ELORA – When two friends have a heart to heart, often insights and universal truths are discovered.
When those two friends are Sally Litchfield and Katie Giddy, hilarity can’t help but ensue.
The two friends had a stimulating and downright funny conversation about Giddy’s fight with breast cancer at the GrandWay Events Centre on March 8 to mark International Women’s Day.
The discussion was bold, it was raw, and it demonstrated the bond between the two and how good friends – even sarcastic ones – can be a strength during dark times.
Giddy is vice president of the Grand River Agricultural Society, the GrandWay and the Grand River Raceway. She is also a volunteer, mother and a great cook.
Litchfield was CEO of the Centre Wellington Chamber of Commerce and is now economic development coordinator with Centre Wellington Township.
They came to know each other through their work and became fast friends when Giddy broke her wrist and Litchfield found herself driving her around.
Litchfield described herself: “I deny anxiety and I give away free sarcasm,” and truly, the barbs flew during the noon-hour presentation.
Giddy told Litchfield she wanted to be treated “normal” when the cancer diagnosis came in, and Litchfield complied by being “honest.”
“I told her when her hair looked bad – and when she didn’t have any. I’d reprimand her for having too many feelings, especially in my presence,” Litchfield quipped.
“I got her to do my errands. She was in the city daily for radiation anyway.”
Seated in cushy armchairs, Katie Giddy, left, and Sally Litchfield could have been chatting in their living room. Instead they spoke to a packed house at the GrandWay Events Centre on March 8. Photo by Joanne Shuttleworth
Giddy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022. Doctors found a 12cm tumour in her right breast.
Doctors started her on chemotherapy and when the tumour had shrunk to 4cm, surgeons thought it was small enough to remove.
She had a double mastectomy; 14 lymph nodes were also removed. And then she started radiation treatment.
When that treatment ended, she was ready to sound the gong and declare her cancer “gone.”
“But no one could tell me it was gone,” Giddy said.
“It was a milestone, but it meant I was moving away from the cancer centre and that wonderful supportive atmosphere.”
She wasn’t alone, however. Friends and family surrounded Giddy with love and support – and casseroles and snacks.
She’s getting back to normal, although, as she said, “it’s not about going back to normal. It’s about moving forward. I had to re-establish new ways of living.”
It’s not quite over for Giddy. She gets a monthly injection and an infusion every six months.
She takes a drug every day and alternative therapies twice per day to ensure all the cancer is gone.
Katie Giddy, who is well-known in the community, decided it was best to be frank and open about her breast cancer diagnosis. Photo by Joanne Shuttleworth
“She’s got chemo brain,” said Litchfield, adding it’s a real thing, where Giddy is sometimes addled and forgetful.
Giddy said she learned from the experience.
“Cancer can happen to anyone,” she said. “So, get checked and self-check. If in doubt, shout. Be your own advocate.”
“We’re not here to tell you how to cope with things. We’re here to tell you how we coped,” added Litchfield.
“And we’re here to tell you that you get to choose how you deal with the crappy things that happen in your life.
“And for the record, it’s not actually funny that she got cancer.”
The event was also a fundraiser for the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre in Kitchener, where Giddy was treated.
All donations raised at the luncheon were to be matched by the Grand River Agricultural Society.
The cancer centre opened in 2003 and has grown from seeing 39 patients daily to seeing 400 patients a day in 2023.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, breast cancer affects one in eight women in Canada.
