“Never Underestimate the Healing Power of Home”
Published Sunday, March 30, 2025
Kathy McKee's sunroom became her sanctuary during cancer treatments. The first orchid she received upon returning from Toronto lost its leaves, but she kept caring for it. Six months later, it bloomed again just like she did. That orchid started a trend, and she now has over a dozen, gifted by family and friends.
Kathy McKee on Purpose, Gratitude, and How Local Cancer Care Added Years to Her Life
Kathy McKee loves languages. At 65, she is learning French so she can talk to her bilingual grandchildren Ashlynn and Kade in both languages. Learning French for her grandchildren gives her something else as well: purpose.
Purpose is very important to Kathy, and it helped her through some dark moments. About 14 years ago, Kathy was diagnosed with a rare, non-curable form of thyroid cancer. Since then, she's endured a long, gruelling cycle of illness and recovery. What made life even harder for Kathy and her family was that within months of her diagnosis, her son Niall was diagnosed with osteosarcoma – the same cancer as Terry Fox. He was just 23 at the time.
Cancer is hard enough to endure, but travelling for care would have made it so much worse, she said.
“Imagine a son and a mother requiring cancer care at the same time,” Kathy said. “This would have been insurmountable for our family without the advancements in cancer care at our Hospital.”
Both had surgery in Toronto, but thanks to your donations to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation, most of their care was here at home including an experimental treatment that is helping Kathy live a better life.
“Our family represents many other families who benefit from all those generous donors,” she said.
Kathy stressed that it wasn't just the exceptional care she received or access to world-class treatments. It was the fact that her care – and that of her son Niall's – was at home.
“Never underestimate the healing power of home,” she said. “Timely care close to my family and friends was a significant factor for my emotional wellness, physical stability, and recovery during times of critical illness.”
Kathy's illness was so critical at times that she was forced to retire from her career as a medical laboratory technologist.
“The career that I loved ended early due to my health challenges, but my ability to continue my life with purpose has not.”
Part of that purpose is to be a good Grammie to her two precious grandchildren – including learning a new language. She also uses her love of language in a different and very special way. There aren't many people in the region who have this type of thyroid cancer. Kathy talks to people from all over the world with thyroid cancer via online support groups, and many don't understand their cancer or its treatment. Her medical background allows her to “translate” the medical language around thyroid cancer and its treatments for others on the message boards.
“Understanding the terminology is empowering for people, which I think makes it less scary. It was another way for me to have purpose.”
It helps when you can talk to someone else going through the same thing, Kathy said.
“I know how lonely that journey can be,” she said.
Today, Niall is fully recovered and married to Amy. His brother Eric is also married, and he and Stephanie have two young children. Kathy and her husband John recently celebrated 43 years of marriage. Thanks to her current treatment, she is able to once again hit the slopes. She's convinced that having her treatments here added years to her life, allowing her to fully experience these milestones.
“I may not have experienced any of these most special moments in life without the support of donors here at home,” Kathy said.
“I feel a lifetime of gratitude towards the people in this community,” she said. “Donations to the Health Sciences Foundation fund a diversity of highly specialized equipment for diagnostics, surgeries and treatments to offer timely care close to home. Advanced technology also attracts highly educated healthcare professions and supportive staff to deliver exceptional cancer care.”
Every day, you make a difference in the lives of cancer patients in Thunder Bay and across Northwestern Ontario. Please donate to the Health Sciences Foundation's Northern Cancer Fund today to support Kathy and the many cancer patients like her who need your help! Donate online at healthsciencesfoundation.ca/cancer or call our Donation Centre at 807-345-HOPE (4673). Thank you!
Article by Graham Strong