Sunday, February 16th, 2025

The family of a woman with cancer is hoping to see you on the dance floor at a party to help raise funds to support her during her fight.

Tanya Schmidt Prentice was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer of the appendix in September 2011. Called the “dandelion cancer,” the tumours spread like seeds when they are touched.

At the time of her diagnosis, the cancer had already spread to other parts of Tanya’s body. Since then, she has endured five surgeries and six months of chemotherapy, as well as a procedure to pump chemotherapy through her body internally and remove more tumours earlier this month.

Since being diagnosed, Tanya, who lives in Wasaga Beach with her husband, Kevin Prentice, and two children, Hanna Tesseris, 15, and Sara Tesseris, 11, hasn’t been able to resume her job as a law clerk. As well, her husband, Kevin, receives no paycheque when he takes time off from his job as a contractor to support her.

“[Having cancer] is financially crippling and creates stress,” Tanya says. “It takes a long time to recover from, especially if you are constantly going through treatment and surgeries… After you pay for gas for trips to Toronto for treatment, parking at the hospital and food for my husband who sleeps beside my bed on the floor because I need help… it just keeps adding up.”

To help the Prentices with financial support, her family (many of whom live in Mulmur) is organizing a fundraising event at the Creemore Legion Hall. On Saturday, January 11, supporters are invited to come out for a night of dinner and dancing, a silent auction and draws. Admission to the event is a non-perishable food item.

“We don’t know what to say. It goes beyond words what people are giving us,” says Tanya, about the upcoming event her mother, mother-in-law and cousins are organizing. “Our family never lived in fear; we live in hope.”

In spite of all she has endured, Tanya remains positive, especially during the recent Christmas season. She credits her faith in God with her positive outlook. She even hopes to have recovered well enough from her latest procedure – a chemotherapy bath and debulking at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto on December 10 – to do the “robot dance” at the Legion Hall on January 11.

“There is a 0% survival rate, but I’ve already beat it!” says Tanya, who reports she has recovered well from each of the many procedures she has had. “The oncologist has already said I am a miracle. So much could have gone wrong that hasn’t.”

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