Longtime volunteer in for fight of her life
When Cody Clancy signed up for the Enbridge Ride To Conquer Cancer in December he had no idea his mother had cancer.
Melanie Clancy, 50, didn’t know it either as doctors diagnosed the lump in her left breast as a fibrocystic cyst in November. Clancy, a volunteer with the Peterborough Hockey Association for the past 16 years, first experienced discomfort in October. The pain and swelling got worse and It wasn’t until March 1, after numerous tests, different doctors and a Feb. 21 surgery to remove an eight-centimetre mass, that she was told she had breast cancer.
“My whole world kind of flipped upside down after telling my kids everything was fine,” said Clancy.
Upset at her misdiagnosis, Clancy demanded a referral to the head oncologist in Oshawa. The news got worse. He told Clancy she had aggressive stage three breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. There were too many tumours to perform a scheduled mastectomy. On Thursday, she began a 20-week schedule of chemotherapy to reduce the tumours so she can have the mastectomy. That will be followed by five weeks of radiation treatment.
“I have a 55 per cent chance of survival,” said Clancy.
Cancer has been cruel to the Clancy family.
Cody, 24, signed up for the ride with his uncle Steve Clancy, who is well known in Peterborough’s lacrosse circles, to honour his grandmother Ann Clancy, his aunt Karen Connell and Melanie’s aunt Linda Harvey who all lost battles with cancer. Cody’s uncle John Davidson is fighting a brain tumour.
Now the ride, a 200-kilometre fundraising cycle from Toronto to Niagara Falls June 10-11 for the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, has taken on even further meaning.
“If it wasn’t personal enough before, it got a whole hell of a lot more personal,” said Cody Clancy, a site supervisor for MPI Construction. “It hit us pretty hard because a couple of months before that she was told it wasn’t cancer. That she was fine and didn’t have to worry anymore. It was a huge surprise when she got diagnosed and it was on the 10th anniversary of my grandmother’s loss to cancer.”
Melanie, who is a pretty private person, went public with her story on Facebook to support Cody’s efforts.
“My main goal is to just stay focused every day on positive things. My daughter is getting married next year and even focusing on this ride got me very excited about being in Toronto when he takes off for the ride and being in Niagara Falls when he gets to the finish line. I’m getting emotional just talking about it,” she said, fighting back tears. “When he comes in I’m going to give him the biggest hug ever.”
Clancy started volunteering with the Peterborough Minor Hockey Association (PMHA), which later became the PHA after amalgamating with the local church league, when Cody was eight. Her other children Tyler, 21, and Michaela, 20, also played in the system. She has scheduled timekeepers since 2005. She was tournament director for nine years, recruits sponsors and is now PHA secretary.
To donate to Cody’s ride visit http://tinyurl.com/mndqhaw.