Mother and daughter in Timmins share inspiring cancer story in new podcast
A mother and daughter in Timmins are recovering from their battles with cancer over the pandemic.
Yuniarti and her daughter Ney, 16, were diagnosed within weeks of each other and are now cancer free — and their journey is the subject of a podcast produced by the Sick Kids Foundation.
It started when Ney came down with a fever on a family trip to their home country of Indonesia — and a visit to hospital when they returned.
“They call me back again, you need to come again to emergency and then they (are) telling us that she got leukemia,” Yuniarti said.
After two years of treatment, Ney went into remission and they thought that was the end of it.
Then Yuniarti found a lump in her breast. She got a mastectomy and began chemotherapy. Two months later, Ney came down with a fever again.
Her leukemia had returned.
Yuniarti was able to transfer to the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto so she could visit Ney as she underwent T-cell treatment while continuing her chemotherapy.
“We take turns with my sister … and then we stay at Ronald McDonald House, when we had both of us, treatment,” she said.
Sick Kids’s resource navigation program helped them figure out travel, other accommodations and paperwork, so they could focus on their treatment.
“How overwhelmed they were, how stressed they were and then how they were able to really show resiliency and navigate through this journey with strength,” said Lisa Berardo of Sick Kids Hospital.
“And then to see them at the end, is just, obviously, very heartwarming.”
Yuniarti said she is grateful to the health care staff in Timmins, Toronto and Sudbury, along with the organizations, family and friends who supported them in their battle against cancer and still do, as they figure out their next steps.
“I was so lucky,” she said.
“We were bless(ed) that everybody support us.”
She said she’s proud of how strong her daughter has been throughout, adding they want to put cancer worries behind them for good.
“We just try to, ‘OK, let’s move on.’ We try to be normal, but it’s just there, the feeling.”
After battling cancer in the middle of a global pandemic, Yuniarti said they can handle anything.
They’ll be featured in the fourth season of the Sick Kids Versus podcast, which highlights struggles and triumphs in child health.
They’ll be in the first episode, premiering Thursday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW 'She was waiting for you': The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother in England
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Oilers to play Game 1 vs. Canucks on Wednesday
The Edmonton Oilers will play Game 1 of their second-round series against the Canucks in Vancouver on Wednesday.
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.