Monique Rodrigue almost considered postponing her routine mammogram. Today, she’s thankful she didn’t.

That mammogram at Southlake Health uncovered stage one, triple positive breast cancer — a very aggressive form that would have progressed significantly had she delayed her screening. In fact, her care team told her that this type of cancer could have more than doubled within six months. Had she waited, her stage one diagnosis could have become stage two or worse.

Thankfully, Southlake’s Regional Cancer Centre was just minutes from her Newmarket home.

“I had no idea how big of an impact Southlake was going to make on my life,” says Monique, a Newmarket resident for nearly 30 years.

Within days of her mammogram, Monique received a call about a follow-up biopsy. The team discovered something suspicious and moved quickly. Using the new MOLLI 2 System — a made-in-Canada, wire-free breast localization technology funded by thoughtful donors — the care team, using a needle, implanted a tiny marker, roughly the size of a sesame seed, to precisely locate her lesion to guide her surgery. This innovative approach is much less invasive than traditional methods, preserving more healthy tissue and providing a better patient experience with much less discomfort and pain at an already stressful and anxious time.

After a lumpectomy performed by Southlake’s Surgical team, Monique began three months of chemotherapy under the care of Dr. Farrah Kassam, followed by 19 days of radiation.

Through it all, her Southlake team made Monique feel like she was receiving personalized care, delivered by the most compassionate team.

On her very first day of chemotherapy, the nurses were working to get her IV started when her fiancé received an urgent phone call — his son needed to go to the hospital. The nurses immediately surrounded Monique, held her hand, and reassured them both.

“They said, ‘You’re in good hands. Go take care of your family,’” Monique recalls. “I felt like I was surrounded by people who cared and who had my back.”

That compassionate, human approach continued throughout her treatment.

“When the nurses talked to me, it wasn’t just about my treatment — it was about me,” Monique recounts. “They have conversations with you, like you are a member of their family. Everyone is positive, always smiling. They lift you up when you need it most.”

During her second chemotherapy treatment, Monique received her care  in a chair that was supported through the kind donations of people she knew. “It felt like a hug,” she recalls.

Being just 10 minutes from home also made all the difference during her recovery.

“I could not imagine going downtown for treatment, fighting traffic,” says Monique. “I felt confident that the treatment I was getting so close to home was going to be just as good, if not better, because it was so much easier to get to. Every day, I felt more and more confident in my decision to get care close to home.”

Today, Monique is cancer-free and recently got married. When she planned her wedding, she and her fiancé chose to ask guests to donate to Southlake’s Regional Cancer Centre instead of giving gifts — it was a way to give back to the place that saved her life.

“If I can make a change with my friends and family, to support something that gave me the opportunity to extend my life, I know that’s the right thing to do.”

Because of caring donors like you, every day, patients like Monique receive leading edge cancer care, close to home — when they need it most.