Vanessa also participated in cross country skiing, snow shoeing, and figure skating. She was always selling the virtues of the club to new friends who were coaxed into joining in on the regular practice sessions. She thrived in the club with great coaches and friends. Vanessa was a member of the Gymnastics Club for 20 years. We found great opportunities for both of us, in particular we found the Calgary Special Olympics, Gymnastics Club, Columbia College and Indefinite Arts. In 1997, Vanessa and I left Saskatchewan for new adventures in Calgary, AB. I never worried as the staff always understood how special Vanessa was and watched over her during my work day. We always stayed in an apartment hotel, on Pennsylvania Avenue. They were always surprised by the knowledge she exhibited. She would often engage the staff in discussions about some of the programs they ran to restore populations of primates in South America. She loved the Smithsonian and the Washington Zoo. It took a few days but once she figured it out we could not keep her out of the ocean. Vanessa and Brian became a team that managed to travel to Barbados, Disney World, Vegas, a Caribbean Cruise and Hawaii, where Vanessa learned to snorkel. During all this Patricia worked to prepare Vanessa and Brian for the inevitable, which came in November of 1995. In 1987, Patricia started a long battle with brain cancer and Vanessa helped out supporting her mom through three surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy. During short holiday times we wrapped them in wet paper towel and stored them in the fridge crisper. We then started a terrarium with a salamander and frog we captured in the back yard. We recovered him a little worse for wear by propping open the vacuum port. The mouse once had an extra ride in the central vacuum system when Patricia and Vanessa were cleaning the cage. She also had a mouse, turtles, a salamander, a frog and many tropical fish. She always had pets, dogs included Rum, Wizard, Goldie, KD, Belle and now Ruby. She produced a book with illustrations and a fiber art cover that she presented to dad at Christmas. A few years ago she undertook research on the Canadian Hong Kong Veterans as her grandfather had been a prisoner of the Japanese for 44 months. She loved to write stories and we have many scribblers with many chapters depicting life on the prairies. She was an avid reader and read books which were special to her many times. She was always doing research, first with many books and then with the internet. Vanessa continued to get stronger and was able to take on more adventures. Patricia and Vanessa would take the bus between Regina and Saskatoon each month to attend University Hospital to continue management of her transplant and medications. Vanessa had to take an array of meds, she was amazingly good at taking them punctually and recognizing when the pharmacy made errors. Vanessa and her mom worked hard to manage her medications and diet. After that there were seizure management issues and occasional illnesses. It was a rough go at first as she had a severe rejection and it took everything the doctor’s could muster to get it settled. In September of that year, on the day Ben Johnson won & lost the gold medal for the 100 M dash (this was how Vanessa remembered the date), she received her transplant. At the age of 10, in 1988, her kidneys could no longer provide adequate function to keep her healthy and it was determined she would need a transplant. She never knew it but her mother followed her to school every day she rode her bike. She learned to ride her bike to school, which was a tremendous feat as she was directionally challenged. In White City she thrived attending the local school until Grade 8, after which she and her mother home-schooled. After that she and her mom Patricia managed the resulting kidney damage with a careful diet. This caused damage to her kidneys and brain but she persevered. At the age of 2 she contracted hemolytic uremic syndrome and was in a coma for several months. Before the age of one she moved to Saskatoon, SK. She was a good baby sleeping through the night almost from the beginning. She was born in Fredericton, NB after putting her mom Patricia through 32 hours of labor. Vanessa always had challenges to overcome throughout her life. Vanessa was quick to write: To Survive Cancer and make suggestions on how we can be creative killing my cancer! Unfortunately, there were no treatment options for Vanessa and our focus became pain management. When first admitted to FMC her room had a white board for medical information, appointments and patient comments with the heading Patient Goals. Vanessa Zytaruk passed away on Tuesday, October 9, 2018, following a two-month battle with cancer at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, at the age of 40 years.
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