'I don't think I'd be here talking to you': N.S. woman says being active during cancer journey helped her heal
Rosanne Briand says it’s important to share her cancer journey as a way to inspire others to move more.
The 69-year-old Nova Scotia woman was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer just over a year ago.
“I’m feeling much better, this year,” she says. “If you saw me last year at this time, I wouldn’t have been looking as good.
Rosanne says news of her diagnosis was shocking. She never felt short of breath, and says she has never smoked.
“I didn’t ask how long they were giving me, but they put me in palliative care,” she explains. “I lost a lot of weight, I wasn’t able to walk very shortly after I had a radiation treatment, couldn’t eat, wasn’t sleeping well. So, I was a mess.”
Targeted therapy followed in her treatment plan.
Rosanne says although she was so weak, she pushed herself to do something more.
In January, she contacted the Physical Activity and Cancer [PAC] Lab at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.
“It’s amazing to see people like Rosanne come into the program and when they start and they roll in in a wheelchair and then next thing you know, they’re doing squats and push ups and all kinds of things, bouncing on rebounders,” explains Tom Christensen, clinical exercise physiologist and research co-ordinator at the PAC lab.
Tom says the lab offers a number of programs and studies for people living with and beyond cancer.
“Exercise is really good as a pre-habilitative tool, to help people maintain or improve fitness before they start treatment,” he explains. “They definitely maintain fitness or mitigate declines in fitness when they’re on treatment, and then post-treatment, trying to bring them back to where they were before, sometimes even better physically than they were before with exercise.”
Tom encourages cancer patients at the QEII Health Sciences Centre to visit the PAC Lab, which is located in the Dickson building, or to visit their website for more information.
“It’s our hope that someday everybody who gets a cancer diagnosis is just going to be referred into the cancer care exercise program,” he explains. “For now, we are kind of this niche research model within Nova Scotia Health and the QEII Foundation has given us funding to run the program and we hope that it continues to grow as we move forward.”
Rosanne says after 12 weeks at the PAC lab she gave back her wheelchair and got on with her life.
She says she is eternally grateful for all the care she received and continues to receive at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.
“It takes a team of people to make you better when you have cancer,” she says. “I don’t think I’d be here talking to you today, honestly. I really don’t think I’d be here talking to you – because I think that changed my life.”
For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Former Alberta teacher sentenced to 4 years for sexually assaulting student
A former Alberta teacher has been sentenced to four years for sexually abusing a student.
Ontario plans to bar international students from medical schools starting in 2026
Ontario will not allow international students in medical schools beginning in the fall of 2026, and will also cover tuition for more than 1,000 students who commit to becoming a family doctor in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford said Friday.
Here's a look at Musk's contact with Putin and why it matters
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of major government contractor SpaceX and a key ally of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the last two years, The Wall Street Journal reported.
DEVELOPING Four arrested in Poland over alleged plot to send explosives via courier to Canada, U.S.
Polish authorities have arrested four individuals they allege planned to send parcels containing camouflaged explosives and dangerous materials to Canada and the United States, according to Poland’s government website.
Ottawa police deem death of a woman in south end park a femicide
A Montreal man is charged with first-degree murder in connection to the stabbing death of a woman at a park in Ottawa’s south end on Thursday.
DNA tests identify 19th-century teenager's skull found in Illinois home's wall
Investigators have determined that a skull discovered in the wall of an Illinois home in 1978 was that of an Indiana teenager who died more than 150 years ago, authorities announced Thursday.
E. coli infections tied to McDonald's burgers rise to 75, U.S. FDA says
The number of people infected by the E. coli outbreak tied to McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers increased to 75 from 49, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday.
Mom and child jumped from a window to escape a Las Vegas fire that killed 2 children and 2 adults
Two adults and two children were found dead in the charred rubble of a house fire after a mother and another child jumped from a third-floor window to escape flames in a southwest Las Vegas neighborhood, authorities said.
Indiana woman whose infant was disfigured in a rat attack gets probation
An Indiana woman who pleaded guilty to neglect after a rat attacked her 6-month-old son and left him with disfiguring injuries has been sentenced to probation, weeks after her husband received a lengthy prison term.