It's nothing short of a miracle.
This is how local Anne Languedoc feels now, but it wasn't how she felt just over a year ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 43.
"I remember thinking at that point just how precious life is and how we take our health for granted," she said. "It was a shock, for sure.
"When you're 43, illness is not something you particularly think about when you're overall healthy. You don't think about having to face your mortality."
Languedoc spent the next 11 months undergoing surgeries and procedures, including five months of chemotherapy treatment.
She was grateful to receive the chemo treatment close to home at Squamish General Hospital (SGH) - an option that is currently dependant on chemo mixtures from Vancouver since SGH's mixing infrastructure was deemed unsafe.
The current system for chemo patients is complex - patients must attend SGH for assessment, with results being forwarded to the Lower Mainland where the chemotherapy mix is completed and sent back to SGH for administering to the patient.
That means the patient must attend twice for each treatment every time chemo is administered and considering that mixtures normally change day-by-day depending on a patient's blood count, that results in an untold number of visits during a difficult time.
"Chemo treatments make you experience unsurpassed levels of both emotional and physical vulnerability," Languedoc said. "I have seen and experienced firsthand the need within the community for the service to be offered there at Squamish Hospital."
The reason for this complex procedure is that the chemical "mixing hood" has been shut down because it has been deemed unsafe for the pharmacists who mix the chemicals. The mixing hood is needed to make conditions safe for pharmacists who mix the cocktails used for chemotherapy patients, as some include radioactive isotopes.
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)'s temporary solution is to provide a "mixing hood" in an available space at Hilltop House, the extended care facility located adjacent to the SGH.
The new hood should arrive sometime in May and cannot be safely installed in the previous location because, according to the Worker's Compensation Board, the space is too small to operate in a "safe and efficient manner."
The Squamish Rotary Club, which is dedicated to seeing the full SGH upgrade already endorsed by the Sea to Sky Regional Hospital District (RHD) completed, is concerned about the temporary solution.
"This is a temporary solution as Hilltop House needs space for their own programs and the location is some distance away from the hospital pharmacy department," said Rotary president Pat Taylor.
"This temporary solution also does not provide for the appropriate prep area for staff prior to them entering the mixing hood area."
The mixing hood is only part of the desired Squamish General Hospital upgrade, which would increase the SGH pharmacy size from 28 square metres to 100 square metres.
"The hospital pharmacy services the entire corridor, including the provision of drugs and equipment required for chemotherapy," Taylor said.
The upgrade will cost $1.5 million.
RHD chair Paul Lalli plans to meet May 9 with the head of Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) to discuss funding for the SGH upgrade and two other projects in the corridor.
VCH normally funds 60 per cent of facility upgrades while the RHD funds 40 per cent. VCH has yet to commit its share of the cash while Lalli said RHD already has funding set aside in a reserve account.
"I am meeting with Wendy Hansson [VCH chief executive officer] on May 9 and hopefully then I'll have a better idea of when that capital approving committee group will meet," he said. The committee will then decide where to allocate funding in 2011.
In December, VCH public affairs officer Trudi Beutel said VCH officials hope to come up with the funding for the three projects in the not-too-distant future. However, they'll likely have to be weighed against other projects elsewhere before that can happen.
According to Taylor, the Pemberton Health Care Foundation, the Whistler Health Care Foundation and the Squamish Lillooet Regional District support the upgrade and identified them as top priorities in 2008. Squamish Health Care Foundation officials also have voiced their support.
"All of the potential user and funding groups agree on the need to continue this service at Squamish General Hospital," she said.
As does Languedoc.
"The treatment I received here [SGH] anchored me in a time of crisis," she said.
"Ultimately, having the service here will increase survivorship because it allows cancer patients in our region to really focus their energy on healing and recovery, which is really important."
She said the thought of travelling from Squamish to Vancouver for chemo treatment, let alone from D'Arcy or Whistler or Pemberton, was overwhelming.
She recently added up the total mileage she drove for medical appointments in Vancouver (not including chemo in Squamish) and the sum was 3,700 kilometres - comparable to driving from Squamish to Montreal.
To emphasize the community support for the project and entice some of VCH's capital replacement funds to Squamish, the Squamish Rotary Club is hosting a fundraiser next week.
Help Keep Chemo in the Corridor, a gala dinner, dance and auction will be held at the CN Roundhouse and Conference Centre on April 30. Tickets are $150 each and can be purchased by calling (604) 892-0188 or visiting www.squamishrotary.com.
"It should be lots of fun," said Taylor. "We'll have a nice jazz band when people first come in, they'll be greeted with a glass of champagne and there's an art sale from which the entire proceeds will be going to the project.
"Dinner will be served and dancing to Dr. D and the Soul Demons."
The goal is to raise $100,000.
Taylor acknowledged that it's only a drop in the bucket but said every little bit counts.
"Everybody is money conscious and this way they can see that this actually means a lot to our community because we're willing to contribute some money," she said.
"As well there's money from the health care foundations being thrown at the project to entice Vancouver Coastal Health to come to the table."
She hopes VCH gets the message.
"We're trying to take the leadership role and saying - this is how we feel about it, this community is committed to having this service in our community."
