Gordon Wong and his wife, Jessica Whiteside, met while standing in line at Western University. Their last names, arranged in alphabetical order, placed them next to each other, where they started a conversation and became friends. Years later, they reunited and eventually began their journey as husband and wife in 2005.
Together, the couple worked throughout their careers and raised two children, who are now 17 and 15.
Due to Gordon’s work in the oil and gas sector, they moved frequently, first starting in Toronto, then cycling between Calgary and Houston for several years until settling in Calgary during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, four years earlier they received the devastating news: Jessica had breast cancer.
“She was in her mid-40s, so completely unexpected,” said Gordon, recalling the initial shock of the diagnosis. “The kids were pretty young and I had a big job in Houston, and that was kind of the beginning.”
At the time, they lived in Houston, a place Gordon notes was like winning a lottery ticket when diagnosed with cancer, because his wife was cared for at MD Anderson Cancer Center, which is ranked No. 1 for cancer care in the United States.
According to Gordon, that ranking demonstrated their care, as her entire care team was present at her appointments to decide together on her best course of treatment. She had an aggressive tumor that was growing rapidly, and this approach made the whole process much easier to deal with.
#Care #Breast #Cancer #plate