Weeks after a shocking diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer, Darlene Tiveron-Parks was about to undergo surgery at Trillium Health Partners (THP). “As they were about to put me to sleep, I had a split second of terror,” she recalls. “‘What if I don’t wake up, never see my daughter?’ My surgeon, Dr. Pulman, saw the terror in my eyes, took my hand and said ‘I’ve got you.’ That gesture speaks so much about the doctors and staff at Trillium. I will always remember that moment of kindness when I needed it most.”
The cancer was already advanced and widespread when Darlene was diagnosed on October 25, 2019 and gynaecologic oncologist Dr. Katherine Pulman had recommended surgery to remove her ovaries because they were cancerous. After the procedure, Darlene was quickly put under the care of oncologist Dr. Mala Bahl, who specializes in Darlene’s form of cancer, and she began treatment in December 2019. “I was a heck of a mess and it was all hands on deck very quickly. I am truly thankful for the care I have received and continue to receive at Trillium. My care team is extraordinary – I am now three years into my cancer journey and thriving because of them.”
Darlene can’t say enough about the quality of care and commitment she has received at THP during her cancer treatment, reaffirming her family’s longstanding association and support for the hospital. Darlene and her brother, Joe, were both born there, as was her daughter, Madison. Tragically, Joe developed cancer as a young man and was treated at THP before passing away at the age of 29 in 1998.
To honour Joe’s memory, parents Paul and Lynn Tiveron created a fund in their son’s name to support cancer care at the hospital. Darlene shares that “The endowment is a way to carry on Joe’s legacy and fulfill his wishes of helping others with cancer. It gives us tremendous pride to see the good being done in his name, including through the Compassionate Care Fund that has a direct impact on the lives of cancer patients. Joe would be so proud.”
Her parents’ example of giving has inspired Darlene to make gifts of her own, recognizing a number of staff through THP Foundation’s Honour a Health Care Champion program. “I have such respect and admiration for people who choose a career that helps others. Oncologist Dr. Bahl, social worker Elisa Rink, and family medicine Dr. Pei Pei Zheng changed my life. I was at my lowest and their compassion, brilliance and support got me to where I am now. I will be eternally grateful for all they have done.”
Darlene also organized one of the top teams to fundraise for THP Foundation’s first Hazel McCallion Walk for Health in 2021, raising over $10,000. Darlene says her team plans to participate in the event every year.
She continues to take a form of oral chemotherapy daily and gives herself bone injections once a month at home, going into the hospital every three months to have her blood checked. Her cancer is stable which, for Darlene, is a victory. “It gives me the quality of life I need to just enjoy myself.”
“While this may sound odd, I am actually grateful for my cancer – I live my life so differently now and appreciate everything life brings my way. I am not dying of cancer, I am living with cancer and I appreciate the life I have. I took a vacation with my daughter last summer that was epic for both of us. If I hadn’t been diagnosed I probably wouldn’t have taken that trip and just continued to work. I spent New Year’s and my birthday this year in Jamaica with my fiancé, living life to its fullest.”
For Darlene, if fundraising and telling the story of how her family has been impacted by cancer can help anyone in any way, she is thankful for the opportunity to pay it forward. “For all THP has done for me, it’s the least I can do.”
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