{"id":41688,"date":"2019-01-16T14:57:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T19:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/?p=41688"},"modified":"2020-09-23T15:43:51","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T19:43:51","slug":"the-ottawa-hospital-and-ottawa-senators-team-up-to-lift-spirits-of-inuit-cancer-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/healthy-tomorrows\/the-ottawa-hospital-and-ottawa-senators-team-up-to-lift-spirits-of-inuit-cancer-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ottawa Hospital and Ottawa Senators team up to lift spirits of Inuit cancer patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ceporah Evic (red jacket) and Vanessa Evic (purple jacket) met Senators player Mark Borowiecki and his wife, Tara Borowiecki, before an Ottawa Senators game.<\/em><\/p>\n

A cancer diagnosis is enough to shake anyone\u2019s world. Now imagine the added stress of travelling across the country to receive treatment, leaving your family, friends, and community behind. This is what hundreds of Inuit who live in northern communities face every day. But a special relationship between The Ottawa Hospital and the Ottawa Senators is helping to make this daunting time a little more bearable.<\/p>\n

The stress of being away from home can have drastic effects on a patient\u2019s experience and mental wellness. That\u2019s where Carolyn Roberts, Aboriginal Patient Nurse Navigator for the Aboriginal Cancer Program, comes in.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause these patients are staying so far away from home, their community and their family, Ottawa becomes this scary place that you only go to for cancer treatment,\u201d said Roberts. \u201cWe want to give them experiences outside of the hospital, help to take their mind off why they\u2019re here, and show them that there is more to Ottawa than cancer treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of Roberts\u2019 job is to take patients who have come here from Nunavut out of the hospital for a short time. In the past, she has taken patients to museums, movies or Parliament Hill. Then Roberts had a chance encounter with Bill Ellam from the Ottawa Senators and Canadian Tire Centre.<\/p>\n

\"Vanessa

Camera ready: Vanessa Evic (left) Ceporah Evic (middle), and Carolyn Roberts (right) got a behind-the-scenes look at a Sens game, including a tour of the broadcast booth.<\/p><\/div>\n

That chance encounter happened In June 2016 when Roberts was working with The Evic family. Mom Ceporah Evic and eldest daughter Deborah Evic went to Kanata to visit the Canadian Tire Centre (CTC), where the Ottawa Senators hockey team play. Deborah, a hockey fan, was receiving treatment at The Ottawa Hospital for glioblastoma, a form of cancer.<\/p>\n

While looking for someone to take them on a tour, Roberts found Bill, who manages event-day operations for the CTC. When Bill found out what Roberts was doing, he wanted to make Ceporah and Deborah\u2019s experience at the CTC unforgettable. He took them on to the ice and gave them an in-depth, behind-the-scenes tour of the arena.<\/p>\n

That day, Roberts made a connection that would impact her and many of her future patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment I met Ceporah and Deborah, I wanted to do whatever I could to help others in their position,\u201d said Bill. \u201cI feel fortunate to have the job that I have. If I can help brighten someone\u2019s day, especially when they are going through a tough time, it makes my job all the better. The people I\u2019ve met through working with Carolyn have changed my life. This is the least I could do to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Evic family has spent a lot of time at The Ottawa Hospital in recent years. Debora\u2019s two sisters, Julie and Samantha Evic tragically passed away from glioblastoma. Now Debra was diagnosed with the same form of cancer. Their youngest sister, Vanessa, who has the gene that makes her susceptible to glioblastoma, comes to Ottawa every six months for tests to determine whether she has cancer.<\/p>\n

Roberts and Ceporah recently took Vanessa to her first game and, true to form, Bill made sure the two of them had the experience of a lifetime. As Vanessa stood at ice-level during the warm-up and watched as pucks bounced off the glass so loudly that they caused most people to jump, it was hard not to notice the awe in her expression. Watch the CTV story about Vanessa\u2019s visit with the Sens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From sitting in the TSN<\/a> broadcast booth to meeting Sens player Mark Borowiecki and his wife, Tara Borowiecki, after the game, it was an unforgettable night for both Vanessa and her mother. While the two of them have a difficult journey ahead, Roberts and Bill were happy to give them a night where they didn\u2019t need to worry about CT scans or noisy MRI machines. For just one night, the only noise they needed to worry about was the goal horn.<\/p>\n

The Sens players also wanted to get involved. Mark Borowiecki and Bobby Ryan have met the patients and given them intimate tours of where the players go before and after games.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may only be a few minutes of their time, but it makes a world of difference to these patients and their families,\u201d said Roberts.<\/p>\n

Roberts and Bill have since worked together regularly. Bill frequently invites Roberts, along with the families and patients she supports, to Sens games. But they don\u2019t just get to watch the game \u2013 Bill rolls out the red carpet, making each experience unforgettable. From ice-level tours during warm up, to post-game dressing room visits, these patients get to see the Senators in a way that very few have seen before.<\/p>\n

Care is more than what happens in our hospital, said Roberts. It\u2019s a holistic experience. Patients\u2019 journeys continue after they leave the hospital for the day. Where they live, how they spend their time, and who they can depend on all play a role in their mental wellness during treatment.<\/p>\n

The simple act of going to a movie or an Ottawa Senators game can improve patients\u2019 mental wellbeing during their treatment. Roberts knows the impact of her work, and although it can be challenging and emotional, she is driven every day by the fact that she is truly helping patients, both inside and outside the hospital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patients travelling far from home for cancer treatment can feel isolated, but The Ottawa Hospital and Ottawa Senators are working together to help lift patients\u2019 spirits and give them an experience they will never forget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":41689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[177,424,404],"class_list":["post-41688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-tomorrows","tag-community-engagement","tag-indigenous-health","tag-working-together"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}