Meet Nathalie

Nathalie before she was diagnosed

with cervical cancer

Hello,
My name is Nathalie St-Pierre Roths and I am a French-Canadian who moved to Silicon Valley in 1993. I currently live in the Santa Cruz Mountains with my husband Mark and my two children, Savannah (11) and Andre (9). I graduated Cum Laude in Animation/Illustration from San Jose State University in May 2008. In my spare time, I like to create art, go to the gym, practice some outdoor sports, enjoy the cultural scene (music, theater, movies, museums), reading books, writing letters (I have more than 200 pen-pals worldwide!), enjoy activities with my family and probably spend too much time on the computer.

I also do quite a lot of volunteer work, including teaching French to friends (adults/children), doing graphic art for my children’s school (newspaper/magazine ads, special events promotions, etc…) and create scrapbook album pages for Women Care, a non-profit association for women battling cancer (association that has helped me greatly since I was first diagnosed with cancer in September 2009).

Since the cancer came in my life, I have not only fear that time is running out for achieving my professional goals but also, I am worried that my children will grow up without their mother. I am the one who holds the fort together and can magically make appear a beloved toy or favorite book that my children lost days or weeks ago.

Nathalie at the hospital receiving chemo and radiotherapy

with her two children Andre and Savannah by her side

I am also very concerned at the rate to which medical bills come in my mailbox. I have personal health insurance, one that I can afford but out of pocket, co-payments and non-covered fees are enormous. I come from Canada where medical care is taken care by the government. It has been my goal during this battle to always work so I could pay my medical bills on time. Since my arrival in USA, all the work I could find were temporary contracts, hence providing no benefits. Unless you have been in the same situation, nobody knows how much everything cost and the frustration of being in a country where health care is often for those who have money or a permanent job.Cancer is not picky when it chooses a victim.

I made a commitment to continue working while going through my cancer battle. It allows me to feel like a normal individual but also to provide a financial support to my family. Initially, I was told by my doctor that I may have to stop working at some point due to extreme fatigue. She was worried about the long commute (50 minutes each way). Cancer will affect people differently.

The daily challenge for me is to deal with smells. Nausea will quickly pick up if I am in an environment where there is constant food or perfume/cologne smells. I often wear a medical mask at work to cut smell. I sit close to the cafeteria which hasn’t helped but the mask has dramatically cut my nausea. I have to take a truck load of anti-nausea pills to be able to function normally on a daily basis.

After my diagnosis, I have seen a serious shift in who were my true friends. Some people couldn’t face my illness or didn’t know what to say to me so they literally disappeared from my life. A few people even blocked me from Facebook because they didn’t want to read my cancer updates. The situation was a little more difficult with my children. Their grades went down at school. My daughter has expressed her fear of seeing me losing my hair. My son, who is an introvert, hasn’t said much but I know he worries to loose his mom.

Since I started the cancer treatment, I became more assertive with people in general. I am able to be more patient in some situations and able to enjoy life on a daily basis. I enjoy days where the nausea and fatigue are not as strong. I always had a love of fabric art (even though I never studied in this field) and took on knitting with my daughter. Besides the fact I hope to win this cancer battle and to put this episode behind me, I hope I will pursue my dreams. I can’t wait to be fully healthy again and to appreciate going to the doctor only once a year for annual checkup (instead of weekly or monthly visit, like I am going through now).

Working at Google give Nathalie
hope to pursue an MBA

My work experience at numerous Silicon Valley companies, including Google, gave me the hope to pursue an MBA one day and hopefully increase my chances to get a permanent job offer with benefits. I am hoping to do more fabric art, including quilting, an art form that my grandmother excelled at but passed away with her secret skills without passing it on to other generations. I also want to travel more and perhaps visit some of my pen-pals around the world. I also want to commit to do more volunteer work for Women Care, like making meals for cancer patients and be involved in the Sisterhood Program, where a cancer survivor is match with a cancer patient as a supporting friend.

I truly appreciate that a fundraiser (Zap Cancer) and its blog (zapcancer.blogspot.com) were established to help me with the cancer challenge I am facing now. Initially, when I told my managers about my illness, I had serious concerns I might loose my contract at Google and I was also concerned about my co-workers’ reactions. The Zap Cancer initiative has showed me unconditional support from my peer Sonia - Campaign Organizer and all the people I work with.

I chose food stores as my preferred gift card choices because it has been difficult for me to cook in the kitchen for longer than 10 minutes at a time. I have small tolerance toward smells. Having a ready-made meals or a meal that requires very little prep time would greatly help me in functioning normally on a daily basis.

I want to thank everyone who will contribute to the fund. It is greatly appreciated as the economy is not the greatest right now and we all have our personal financial responsibilities. Many of my co-workers are temporary employees (like I am) and we all live with the uncertainty of the future. I truly appreciate your donation, as little as you plan to give.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much!

Nathalie S. Roths
Nathalie's blog: A french Canadian in California