Former South Cariboo resident Amelia Orr has achieved amazing things since being diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, attracting recognition across the country for her efforts to inspire others and was recently asked to speak about her experiences publically.
Orr was also awarded a 2017 Medal of Courage (MoC) by the National Council of the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) for her exceptional courage in her battle with cancer and serving as an inspiration and role model to others in April.
In a letter first notifying Orr of her award in late March, CCS national council chair Robert Lowie extends his personal thanks for her commitment to the society’s mission and her passion for the fight against cancer.
“You have enhanced the quality of lives of people living with cancer in a most profound and meaningful way.”
Despite having volunteered for almost a decade with breast cancer patients on phone support lines via the CCS website, Orr was quite surprised to hear about her selection for the MoC, an award one must first be nominated for, she explains.
“I was honoured, and it is humbling, too, that they would award me for the work I’ve been doing for the past nine years.”
Then the CCS CIBC Run for the Cure asked Orr to give the 2017 Survivor Speech at their annual event locale in Vancouver on Oct. 1, after she says some of the CIBC corporate heads heard her talk at the award ceremony.
“They thought I was inspirational, and they liked what I’d said, and they thought I’d be a good [presenter] at the race.”
Diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in 2004, Orr was busy at the time with her career working in clinical research and managing clinical drug trials around the world, and she still is today.
In her Survivor Speech at the CIBC run, she talked about how she couldn’t believe it when she discovered the cause of a small, annoying pain in her chest when she worked out at the gym was actually an advanced stage of breast cancer.
She then spoke about her goal to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro.
“I found it very rewarding and inspiring for myself, because when I mentioned I was going to set myself a goal to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro – it was okay if I didn’t, 22,000 feet is pretty high – people were clapping.
“I said there is life after cancer, and I told them I made it, and so I got another clap. So it was really nice that people were listening and acknowledging that it is a big challenge for survivors that go through chemo/radiation.”
There a lot of pressure and damage to your heart and lungs at that elevation, so it was a big thing for her to realize her goal of climbing Africa’s highest mountain “just as well as any other person,” Orr explains.
“When I was at the top, I was like ‘wow, my ‘ticker’ and everything still works, despite all the radiation, the chemo, the pills.”
Mt. Kilimanjaro was her biggest achievement, but she has done plenty of other things after having breast cancer – including undergoing all the radiation and chemo that entails.
“I went to Everest Base Camp and Machu Picchu. I have done quite a lot of different challenges as I have gone through my treatment.”
Orr hopes to inspire other survivors to set and achieve positive goals, as well as the people in their surrounding environment who may impact these goals. She has volunteered as a support to others who need help to find ways to manage their cancer and treatments, something she herself has experienced.
One of the few volunteers who provide telephone support to people across Canada, she says this is likely because for a long time, she was one of the only people they had with inflammatory breast cancer.
“I had clients in every province. It’s wherever the person needs you.”
Now Orr continues to shine her light on what breast cancer patients can do, whatever they set their mind to.
“Inflammatory breast cancer is very aggressive, and it’s very rare. So it’s a hard one to diagnose … and it is considered as advanced breast cancer,” she says. “But there is life after, and it’s pretty good.”
Today, 13 years after diagnosis, she says “I feel great, maybe even better than ever” after achieving these successes with her personal health, with no re-occurrences. Orr points also to the good feeling she gets as a result of her mentorship to others with breast cancer and other types of the disease.
Orr’s popularity as an inspirational speaker is growing. This week, she is a guest speaker at an appreciation tea for scientists and researchers being held in Vancouver. However, notoriety hasn’t changed this cancer survivor’s positive attitude, vision and objective – her message to remind yourself to live for the day, keep a positive attitude and shine a light on your goals.
“[Cancer treatment] is a lot of toxic chemicals and a lot of people can’t bounce back to what they were, but I was hoping to show people that you can.
“Whatever your goal is, it doesn’t mean that your life stops. You can still challenge yourself – despite everything you’ve gone through, the treatments they give you – you can still do anything you want.”