Our beautiful friend and sister, Marie Doris, is valiantly battling cancer and will be undergoing intensive therapy. As you can imagine, it will not only be physically and emotionally challenging but also financially draining. Her massage business is her only source of revenue, meaning being unable to work for the coming months she will have no income coming in. That will not stop the monthly bills from coming in as well as many other expenses.

We are reaching out to her family, to all the brothers and sisters, to her friends and to those who would like to donate, to rally support and help ease the financial burden of monthly bills, travel or treatments, and any other expenses that may come up.

Marie has always been a beacon of strength and positivity, touching the lives of many with her kindness and generosity. Always there for each of us when needed. Now, it’s our turn to give back and show our love and support. Every donation, no matter how small, will make a significant difference for Marie.

We ask that you unite with Marie by contributing to our fundraiser. Together, we can help her focus on what truly matters – healing and recovery.

Thank you so much for your generosity and support.

From Marie - Something about me:

I am a self-employed Registered Massage Therapist, I started my career and training 25 years ago when I was living in Whitemud Creek, Alberta. I moved to Girouxville in the early 2000’s where I continued doing massage therapy as well as driving a school bus to supplement my income and provide health coverage. Shortly after I ended my bus driving employment, in August of 2019 I moved to Grimshaw where I would have enough clientele to focus on my career as an RMT. It was a struggle to promote my business to make it viable as not long after moving, Covid hit, creating a setback for months. Too, once isolation was over, it took a long time for people to feel comfortable with massage therapy due to close contact.

In the last few years my business has grown into what I had hoped it would be, having a wonderful clientele which allowed me to gain some financial stability and in my spare time, enabling me to enjoy close friends.

In July this year some back pain sent me for medical imaging which revealed a growth in my bladder, consistent with a malignant tumor. A biopsy in August was not successful in identifying the type of Cancer I was dealing with. After the removal of the tumor at the beginning of September, it was discovered to be a very rare aggressive Cancer called Sarcomatoid Urothelial Carcinoma.

There are not a lot of conventional treatments to really stop this type of cancer, except the removal of the bladder and organs that are in direct contact with the bladder, which includes a full hysterectomy. This is a massive surgery which will require a minimum of 3 months of recovery or more. At this point I am still waiting for a PET scan in Edmonton which will determine if the surgery clears the cancer or if it has spread outside the bladder.

Since my business has only really become financially stable in about the last year, I have not had the luxury of building a savings to get me through this recovery period. There is very little help from our government that would allow me peace of mind, a roof over my head, all my bills paid and the ability to travel for treatment. What little I have is draining my savings as it is being used to hit this cancer with everything I can from supplements to oils.

This is a difficult situation as I find it hard to reach out to ask for help as, for those who know me, know how fiercely independent I am in taking on any challenge, how resilient and strong I usually am, but this time, I do need to reach out and I thank you for listening and for your generosity and support.

Love Marie