WATCH ABOVE: Many think being diagnosed with cancer is the worst thing that can happen to a person but survivors say what comes after treatment is actually when the real challenge begins. Rachel Lau has more.
MONTREAL — Tristan Williams, 24, has gone through more in the last 12 years than many will in their entire life.
“I first got diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002 when I was 12 years old,” he said.
Then, he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2009 and bone cancer in his hip in 2012.
“Facing cancer to me is like facing yourself because you really get to see what you’re made of,” Williams told Global News.
He has had his hip replaced twice.
“It’s been traumatic, I’ve been depressed for the majority-part of my life just because I’ve been battling internally,” he said.
“There’s a physical battle but there’s also an internal battle.”
READ MORE: MUHC survivorship program brings attention to the internal struggle of cancer survivors
After the second hip surgery, Williams says it was up to him to rip himself out of the emotional darkness.
“You’re flooded with depressive thoughts and death, anger and frustration,” he said. “Not feeling good enough watching other people live life and you’re here and you can’t walk. You need support.”
Some in the medical community acknowledge there isn’t enough support for cancer survivors in Canada. Dr. Geneviève Chaput is trying to change that.
“I do think that some of them do have a hard time going back to a normal life,” said Chaput. “I think it would be arrogant to say that people ever do get back to a normal life.”
She founded the MUHC Survivorship program to give survivors the support they need.
There is already a pain clinic and a rehab program in place, but Chaput insists there’s still much more to do.
“The majority go through pain,” she said. “A lot of them go through fear of recurrence, anxiety issues. So, it really is an issue at large that needs to target every single cancer patient.”
WATCH: Dr. Geneviève Chaput describes how the MUHC is helping survivors get back on their feet
But the struggle isn’t just psychological.
Mei-Lin Yee is living with stage four breast cancer and hasn’t been able to find a job because of her diagnosis.
“There’s a lack of support of people after they’ve gone through cancer as to how to deal when they are going back to the work force,” she said.
READ MORE: Quebec cancer patients struggle to cover health costs
She created a support system and seminars to help survivors through the often rough transition back to work.
“Your self confidence is affected,” she said.
“You have gone through one of the hardest things a human being can ever live through and you’re trying to pick up the pieces of your life.”
That’s exactly what Williams is trying to do – take the first steps to embracing the smallest of victories.
He’s since founded the Tristan Williams MS Foundation to provide support, education and awareness for young adults living with MS.
“With everything that I live, with everything that I do, I put in that effort because if it’s the last time that I’m doing it, well I just want to live my life,” he said.
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