Have you ever waken up one day as one person, and gone to bed that same night as another? What would you do if one day your life, your family, your job completely stopped by four little words? YOUR CHILD HAS CANCER. Who could you turn to for help?  The Guinea Kid is a story of one family’s struggle to find help and discover who it was they could turn to - and who they could not. Sharon Ruth has written an account of the appalling and inspiring journey she and her family went through after her six-year old daughter, Colleen, was diagnosed with cancer in May, 2003.
This book tells you of the issues facing a typical Canadian two-income working family. These families make up a large part of the Canadian population. If you belong to one of them, you may want to read this book. Sharon was not a newcomer to the cancer scene: “In 1987 my Mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. After surgery and radiation she made a full recovery. In December of 1989 my Mom’s cancer came back in her brain. She was determined to see her grandchild, and three months after my first child Ella was born on Dec 7, 1990 my mom passed away. In July of 2000 we moved to Oxford Station, near Ottawa. My father had a short battle with lung cancer starting in March 2000, and on May 19, 2000 was laid to rest. My oldest sister, Val Paterson fought a courageous battle against cancer as well, but succumbed to the disease in November 2002. On May 30th 2003, 6 months later, my youngest daughter Colleen, at the age of 6, was diagnosed with cancer. I suppose this makes me an expert on the impact of cancer treatment on families”.
For Sharon and her family, this series of encounters with disease and death has left them with a new perspective on life and hope. “My goal in life now, is to embrace each new day like an adventure, and pray that at day’s end our family will all still be together, healthy and happy, so that we can all wake up together again and have another adventure day after day. My other goal is to try to keep the strength, and patience that is needed to help change things in our outdated Social system, and ease some of the burden to parents whose child becomes critically ill”.
The book, The Guinea Kid, was written with specific aims in mind. Sharon wanted to share her experience with other parents going through the same ordeal. She hopes this will make it easier on them, knowing how others have coped and survived. She believes it is vital to give people such hope: “My daughter Colleen had many challenges during her treatments, and has survived 5 years now from one of the most aggressive rare cancers that was in stage 4 and in her bone marrow. My book has a happy ending, and maybe this will give hope to other parents”.
    And, of course, it is equally important that the general public gain some understanding of what happens to families in this position, when demands on their time, energy, finances and faith can be draining. It is essential that Governments recognise the problems and start providing help to these families, in an attempt to ease at least some of the dreadful burdens they carry.