By nature, twins have an unbreakable bond.
It was no shock Connie Claeys and Cortney Drover did all the things collectively: Rising up in Saskatchewan, transferring to Alberta and even working on the identical place.
The pair of an identical twins have skilled life by the same lens. Of their late 20s, they confronted their greatest problem but — aspect by aspect.
“I’m actually the oldest twin by five minutes… I feel like I’ve kind of done everything first,” Drover explains.
“This was no different — I got diagnosed in 2015 with Stage 3 breast cancer.”
Drover was simply months away from turning 30.
“I actually had a lump under my armpit… being that young, it’s just not even on your radar… I’ve never been, honestly, so shocked in my life.”
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Drover started eight rounds of chemotherapy, in addition to present process a double mastectomy and radiation remedy.
“The next thing I knew, I was getting called into the clinic because I also had breast cancer,” Claeys recalled.
“Especially back in 2015, it was just unheard of at that time, I feel, for women our age. It was terrifying.”
Claeys credit her sister for serving to discover the most cancers so shortly, and the 2 sought solutions as to how this might occur to each of them.
“We got tested for the BRCA2 gene, which we found out we both carry. That does give you a significantly higher chance of having breast cancer,” Claeys mentioned.
“It answered our questions. As sad as it is that we both have (breast cancer), we could accept it more,” Drover defined.
After a number of years, each girls thought they had been within the away from the illness.
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Somewhat greater than 5 years after Drover’s preliminary prognosis, she discovered one other lump on her neck and was identified once more, this time with Stave 4 metastatic breast most cancers — spreading past the breast and close by lymph nodes to different organs.
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It rocked the tight-knit household as soon as once more, and Claeys says she carried a number of guilt watching her sister start the battle once more.
“When Court got diagnosed in 2020 and I was cancer-free at that time, I would say that was the hardest two years of my life.”
However in 2022, Claeys would resume her battle as properly.
“I was actually just at an appointment with Cortney, just supporting her — our oncologist asked me to be part of a trial that prevents metastatic breast cancer from occurring.”
Claeys agreed, and underwent a CT scan to make sure all the things was clear.
“I ended up having a lump on my left lung.
“Instead of going on a trial to prevent it, I got my Stage 4 diagnosis.”
It’s a battle that’s lasted 10 years and can proceed to happen for the remainder of their lives.
The sisters already thought they had been inseparable, however the expertise has introduced them even nearer collectively.
“When I’m having a bad day and saying ‘My medication has made me feel like this,’ she gets it because she has the exact same things happening in her body — the exact same emotions,” Drover mentioned.
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The 2 girls dwell minutes other than one another in Okotoks, Alta. They are saying they’re thriving however even at present, their expertise is considerably completely different.
Drover struggles with the results of remedy extra so than Claeys, who says she’s nonetheless symptom-free.
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“When you aren’t in chemotherapy and you have your hair and you don’t physically look sick, but inside you’re just feeling terrible… family and friends try to understand it, but they really just don’t get it,” Claeys added.
“When you have that one person — especially when you’re twins — that understands what you’re going through. It just makes sense.”
What hasn’t modified is their shared dedication to take advantage of the little issues in life.
“With my first diagnosis, or my Stage 4 diagnosis, we didn’t know if Christmas was going to be the last Christmas we would have,” Drover mentioned.
“We never thought we’d get our first diagnosis, let alone another one after that… I think we just really cherish the little things now.”
“I find that the more years that pass, the scarier it gets,” Claeys mentioned.
“Now you’re thinking that you were only given three to five years (to live), and you’re at three to five years now, are you nearing the end of your rope? But I think the advances in medication even since we first got diagnosed in 2015 have been amazing.”
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Subsequent month, the twins will do yet one more factor collectively: collaborating within the CIBC Run for The Remedy in assist of the Canadian Most cancers Society.
Will probably be the third look for each of them.
“I’ve seen the advancement in research since 2015 and since 2022,” Claeys mentioned. “So I really just wanted to be a part of something that allowed us to fundraise and be a part of this advancement.”
Whereas elevating funds is the aim of the occasion, the twins say it’s a lot extra.
“It’s a lot about the community,” Drover mentioned.
“Cancer can be a very lonely journey. You can feel like ‘Nobody understands me,’” Claeys mentioned.
“To see all these people there… you’re like ‘I’m not alone.’ All these people are here for me and I’m here for everybody else.”
The CIBC Run for The Remedy takes place in additional than 50 communities throughout Canada on Sunday, Oct. 4.
“The run really is one day, a couple of hours… but it lasts forever. All of the funds that go towards this really do help breast cancer research. We’ve seen it first-hand.”
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