Andrea Dimmick and daughter Kylie, 7, pose for the camera. Two fundraising events for the pair are scheduled for Mar. 22. Proceeds from a fishing derby and dance will go to the Dimmicks to help offset some of the financial burdens they’ll face as Andrea undergoes treatment for thyroid cancer.
SUNDRIDGE — Andrea Dimmick said it’s great to be from a small town.
She’s recently come upon proof of her community’s values.
As the 27-year-old Sundridge woman battles a form of thyroid cancer, two fundraising events have been planned to help Dimmick and her daughter Kylie, seven, through this challenging time.
Last fall, Dimmick was visiting her doctor on an unrelated matter when the doctor noticed a lump in her neck.
Dimmick had noticed it before, she said. “But I didn’t think anything of it.”
After some testing, Dimmick underwent a biopsy. The lump and a part her thyroid gland were removed.
At a subsequent followup appointment, Dimmick was informed that she had papillary follicular thyroid cancer.
It’s the most common kind of thyroid cancer and affects about 20,000 North Americans each year.
Dimmick now has to have the rest of her thyroid gland removed. However, doctors will wait until her neck heals from her initial surgery to do this. She’ll have the second surgery this spring.
That will be followed by radiation. The treatment can’t be completed until her whole thyroid is removed.
But that means Dimmick will have to take significant time off from the private daycare she runs.
She’s still taking care of kids, for now, but says it’s been pretty tough since she’s very fatigued.
Dimmick said she doesn’t know whether the tiredness is an effect of the illness, surgery or stress.
Dimmick’s illness has also put stress on Kylie, she said, but added that the little girl is very understanding of her mom’s illness.
Dimmick noted that the illness affects Kylie’s life greatly too. Dimmick is a single mom.
But the two community fundraisers will try to help lessen some of the family’s worries.
The third annual Year Round Fishing Canada Wayne Callaghan memorial ice derby will donate all its proceeds to the Dimmick family this year.
The organizers of the tournament approached Dimmick to see if she was interested, but she said she turned them down at first.
“I just felt weird,” she said. “I though that there might be someone else that may have needed it more.”
Eventually, after some persuasion, she relented.
This year’s tournament will be held on Mar. 22 at the Northridge Inn on Lake Bernard.
It starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. The entry fee is $10 for adults and $5 for kids. Prizes will be awarded for the biggest fish — lake trout, whitefish, perch and ling are eligible. There will also be prize raffles and a 50/50 draw.
A barbecue lunch will be held at 1 p.m. on the ice and the Northridge Inn will hold an afternoon tea in conjunction with the event.
More information is available on Year Round Fishing’s website, www.yrf.ca. There’s also a link at the bottom that allows visitors to make donations to Dimmick.
The day’s events won’t stop at the end of the fishing tournament.
That evening, a second event for Dimmick will be held.
A fundraising dance will be held at the Sundridge legion, beginning at 8 p.m.
The dance has been organized by Dimmick’s friends, Trish, Bri and Lill Thornborrow.
There will be a DJ at the dance, as well as raffles and door prizes, Trish explained, with all proceeds going to Dimmick.
Tickets for the dance are $10. They’re available at Cox’s and the Lakeview stores in Sundridge, or by calling Trish at 384-5440 or Lill at 384-7768.
Dimmick said she definitely plans to go to the fishing tournament, since it’s family-friendly, so Kylie can come too.
“It’s partly for her, since she’s my family,” she said.
As for the dance, Dimmick said she wants to be there, since it would mean seeing lots of friends she hasn’t seen for a while, but said she might have to call it an early night, since she gets tired so easily.
As for the community outpouring she’s received, Dimmick said. “It’s very humbling…It’s great to be from a small town…so many people are willing to help.”
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