Time for Trent

On Jan. 21, my brother, Trent Blaus, and his family were rocked by news nobody wants: Trent has advanced cancer, not curable, already spreading. A CT scan a day earlier caught the tell-tale mass in his esophagus and follow-up testing confirmed its malignancy and movement.

The news came out of the blue. As Trent cheekily told one of the hospital staff, “I’ve never had any health issues until I came to the hospital!” He, and we, knew something wasn’t quite right – he’d been having increasing difficulty eating and became tired more quickly and with less exertion. That’s why he was getting the scan in the first place.

Still, nobody anticipated this result. Least of all Trent.

If you know him, you’ll know how fun and full of life he is. How much he gives to everyone around him: hosting family gatherings, coaching minor sports long after his own sons aged out, boosting fellow small business owners. And you’ll know, too, what a hard worker he is.

Trent runs his own business – Diamond Indoor Environmental Solutions. He started it shortly after the pandemic hit Saskatchewan. What a time to start a business! But Trent made it happen. His reputation and work ethic helped him build a steady list of clients across southern Saskatchewan and even into Alberta.

The company is built on his expertise and know-how, though, so it grinds to a halt pretty quickly when he’s not able to work. Trent worked right up until the day before his diagnosis, and the boys are hoping to learn the ins and outs of the business their Dad built, so they can take over operations. He’s also pretty determined to get back to it himself, by the way!

For now, though, at least in the immediate term, there’s going to be a pretty drastic hit to the family’s income. They could use some help – your help.

I’m setting this up on their behalf, hoping to cover their living expenses for the next several months so that they can be together as a family. I want to give him the gift of time, precious time, free from worries. Time to laugh and talk and just be with the people he loves. Time to pass along the tricks of the trade to his sons. To spoil his granddaughter. Time to make memories that need to last a lifetime.

There’s a lot we don’t know yet and we’re waiting, more and less patiently, for answers. We’ll do our best to update you as the next steps become clearer. For now, Trent is in the hospital in Regina. He’s in a shared room, and visitors are limited, so if you’re planning to come, please check with Patti ahead of time.

Thanks for your support – and thanks for sharing this so that others can help, too. Even if you can’t donate now, sharing it helps more than you know. It’s definitely going to take a village.

~ Dawn