Karen Finner is a Medical Radiation Technician and Team Leader at Kemptville District Hospital (KDH). In 1999, she was in her mid twenties and in her first week of employment at the hospital, when she discovered a lump in her breast. Karen immediately contacted her doctor and had a mammogram. What followed was a diagnosis of Stage One cancer and three years of treatment, including surgery and chemotherapy. Concurrent to losing her hair, she planned a wedding and brought home a puppy. She called them “great distractions” during a difficult time and “happily, her hair grew back in time for the wedding”. Karen gives credit to her husband, family, friends and colleagues who helped get her through her cancer. In an article Karen wrote for KDH Health Matters in 2012, she shared, “They fundraised and walked and shaved their heads and stayed up all night to raise money for cancer research… Thankfully I was lucky to beat it; I have two great kids and I live life to the fullest.”
Upon reflection, she feels her experience with breast cancer heightened her professional commitment to the importance of women having a mammogram.
Now, some twenty-five years later, she asked friends to contribute “$25 for 25”.
Karen explained: “To mark this 25-year milestone I would like to give back to the cause by asking 25 of my friends to consider donating “$25 for 25 years” to the Kemptville District Hospital CT Scanner in memory of someone in your life impacted by cancer.”
She added, “CT technology has become a basic diagnostic tool even in the smallest hospitals. Almost everyone is going to have a CT at some point in their life. CT scans are not just for strokes, brain injuries, trauma, heart conditions, lung cancer, back pain, kidney disease and so on. CT scans are important in cancer diagnosis, staging, measuring response to treatment and giving peace of mind that the cancer has not returned.”
Karen described her “ask” of $25 as a win-win. “You are donating to your own health!”
The tally for Karen’s initiative was $1,325. Karen said, “This is wonderful! I am so excited that I helped (with the Crossroads Campaign).”
Joanne Mavis, KDH Foundation Executive Director, was also thrilled with the results and said, “we so appreciate Karen’s efforts in raising funds for the CT Scanner. We know that having this technology in Kemptville will be an outstanding asset for the community, bringing urgent patient care closer to home.”
For more information and stories about the CT Scanner Crossroads Campaign and how you can donate, see the Campaign page