After what initially seemed like fairly innocuous symptoms, Nicole Fraser and her husband Alistair Todd had their whole life turned upside down.
"Alistair was feeling tired," Fraser said. "That was really the only symptom he had. And then later on, he started to have some chest pains. And so that's kind of what triggered him to go get checked out. But he was also going through a shift change at the time, and so we were kind of thinking, 'Oh he's just tired because he's going from working nights to working mornings and sometimes back and forth. And so I didn't really think anything of it. But when the chest pain started, it was just from doing easy tasks like walking from a vehicle in the parking lot into the building. And his heart was pounding."
Todd went in for a blood test, and was later diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. It was a shocking moment for the couple who met at Paul Kane High School in St. Albert and were friends before they began dating in university.
"That was a huge shock," Fraser said. "He almost physically collapsed at work when getting that phone call."
As it turned out, they're lucky that they caught it when they did.
"They did say that if he had not had gone to get blood tests, or if he'd not done anything, based on the symptoms he was feeling that he would likely have passed away in two months," Fraser said.
Acute myeloid leukemia is an extremely aggressive type of blood cancer. Todd was diagnosed on Sept. 4, World Leukemia Day, which Fraser noted as a strange coincidence. By Sept. 9, he was checked into the University of Alberta hospital to start induction chemotherapy. Todd saw his stay extended because of a number of lung, ear, blood, and digestive infections. He also contracted COVID from his roommate.
They're now at the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Calgary, where Todd's bone marrow transplant and recovery process will take place. Fraser said the facility, which has been open for two months, has been incredible as they prepare for their approximately three-month stay.
"Every patient going through this or something similar has their own room, which is important when your immune system is low," she said, while complimenting the staff, nurses and doctors at both facilities, as well as the upgrade in technology and design of the new hospital.
"You can see the benefits of investing in public health care when you see a new hospital like this, that's so specialized for treating cancer. So we're really grateful to be here at this facility," she said.
She added Todd having his own space is helping his mental well-being, on top of keeping him safe from potential infections from other patients.
Getting used to their new normal has been a difficult adjustment, and it has led to them missing some of the simpler things in life they enjoyed before the diagnosis. Their seven-year-old son Thomas started learning how to ski last year. Todd and Fraser used to snowboard together, so he was looking forward to sharing in that experience with Thomas.
"Just hanging out with our son is one of the things that he loves to do, so whether it's taking him out to a movie or hanging out with him at home or doing something with him outside. He's had to be away from him for extended periods of time right now," she said. Thomas, who is staying with his grandparents while Todd undergoes his recovery, is taking it as well as he can.
"We've been honest with him about the diagnosis, about the process, about why we're in Calgary," Fraser said. "He's a trooper. He's doing really well, but of course has his moments where he's sad. And especially right now, where he's staying away from us."
The family has seen an outpouring of support in recent months. Todd's sister's in laws set up a GoFundMe to help cover the treatment and rent costs for the apartment near the hospital. So far they've raised over $24,000.
"The GoFundMe set up by my sisters-in-law Krystal and Michelle has honestly blown me away and seeing so many people donate to it has been incredible," Todd said in a written statement, as he wasn't feeling well enough to speak. "There have been cousins, friends and family from all over the world and lots of donations from people I grew up with and played sports with in St. Albert. As well as some anonymous people I've never even met."
"We have been amazed at how generous people have been, and my sisters were even surprised," Fraser said. "I think within the first weekend they had already raised like 20 per cent of the goal."
The family hopes to put all of this behind them soon.
"We're all looking forward to getting back together as a family and around May, as long as everything goes well, we should be back in St. Albert," she said. "Another thing that Alistair talked about was wanting to get back to work. He was really enjoying working in the City of Edmonton and all the people that he worked with. And just kind of getting back to that normalcy of life."
Todd was most recently working with the City of Edmonton in various ice rinks as an arena attendant, doing customer service and ice maintenance, among other tasks. He enjoys working in recreation, and finds the public sector especially rewarding as he finds he's supporting the community.
As they prepare for the long road to recovery, Fraser hopes their story will encourage more people, especially men, to go for regular checkups at the doctor, even if the symptoms are minor.
"That's something that we really want to emphasize is if he hadn't gone to get his even minor symptoms checked out, this wouldn't have been caught in time," she said. "Make use of the resources out there, accept the help that's offered to you and make sure you go to the doctor."
