Radiation Therapist Jolene Jarva Passionate About the Benefits of Tbaytel Tamarack House
Published Monday, July 11, 2022
Radiation Therapist Jolene Jarva Passionate About the Benefits of Tbaytel Tamarack House
Every year in Northwestern Ontario, thousands of people will require lifesaving treatment for cancer, which could mean staying in Thunder Bay for weeks at a time. In this sparsely populated region – the size of France – Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is the only site where regional patients can travel for most cancer treatments. The whole experience can be daunting.
Jolene Jarva, a radiation therapist at Regional Cancer Care who treats regional patients every day, sees the difficulty up close. “I don’t think local people realize what’s at stake, and how lucky they are to live where they can have their treatment and then go home,” she says. “A cancer diagnosis is awful. But cancer diagnosis and having to be away from home – for upwards of eight weeks sometimes – means you might have to stay at a hotel for $150 a night, find a way to get food, get to and from appointments, find someone to watch your children, and if you’re not feeling good, and on your own, then what? It’s not just treatment they’re facing,” Jolene emphasizes. “I think Tbaytel Tamarack House is the next best thing to home.”
During COVID, patients had their own room with private washroom, a fully stocked shared kitchen, and access to laundry, but many of the wonderful things that make Tbaytel Tamarack House special were curtailed: no access to lounges where people gather all the time, a small fitness area for exercise was closed, plus all sorts of activities and workshops couldn’t happen like groups from the community who host dinners – including the radiation therapy group, or the local firefighter who comes in and does caricatures.
COVID or not, Tbaytel Tamarack House is more than just a place to stay. “Sometimes, when a patient is staying at Tbaytel Tamarack House alone, other families step in to help take care of them and make sure they’re doing OK, or people end up travelling together back and forth from the region for treatment,” Jolene says. “It’s really great to see how people watch out for one another.” Without Tbaytel Tamarack House, these connections just wouldn’t happen.
As a radiation therapist, Jolene is part of a team that treats cancer patients for the course of their treatments – perhaps 35 or 40 times. “We get really close with our patients,” Jolene says. “If regional patients don’t have family, their treatment team and the people from Tbaytel Tamarack House are sometimes the only people they’re seeing, and they just need somebody to talk to.”
Many people don’t know about Tbaytel Tamarack House unless they or someone they know has had an experience with cancer, but once patients are in the cancer system, they’re definitely made aware. “Everyone raves about it,” Jolene says. “I’ve never heard anything bad about Tbaytel Tamarack House and prior to COVID, I’d say 90% of our out-of-town patients stayed there and it was often fully booked. I say it’s a port in a storm.”
Tbaytel Tamarack House only charges the amount the Northern Health Travel Grant gives so patients don’t have to pay until they are reimbursed, so they’re never out of pocket. “I always fear – especially right now with the price of everything going up – that Tbaytel Tamarack House could be cut,” Jolene says. “For some people, this could be the deciding factor on whether or not they have cancer treatment and I feel that people shouldn’t have to face financial barriers for cancer treatment.
“Tbaytel’s support for Tamarack House means a lot to me,” Jolene says. “Thousands of regional patients who come to Thunder Bay for treatment every year benefit from Tbaytel’s commitment to take care of its neighbourhood.”
Tbaytel Tamarack House is a home away from home. It’s more than a hotel room. It’s a place where regional cancer patients can stay and feel safe and supported in their medical journey.
Since 2005, Tbaytel Tamarack House offers lodging for out-of-town patients and their companions for the duration of cancer treatment. It offers 20 bedrooms with private bathrooms, kitchen facilities, a lounge, entertainment, laundry area, and 24-hour on-site attendant.
Note: During COVID-19, Tbaytel Tamarack House has changed how it provides services, following TBRHSC protocols.
Ongoing financial support is essential to ensure Tamarack House is available for regional patients. If you can give, visit www.healthsciencesfoundation.ca/tamarack