Doreen decided to lend Andrew and his wife, Andrea, her cottage so they could escape the sterile hospital walls and spend some quiet time alone together in a beautiful and peaceful environment. Andrew and Andrea spent that weekend connecting as a couple while soaking up the great outdoors. The weekend worked out so well. Doreen thought to herself, how could we do this? How could something like this work for others? How could it help, really help, even more patients and families escape their thoughts of cancer? Doreen started thinking out loud and out of the box. It was at this [...]

The day before Valentine’s Day, while pushing around the craft cart at the hospital, Doreen saw a young man, Andrew, with a bald head. She invited him to make a valentine craft while waiting for his treatment. When asking who he was making it for, he responded “my bride.” After months passed, Doreen got to know Andrew as he underwent chemotherapy. One day, as Doreen sat on her deck at her cottage, she could not stop thinking about him. It was clear that he wasn’t doing so well. Doreen thought of his battle and about all the time he had to [...]

Doreen began volunteering at the Cedars CanSupport Program at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.  Thanks to the encouragement of its coordinator, Maryse Carignan, and assistant, Monique Tremblay, Doreen created a fun craft program for oncology patients. You could find her bouncing down the halls donned in brightly decorated, crazy hats and pushing a craft cart around the oncology floors. Patients and medical teams loved them, as they were a great way to reach out to patients.

“I was declared cured. Some call it a miracle. Still, I felt a bit lost. Overcoming cancer should have set me free. But somehow, it didn’t. from my safe place as a survivor, I looked back on my experience with one huge question on my mind: why was I spared and for what purpose? Did I have a purpose at all? Some may find it odd that this existential question came two years after it had all begun. Why had I been so lucky to make it past this cancer when so many others had not? Life until then had been [...]

Doreen Edward, Founder of VOBOC, was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer. I was an active woman with a thriving career. I was graced with a loving husband and two wonderful young girls. But frankly, I didn’t expect to beat this disease. While my faith was of great comfort, I just praised that I would live long enough to spend more time with my children, Robyn and Jen, to help prepare them for the future.