A Central Alberta mom and her daughter are gearing up to take part in this year’s One Walk to Conquer Cancer 25 km walk event next month in Calgary.
Megan Mottus of Sylvan Lake and her daughter Alex, 9, will be taking part in the walk on June 24th which Megan describes as a kind of victory – by then, Alex will have nearly completed her treatments for osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) which she was originally diagnosed with last October.
Funds raised at the event will support the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
“She’s doing well now, so we are in a good place,” said Megan of Alex. “Back in October is when I ended up taking her to emergency room in Red Deer, because she had been complaining about her knee for a couple of weeks,” she explained, adding that she also had developed a huge bump under her knee cap.
During that hospital visit, Alex received x-rays and soon after she was admitted to the Children’s Hospital in Calgary after doctors confirmed the diagnosis.
“It was so fast,” recalled Megan. “By November 2nd, we had the biopsy done and they confirmed that it was osteogenic sarcoma. It was the same kind of cancer that Terry Fox had,” she said. “We caught it really early, so that was really good news – it didn’t spread anywhere,” she added.
Chemotherapy treatments followed, and have continued till now. She also underwent rotationplasty surgery in early February of this year. But by the time of the One Walk to Conquer Cancer, Alex will be finished her treatment and made the adjustment to her prosthetic.
For the walk, folks are encouraged to support Megan and Alex and their group – ‘1 Team 2 Team Yellow Fish Gold Fish’ – which is the titles of the first book that Alex was able to read as a young child. As Megan pointed out, yellow is the colour of the cancer ribbon that stands for bone cancer, and gold is the universal ribbon colour for children’s cancer.
Donations can be made via the web site at www.onewalk.ca. “She’s a happy girl, and she’s full of empathy for other people,” said Megan.
Meanwhile, this weekend another fundraiser is set to run at the Thoughtbox in Sylvan Lake (5006 – 50th St).
On May 13th-14th from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. they are doing a ‘walk in’ only $50 cancer ribbon tattoo-a-thon. “Ryan Sole and Andrew Rogers have been amazingly supportive and have donated their tattoo shop and their time for two days to help with this fundraiser.
“The event will be on a first-come, first-served basis and all proceeds from this event will be going towards children’s cancer research,” reads a release. “There will be two or three different designs to choose from.”
There will also be a silent auction at the same time, and a barbecue runs both days as well.
“My family has been amazingly supportive,” said Megan of how the family has come through such a challenging season. “Everybody has been really great.
“I’m looking so forward to crossing the finish line with her.”
Again, to donate to the team or for more information, check out www.onewalk.ca and look up ‘1 Team 2 Team Yellow Fish Gold Fish’.
