Help Alison battle Stage 3 Breast Cancer

On December 20th, 2024, after over a year of declining health, our sweet friend and family member Alison Corbett was officially diagnosed with Stage 3 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. As a mom, a teacher, and a musician, she lived a very full life before this diagnosis. She loved her teaching job and her colleagues, spending time with her amazing daughter, Saturn, and going the extra mile to play gigs and record albums, taking her fiddle everywhere she went.

Breast cancer is a different experience for everyone. Alison’s prognosis is not the best we could have hoped for—the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes and is currently inoperable due to the size and number of tumors—but there is hope! The good news is that it hasn’t spread to any other organs, so she is still completely treatable, and it will be possible for her medical team to remove all of the cancer cells. Alison will soon undergo chemotherapy for 16 weeks. If the tumours respond well to treatment, she will be eligible for surgery, and then radiation.

Alison is fortunate to have insurance through her work and access to chemo through Canada’s healthcare system. Her supportive partner, Steve, will be able to get some time off work to care for her during treatment. She’s being treated by excellent doctors at the Grand River Cancer Centre in Kitchener and fully trusts their plan to get her back to everything she loves.

The reality is that even with government and personal support in place, being sick is expensive. Traveling to and from London and Toronto for specialist visits has already cost a lot between gas, parking, and lodging. Alison will require a special diet and supplements, special equipment, clothing to protect her PICC line (a central IV catheter), and wigs, as she will lose her hair during chemo. This is on top of the thousands of dollars already spent on procedures not covered.

Alison’s sick leave pay is less than what she would make full-time, she will lose any extra income from performing and recording that she was making before her diagnosis, and her partner will lose income while he takes time off work to care for her. Alison needs the strongest form of chemotherapy available, which means she has to isolate during treatment because it will destroy her immune system. This is why Steve is taking time off work, so he can safely isolate with her when she would otherwise be alone.

Alison has lived a wildly beautiful and adventurous life. In her own words, “I have a lot to show for it. My life has zigged and zagged all over the globe, and my creative, generous, and humorous friends always have my back. I’m a lucky person in so many ways, and I still have a lot of life left to live. I look forward to being able to get back to the things and the people that I love!”. If you know Alison, you know that the way she describes her kin here is exactly how we would describe her: creative, generous, humorous, always having our backs. Knowing Alison means that you know what it feels like to be supported, cared for, held, and uplifted, and to roll over in fits of laughter! Now it’s our turn to rally as a community and support her in all the ways we can, helping her get back to everything she loves.

If you are considering helping Alison through this tough time financially, please remember that even small donations go a long way! And if you’d rather, you can hire her to talk virtually about fiddle music or possibly buy some of her instruments and gear.

If you’re unable to donate cash, there are so many other ways you can contribute, like sharing this fundraiser with your networks! Please circulate widely! Or messages of support and phone calls! Alison loves those. You can reach out to her by email.

If you want to donate but would prefer to e-transfer, send the team a message! We'll get you sorted.

If there are any funds left over after Alison's medical expenses are taken care of, they will go towards her daughter Saturn's education fund and HopeSpring Cancer Support Center, a non-profit organization committed to providing support and resources to all individuals affected by cancer in Kitchener, where Alison lives.

A message from Alison: “If you haven’t listened to the song, ‘Cancer’ by Jesse Welles, now is a good time to do it. Here are the first few lines, but it only gets better.”

“Cancer's getting meaner

And it ain't never been fun

Supposed to get you when you're old

And now it gets you when you're young

Cancer's always been depressin'

Cancer's never been pleasant

It don't care if you're royal, don't care if you're a peasant” - Jesse Welles