Young mom gets help to head south for cancer fight

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Val Shaw gives Kaleena Hudon a big hug at sendoff. (KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

FLYING INTO THE EYE OF HEALTH-CARE HURRICANE... Kaleena Hudon, the 25-year-old Winnipeg mother and stage-4 cancer patient whose only hope of prolonging her life lies south of the border, flew to Pittsburgh for treatment of her metastasized melanoma Wednesday.

Thanks to a local guardian angel, she went a month ahead of schedule and her closest loved ones were with her.

Thanks primarily to Free Press readers -- like the anonymous donor who arranged for Kaleena's husband, Dave Hudon, their baby girl Hailey and grandmother Bobbie Guarino to fly with her -- the family has raised $15,000 of the $30,000 they think they will need for costs not covered by Manitoba Health.

The guardian angel -- as Dave Hudon's mother calls it -- is a business owned by a Winnipeg family that requested I not identify them.

They and about 50 other family, friends and well-wishers were there before 8 a.m. Wednesday when everyone boarded the plane to Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, Kaleena's story has also attracted Pittsburgh media attention and more offers of support from the people of Pittsburgh and even the NHL Penguins.

The Stanley Cup champions have offered Kaleena a private suite to watch a game if she's well enough after her first week of grueling treatments with immune-system-boosting interleukin 2.

All that American compassion and generosity is most welcome, of course.

But, unwittingly, Kaleena's situation has the potential of turning political, if it hasn't already.

I sense that for the vociferous and ultra-well-funded opponents to U.S. President Barack Obama's health-care initiative, the story of a Canadian woman coming to the United States because there is no treatment for her condition in Canada is just what the doctor ordered.

There was nothing directly linked to the health-care debate in the Pittsburgh television report, but there wouldn't need to be.

"This is my best option, so if that's what it takes to stay around for my baby girl," Kaleena told WTAE, the ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh, "then that's what I'll do."

The report on the station's website went on to say this:

"While Hudon's health insurance is covering procedure costs, she's trying to raise money to help her afford the trip and lodging and expenses during her month-long stay in Pittsburgh."

For the record, Kaleena's "health insurance" -- government-funded health insurance of course -- covers not only the administering of interleukin 2, but Manitoba Health covers the cost of flying Kaleena and Dave to Pittsburgh.

Enough of that.

The really good news is that thanks to the guardian angel, their friends and contacts, Kaleena is receiving her treatments more quickly than she would have and she has the family she needs most by her side when she begins treatments today.

If all goes well, Kaleena will receive treatments for a week, followed by a week of recovery, followed by another round.

You can follow her progress in Pittsburgh over the next month on the Internet by checking her website: www.DreamingsNotEnough.ca

gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 5, 2009 B1