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TAKING CARE | ANNIE PARKER

Decoding
Annie
Parker
One womans battle
with cancer brings
hope to millions of
women worldwide.
Words by Barb MacDonald

What does it take to inspire a Hollywood producer to base a movie on

your life? Tragedy, grit and inspiration, for sureand in the case of
Mississaugas Annie Parker, a gene mutation that is top of mind in the
world of breast cancer research and education.
In her spare time, the 62-year-old, long-time sales manager at
Mississaugas Living Arts Centre has been touring US cities the likes of
Chicago and Seattle, with US writer/director Steven Bernstein. Together
they are promoting the movie Decoding Annie Parker, which is based
on Parkers battle with cancer, and features actress Helen Hunt as Dr.
Mary-Claire King, the geneticist who in 1994 discovered the BRCA1 gene,
a gene mutation that, according to Cancer Care Ontario, increases a
womans risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer.
Though Dr. King and Parker never met until a recent film screening,
the two are linked because they were both convinced there could be a
genetic link to some cancers. Around the same time that Dr. King began
her 20-year ground-breaking research at the University of Washington,
more than 3,000 kilometres away, Parker was introduced to cancer at 13,
when she lost her mom to secondary breast cancer that had metastasized
to the lungs. Parker turned to her family for answers, but they had none.
They were so devastated they couldnt bring themselves to talk about
what had happened. Parkers doctors told her there was no genetic link.
So for years, she silently worried.
At 27, her fears were realized. Her sister died from ovarian
cancer. At 29, Parker was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer and
underwent a full radical mastectomy. At 38, she had a full hysterectomy
after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Four years ago, she had
chemotherapy after doctors detected a tumour behind her liver.

Anne Parker wins a Hope Award at the Celebration of Hope on October 28, 2012. On her left is Allan
Bell from the Markham Stouffville Hospital. On her right is CHFIs Erin Davis, host of the event.

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SPIRIT of the CITY

September/October 2013

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Today, armed with new research, family physicians are proactive.

Not only is it standard for doctors to conduct thorough family
histories, but a woman can speak openly to her family physician
to learn whether she is eligible for genetic testing. However,
awareness of the test and how women can take proactive steps to
fight the disease is still low.
Celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, who recently chose to have
a radical mastectomy after testing positive for the BRCA1 gene,
add to the chorus of advocates who want to create awareness for
the potential benefits of testing for the gene mutation. According
to the Canadian Cancer Society, BRCA1 is responsible for about
5 percent of all breast cancers and 4 to 11 percent of all ovarian
cancers. In 1999, after her full radical mastectomy, Parker began
writing a manuscript, hoping to encourage people to research their
family histories, and to help those whose lives had been impacted by
cancer. Fourteen years later, her questions and anxieties about cancer
are the story behind Decoding Annie Parkeralbeit a Hollywood
versionand remain the reason why she wants to help others.
The discovery of the BRCA1 gene and testing does not mean
everyone who has lost family to cancer will want to be tested.
Its a personal choice, says Parker, but it gives people a fighting
chance. I dont want anyone, not one, to have to go through the
unknowing, the uncertainty, she says. Parker realizes that the
choices are dramatic, but as a woman who has survived cancer
three times, shes passionate when she says, Im not saying
everyone should do it. But you now have these options: options
I didnt have. This is your choice. You either do it or you die.

Currently the film is being

screened in select US cities to charities
and groups where members have
been touched by cancer. Parker and
Bernstein will field questions from the
audience members, hoping to address
fears. When I hear that word, cancer,
says Parker, my knees still weaken,
my heart still pounds. But for those
in the audience watching her, they
see a woman who has survived three
cancers. They see me, says Parker, and they have hope in their
eyes. And when friends sometimes ask why, if she is cancer-free,
she cant just live her life? She says: I just know this is what Im
supposed to be doing.
This dedication to the cause was recently recognized by the
Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation, when Parker and two
other recipients were honoured at the 2012 CIBC Celebration of
Hope, in support of the Markham Stouffville Hospitals Breast
Health Centre and Cancer Clinic.
As Parker awaits news of a film distribution deal, she takes
on each day with a smile on her face. After all, Im an ordinary
person, she says, doing an ordinary job, with an ordinary family,
with an extraordinary history of cancer.
For more information, visit cancer.ca.

Eugenia Duodu:

A Brilliant
Mind

Up-and-coming scientist Eugenia

Duodu is not only a top student
at the University of Toronto
Mississauga (UTM), but also a
passionate community activist
and leader.
Duodu, a PhD candidate in the field of medicinal and
molecular recognition chemistry, focuses her research on the
diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
One of 19 awarded the esteemed Harry Jerome Award
last year, Duodu has been previously awarded the David H.
Farrar Graduate Scholarship in Chemistry, honouring her
immense academic achievements in addition to her exemplary
extracurricular work at UTM. She has also recently been awarded
the 2013 Adel S. Sedra Distinguished Graduate Award.
Aside from her academic research, Duodu is an active
volunteer and humanitarian. She is currently the Executive
Director at Visions of Science Network for Learning (a non-profit
organization promoting science to low-income youth), a former
grant reviewer at ArtReach Toronto, a mentor within Toronto
Community Housing, and co-founder of the Creating Global
Citizens program. She also travelled to Uganda for two weeks
this summer to work at an orphanage.

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