Jouvence 2012

Every year, Leucan organizes a respite weekend for families who have a child who is battling or has battled cancer. It is held at Jouvence, a warm, welcoming and family-friendly place in the Eastern Townships offering outdoor activities for all ages. This weekend includes a two-night stay filled with activities for the entire family as well as delicious meals — all at a minimum cost to the Leucan families.

Last year was our first year at this event. We arrived on the Friday evening, but the girls and I got hit with a horrible cold and we had to leave the premises the following morning so we wouldn’t contaminate the weakened immune systems of the children in treatment around us. We were, to say the least, extremely disappointed and were determined to go again this year with our health intact.

Success! We have just returned from our amazing weekend with our bellies overflowing (the food was abundant and delicious), our bodies tired from the wonderful activities and our minds and spirits once again filled with awe and inspiration after having heard everyone’s stories.

Many people have either not heard of Leucan or have heard of it but don’t really know exactly what it does. Leucan is an organization that provides support to families who have a child with cancer. They provide some financial support, especially to families whose child is undergoing extensive treatments that prevent the parents from working. They provide free massage, art, and music therapies for the child in treatment as well as their parents and siblings. They provide documentation, including storybooks that help siblings understand what is about to happen to their sick sibling. They plan many activities during the year that allow families to experience “normal life” at very low cost (such as trips to the Granby Zoo, the sugar shack, Jouvence, etc.). Every Christmas they have an elaborate Christmas party where Santa always makes a special visit and spoils the kids rotten. Basically, they are there every step of the way as soon as the child’s cancer is diagnosed up until the family decides they don’t need the support anymore (which oftentimes can be many years after the child’s cancer is either in remission or cured). They also provide ongoing support for families who lose a child to cancer.

The weekend at Jouvence is organized so that the kids can be pampered (the ones with cancer and all their siblings), the parents can relax knowing their kids are being pampered and the families can enjoy quality time together.

This year, we arrived Friday evening after supper, where we were given the keys to our room and time to unpack and get settled in. We were in La Rafale, a building that has many private rooms with a large common room. The kids had their own little loft with a gate at the top of the stairs, giving the impression that they were sleeping in their very own tree house. It was quite charming!

An hour after our arrival, we headed to the common room where there were healthy snacks for the kids and the organizers introduced the many volunteers who were there to accompany the children during the following day’s activities. The volunteers were mostly made up of young, dynamic and loving individuals whose one and only goal was to make the kids feel as special and loved as possible. There was also a young doctor who was there to make sure the kids got their meds when they needed them and to monitor their health. A photographer was also present to capture every moment on camera.

We then gathered outside around a campfire, where we had our first opportunity to talk with the other families present. We went to bed late, excited for the following morning.

Saturday morning it wasn’t long and the volunteers “kidnapped” the kids to take them to breakfast. Although we sat at a table not too far away, every time we looked at Maya and Ella, they were smiling or laughing at something one of the animators did. The animators helped each child go through the buffet and pick out what they wanted to eat and helped them through the meal. Once the meal was done, the kids ran over, kissed their parents goodbye and headed off to their first activity. Their day was filled with boating, rock climbing, zip-lining (yes, Maya had her first zip-lining experience; Ella wanted nothing to do with it!) and a treetop adventure trail. Jouvence had animators that led most of the activities, which all had to do with the theme of the summer Olympics. We occasionally saw the kids running through the grounds, and got to give them hugs at lunchtime, but apart from that, they were kept very occupied!

During that time, Robbie and I each received a long massage from our Leucan massage therapist, hiked through the woods, read, relaxed and capped the day off with a drink on the terrace. The day ended with everyone once again congregated in the common room with popcorn and other snacks, a movie and snuggles on the couch. During the movie, one of the massage therapists went around the room and gave each and every child a foot massage (which Maya received first because when the woman asked if anyone wanted a foot massage, Maya grabbed her hand and told her “YES, PLEASE!”) Sleep came quickly once we returned to our rooms!

On Sunday morning, Jouvence had organized 2 family activities: a short rally and a baking activity. We made muffins as a family and had our very own little bag of delicious, healthy muffins to bring home with us. The morning ended with a medal ceremony where the Leucan animators presented every child with a “gold” medal for one of the activities they had participated in the previous day. Maya received her gold medal for excelling on the treetop adventure trail and Ella received hers for her fast running (yes, she was wearing her new, very fast shoes).

We left feeling content, happy and very tired (a good tired). Maya and Ella left with many wonderful memories about the activities they participated in, but mostly with memories about the new friends they made and the love and attention they received from their wonderful animators, both from Jouvence and from Leucan. We parents were inspired to see the children running around and having a good time and to meet other families whose children are doing well.

What struck both Robbie and me about this weekend was how it gave us the time to really visit with the other parents who we’ve often seen at other events but have never had the opportunity to interact with. Seeing that Maya has been monitored at Sainte-Justine and not at the CHUS, we had never had the opportunity to meet these parents before. We got to share our experience with Maya with them and got to hear their stories. What was amazing to us was that every single child there had the same cancer: leukemia. We learned a lot about the cancer itself as well as how it is treated. We also got to hear how Leucan has helped them over the years to not feel so alone and has provided them with the support they have needed to get through the many years of treatments.

The best explanation we received from a father about what Leucan means to him was the following: Leukemia, a cancer of the blood or bone marrow is a cancer that is treated with chemotherapy in small doses over a long period of time. The first few months after diagnosis are more intense and they can spend up to 30 days in the hospital for every treatment. Once the cancer cells are no longer found in the blood, they fall into maintenance chemo which is done once a month and combined with many different pills to take. Boys undergo treatment for 3 years and girls for 2. He explained to us that when their son was first diagnosed, their family and friends were there. They supported and helped out as much as they could. But as time went by and things were less “critical” or intense, they all went back to their normal lives. When his son’s hair grew back and treatments were more spread out, people sort of “forgot” he was sick. The father explained that their own lives are far from being back to normal, as they are still in the thick of things. For him, Leucan is always there; they never stop supporting them. It truly was a heartwarming story which I feel the need to share with you now in the hopes that it will help more people truly understand and appreciate what this wonderful organization does.

Many organizations that target sick children do a lot to help advance research in various fields and to provide specialized equipment for them. Leucan is there for the families and does everything it can to support them through the darkest of times.

I will never forget the morning after Maya had her surgery and we were still digesting the news of her cancer, when a smiling woman knocked on the door to our room, walked over to Maya’s bed and presented her with a soft, pink blanket, new toys and special t-shirts with buttons on both sleeves in case she had to have chemo. Maya’s face lit up as if it was Christmas morning and Santa had walked through the door. She gave Robbie and me a big red bag with an integrated cooler backpack filled with documentation and picture books to read to our kids and told us, “We are here for you, whatever you need.” And you know what? They have been.

Ella has benefitted from their art therapy program, which is designed to help children express their feelings more concretely. We have regular massages, especially after hospital visits. And most importantly, Leucan has provided all of us with many good memories from a very difficult time in our lives.

One of Leucan’s biggest fund-raising campaigns involves the money boxes at Halloween. So this Halloween, when children show up at your door with a Leucan box hanging around their neck, pop in a few coins knowing you’ll be helping Leucan continue to do what it does best: brightening up the lives of children and their families who are living with cancer.