Chuck Conley, Happy Valley, Goose Bay
When cancer hits close to home, the financial extremes to which people must go can be drastic. Chuck and Mene Conley of Happy Valley-Goose Bay decided that, after their fifth of 16 trips to St. John's for Chuck's surgery, treatment and check-ups, it was like they were living a second life there.
Chuck had been diagnosed with squamous cell cancer in 2003, and the family had begun a seemingly endless series of flights, car rentals and hotel stays, spending somewhere in the vicinity of $20,000 to make it all happen. Eventually the couple decided to get an apartment and a second-hand car in the city. The unexpected investment meant some peace-of-mind for the Conley's. It meant Chuck would be able to have the privacy and comfort his recovery required. "I would finish radiation on Friday evening and literally lay in bed or on the couch until Monday morning," he remembers. "I didn't even have the energy to sit upright." It also meant that their young son (three years old when his Dad first got sick) could sometimes travel to St. John's to be with his Mom and Dad.
If there had been a place that gave the couple some feeling of home-away-from-home — of privacy, dignity and convenience — they would certainly have taken advantage of it. As Mene says, "In that instant [when you are diagnosed] your life changes. You can't go back. But you can go forward, if you have access to the support you need."
