Tamarack House marks second year

A cancer diagnosis is overwhelming on its own, but the thought of having cancer treatment miles from home can be frightening.
More than one-third of the 1,500 new cancer patients treated each year at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre come from smaller communities in Northwestern Ontario, which is why TBayTel Tamarack House strives to be a home away from home for them.
Earlier this month, it celebrated its second successful year as a relaxing, convenient, and comfortable place to stay.
From April, 2006 to February, 2007, there were 5,348 stays at the lodge, which sits on the entire top floor of the medical centre—just a few metres from the hospital.
Any resident from the region who needs to come to Thunder Bay for treatment can stay in the lodge for free, for as long as they need to, in one of the 20 bedrooms outfitted with private bathrooms and double beds.
There is a large kitchen for cooking, warm, comfortable lounges, games, Internet access, and many of the comforts of home for patients and their families.
It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and there is always an attendant on duty.
But perhaps the most important role TBayTel Tamarack House has grown to play is that of a gathering place for those dealing with cancer.
One Ignace resident diagnosed with colon cancer in 2005 has stayed at the lodge a number of times while she gets radiation treatment at TBRHSC.
When her friends ask if she finds it depressing, she said she has to laugh.
“Oh, no. Not at all! Believe it or not, we spend a lot of time laughing,” she said. “We play games, we talk, we relax, and eat healthy. . . .
“And if laughter is the best medicine, well, then we’re going to get real healthy.”
She added she wished more people knew about the lodge and what it was really about—that it’s not a sad, lonely place but instead a great support system.
“I think it really helps spouses, too,” she added. “My husband was more terrified than I was when I was coming here. But when he came and saw it, he relaxed a little bit.
“It helps them relate to what’s going on.”
Her friend from Sioux Lookout agrees. He stayed at the lodge for six weeks while receiving chemo and radiation treatment for colorectal cancer.
“The best part is talking to other people. We help each other out,” he remarked. “Everyone is supportive and the staff will bend over backwards for you, no doubt about it.
“It really is an upbeat place. It’s a family,” he stressed.
TBayTel Tamarack House was created in 2005 to replace Amethyst House, the 30-year-old lodge at the former cancer centre site in Thunder Bay.
The Northern Cancer Research Foundation has raised $590,000 for the “Home Away from Home” campaign—keeping the lodge as comfortable and equipped as possible.