Ashfaq Awan

May 18, 2022

My family and I moved to Canada in 2007 and by February 2008 my husband was diagnosed with cancer. He was extremely sick, almost crippled and bedridden. He had become very weak, physically and mentally. He barely ate and couldn’t walk on his own. The doctors told me that he wouldn’t survive more than 18 months.

These last 10 years have been very stressful for us as a family. His tumour is in remission now and it’s a wonderful feeling. But before, every 6 months I would think, he has 6 months left and then I will lose my husband.

Because of his illness, my husband was on a very high dose of anti-seizure medication and that caused him to wander around and sometimes, out of the house. I was always worried to leave him alone at home to go out for groceries or other errands. We had no family or friends to reach out to for help either. That’s when CCAC connected us with SCHC, and Catherina started visiting us as a volunteer. This was in 2009.

There were so many things I didn’t know because we were new to this country. She was so helpful, she would take me for groceries, give me advice and was always kind and gentle with us. I was lonely and helpless, my husband was ill, I had no support system, but after her visits began, I felt a lot calmer and more secure.

We were able to deal with this stress because of SCHC and Catherina. We were all alone, our family was back home and we were battling cancer. She did more for us, treated us better than a blood relation would.