April 2, 2015
Story by Kirsten Goruk
Maybe you’ve seen them walking around town, people with that splash of pink in their hair who are out to support this year’s Hair Massacure fundraiser. And if you live in Fort McMurray, you might have noticed a few staff members at the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre taking part and pinking up this year.
The Hair Massacure is an annual event that raises funds and awareness in support of the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Northern Alberta and the Stollery Children’s Hospital. Alberta Health Services’ (AHS) registered nurses Deirdre Peters and Janice Petruk, have dyed their hair pink to support Lauren Stemmann, a patient at the Fort McMurray Community Cancer Clinic.
“Lauren is a typical little girl. Whenever she comes into our unit, she’s always wearing pink. Like a lot of children, she’s a bit of a challenge to get to know because she’s quite quiet, so it took a number of visits before she was speaking to us. Now that we’ve got pink hair, it’s made it a little easier for her to talk to us,” says Petruk, who also works as a patient navigator.
Lauren, now five, was four years old when diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that can affect infants and young children and results in the formation of a solid tumour in the body. Since then she’s undergone chemotherapy and more recently, a stem cell transplant.
While Lauren and her mother Leneah Stemmann have spent lots of time traveling to Edmonton for treatment at the Stollery, she does visit the local clinic regularly for check-ups.
“She loves the nurses; they’re very playful with her,” Stemmann says.
“They go out of their way to make sure that Laruen feels comfortable and that means more than anything in the world to us. They’ve been so fantastic and they know both of us now.”
Lauren’s brother Hunter and some of his classmates also took part, shaving their heads for the cause. Together, Team Lauren surpassed their goal of $5,000. For Peters and Petruk, who together raised just over $2,700, it was another chance to make a difference in the life of a patient.
“She’s such a young child, if we can make a family or a child a bit happier, through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, that’s just awesome. Every little bit helps,” Peters says.
“And any way that we can show our support for our patients is always a bonus and we like to participate and do what we can to show that we’re working alongside them,” Petruk adds.
For Stemmann and Lauren, knowing that Peters and Petruk as well as other staff at NLRHC support them, it makes what their family is going through a bit easier.
“I feel like they’re more than just our nurses, I feel like they’re true friends of ours. Whenever we’re home we go see them once a week and they’re always there putting a smile on Lauren’s face and I’m so happy to see them,” Stemmann says.
“Having someone in the healthcare field supporting us, who understands as a mom what I’m going through or as a patient what Lauren’s going through, being able to come to them with questions or talk to them openly, it means so much to my family.”
