Kate's Story

Carol Simpson is an information systems consultant who taught computer
science at the University of Toronto.

This multimedia experience has a powerful impact. Through the
combination of text and photographs in a book and audio and photographs
in a CD-ROM, the viewer experiences Kate’s story. At age 11, after two
bouts of strep throat and suffering from an aching, swollen knee, Kate
has a biopsy performed. The diagnosis: Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare type of
cancer. At the time of diagnosis, the tumor is 15 centimetres long.

The viewer is led through the diagnosis, the treatment, the reactions
and feelings of everyone close to Kate, as well as Kate’s own view of
her experiences. Kate must undergo surgery to remove not only the tumor
but also part of her leg. Her treatment also includes chemotherapy and
family counseling (her younger brother attends play therapy), which were
ongoing as this work was being produced. There is no happy ending, but
there certainly is hope and courage.

Kate goes horseback riding, attends school, plays the violin, and
enjoys her friendships. She keeps on top of the latest developments in
prosthetic research and plans to participate in many different
activities. Any young person diagnosed with cancer would derive hope
from Kate’s story. To see the black-and-white photographs that were
taken over the course of Kate’s experience, and to hear Kate, her
mother and father, and Kate’s friends provide a context for those
photographs, is intensely moving. Highly recommended.