency. The goal is not so much a cure, but to improve her quality of life living with cancer. The methadone, a pain-relieving medication, makes her groggy. She apologises but is still eager to talk. I hardly ask questions except to fill the gaps when she breaks down. Part of me wants to cry along with her but I feel I have no right. I don't know what her struggle is like. All I can do is just listen and balance my feelings of empathy with the sobriety I imagine a journalist should have.

"It's tiring fighting everyday," she says. "The focus is so much on if I die, I have failed in some way,' but it's not because you can't change what's going to happen."

Brad is silent while Sara speaks. He sits calmly in front of the fire, head down. He has heard all this before. When Sara pauses, he stretches his arm out to touch her slender leg.

I could never erase an early memory of Brad from one summer decades ago. Dressed up in my aunt's brassire, we played badminton-racquet guitars. Now I can't help seeing him in plate armour.

"What does someone like myself do for however much time you have left?" she asks. "What do I do so I still have a reason to get up in the morning and do more than just feed myself because I have to be alive today?" There is nothing else traditional medicine can do for Sara as far as getting rid of the cancer, which has recently spread to her liver.

"That's all new and I feel like I'm just tackling that now."

When I think about Brad and Sara, I feel a cold steel clamp gripping my heart. How do people endure the anguish, fear and depression?

Sara's life and her documented story provide the essential answers: a strength of spirit supported by an overwhelming and unconditional love. (What is the one thing Sara really wants to see before she dies? "I just want to see all the Star Wars movies." (I guess a good sense of humour helps).

"The body must have something inside that allows you to survive something like this," says Sara. "It won't let you down--your spirit, your family, your friends--something will come through so you can survive something which seems like an unsurvivable thing."

Global TV will be airing Sara's Story on March 25th this year. [2000]