A cancer diagnosis is never easy, especially when treatment involves travelling to a different city for weeks on end. That is the reality facing Brenda Montgomery, a single mother in Lake Cowichan whose multiple myeloma (cancer of plasma cells) recently returned.
“She’s battled multiple myeloma already. She had a stem cell transplant, and it gave her an extra five years, but now it has come back and she’s having to do it again,” said Betty Sanddar, a longtime friend of Montgomery. The two used to work together at the Kaatza Childcare and Early Learning Centre before its closure in 2011.
“So that’s the problem. She’s going back to Vancouver for a second round of stem cell transplants.”
Sanddar has organized a bottle drive aimed at deferring some of the costs associated with the trip.
“The money goes towards her living expenses when she’s in Vancouver because she needs to pay for her place to stay and her food when she’s over there,” said Sanddar. “It’ll make it a little easier for her that she doesn’t have to worry about how she’s going to manage.”
Montgomery will have to spend one month in Vancouver starting in May.
“Our community has been wonderful in supporting people in need over the years. We’re just asking that they just remember Brenda and they keep her in their prayers,” said Sanddar.
“If they have any donations, we would gladly receive them.”
The bottle drive is scheduled for April 10. Anyone with bottles or cans they would like to donate can drop them off at the Bottle Depot on North Shore Road at the roundabout.