It would take a lot more than bone-chilling weather, two bouts of strep throat and a recurrence of cancer to stop Stacey from participating in a snowmobile relay event to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research.

Stacey is an avid snowmobile rider who lives in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. The vivacious 35-year-old is also a two-time survivor of breast cancer. Stacey, who had no family history of breast cancer, was diagnosed with the disease one month after her thirtieth birthday. She had just moved to Meadow Lake from Saskatoon to start a management position at a bank. “To be sick and a virtual stranger in your new community worried me, but the community rallied around me right along with my family and friends,” she recalls.

Stacey got a lot of support from her then-boyfriend Eugene. ”It’s a huge thing to throw at someone. But he came through with flying colours.” Stacey had a mastectomy and put her life, her career and her part-time job as a figure skating coach back on track.

But in the summer of 2005 another lump was found in her lymph nodes by her doctor during a routine physical exam. Stacey had just found out that she had been selected as one of three Saskatchewan riders for the 2006 International Way Out Women Relay team. Determined to participate in this grueling, seven-day snowmobile event, Stacey had surgery to remove her second tumour and then underwent 25 radiation treatments. A few months later, she felt well enough to ride. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m not missing this for the world.’ ”

Despite experiencing -40°C weather and a strep throat infection, Stacey participated in this national event and rode more than 1,400 kilometers across the province. Stacey raised $21,000 the top amount raised by an individual.

The last 5 years have been challenging for Stacey. Since her first diagnosis, she has had a mastectomy, chemotherapy, a series of surgeries to reconstruct her right breast and then a second diagnosis and surgery, followed by radiation treatments. Stacey reached out to her family and friends for support. “I rallied the troops by being open and talking and talking about my cancer. I got flowers and cards from people I went to high school with. I reconnected with people whom I’d lost touch with. It really took my mind off things.”

For Stacey, talking about her cancer is beneficial. “It’s extremely helpful to me. The more I talk, the more I can process what happened to me.” For the past 4 years, she has been sharing her experience as a volunteer for CancerConnection, the Canadian Cancer Society’s peer support program.

“Cancer has made me a stronger person. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t been sick twice. It’s taught me to laugh at myself. I learned that life is not all about my career. That’s not what life is about.”

Life is good for Stacey now. She and Eugene bought a house by the river and have fixed it up together. They were married on the front lawn in the summer of 2006 and share their home with Cricket the dog and Spooky the cat.