A Chance for Life: The Suzanne Giroux Story

Pauline Carey is an actor, playwright, and fiction writer. She is the
author of Magic and What’s in a Name?

Suzanne Giroux grew up in Cornwall, Ontario as a Daddy’s little girl,
moved to Ottawa to train in dental hygiene because her boyfriend was
there, met another man she wanted to marry, and then, at the age of 24,
found a lump in her breast. During radiation treatment, she got
pregnant. The baby died in the womb.

The traumas, related here in plain, unemotional prose, did not end
there. Another child died in the womb, Giroux’s relations with men
were not happy, and her father was diagnosed with cancer. But there were
some miracles along the way. In Vancouver, Giroux, met a doctor from
Seattle who told her about a cancer treatment program that involved the
use of a new drug. Faced with the impossible expense of trips to the
States, she heard from Ray Matthey, who runs a cancer foundation; he
phoned out of the blue and offered cash—for Suzanne, “It was like I
had just met Santa Claus.”

There were setbacks—a short time back on chemo, ongoing problems with
men (including one that she married), the sadness of watching her father
die—yet through it all we see a woman changing. As the new drug began
to work for her, Giroux pursued other treatments such as visualization,
read motivational books, and had her first taste of tofu. She became an
activist, took a Dale Carnegie course on public speaking, helped to
raise money for the cancer foundation, talked up the new drug, appeared
on television, and wrote this book. She is not yet 40, but she has come
a long way.