LEIDA'S STORY

After she was diagnosed with cancer for the third time a friend organized a fashion shoot so that Leida could let loose her girly tendencies. See photos and read Leida's thoughts as she battled melanoma for the third time. LAUNCH PHOTOGALLERY

Leida Finlayson was first diagnosed with melanoma at twenty-three. It re-appeared in 2000 in Calgary where she was working as an arts administrator and then again two years later.
Leida had returned to her family's home in St. John's, Newfoundland to save money to buy her own house and was working as the general manager of the Newfoundland Historic Trust. She had just finished her education degree and had plans to teach high school.

She met filmmaker Gerry Rogers, a neighbour who lived just down the street, at a hospital in St. John's. They decided to make a film together. "Leida was really up for it, she had some things to say," says Rogers.

Leida's prognosis wasn't good; doctors gave her six months to live. "It was really a film about living with dying."

Editing a book on hippy children
Leida was also a writer who wrote for the Telgram's Editorial Board in St. John's. While undergoing a round of treatments for her second bout with cancer, Leida had begun collecting stories about the adult children - herself included - of members of the hippie generation. She had hoped that it would be a good distraction and advertised nationally for submissions. Many of the stories she collected were humorous, from children who had rebelled against their parent's lifestyle and developed a taste for white bread and sliced, processed cheese.

Leida's own parents, Renee and Duncan, grew their own organic vegetables, sold homemade rugs at local craft fairs and had a Christmas tree that was topped by a huge peace symbol. Leida described herself as 'frou-frou' and adored wearing make-up and high heels. She even confessed to her friends that she would have loved to enter the Miss Teen Newfoundland contest in high school, although her mother would have been horrified.

PHOTOGALLERY: View photos and read Leida's thoughts during her battle with cancer. LAUNCH

"She loved to dress up, she loved fantasy, she loved sparkle", said filmmaker Gerry Rogers, who shot nearly seventy hours of footage with her subjects during the making of Pleasant Street. "She loved the camera, the attention and the glamour. We filmed intimate moments and profound moments."

Filming for Pleasant Street
Leida wanted to learn how to play the violin and had just started taking lessons. Rogers arranged a shoot in a historic old wine cellar that featured Leida playing air violin to concerto music. She wore make-up and long gown and "looked so beautiful as she twirled around and around to the music," recalls Rogers. Afterwards she cut the entire scene into a music video for Leida to enjoy.

Unfortunately, the third re-appearance of cancer in 2002 was resistant to chemotherapy and drugs. She died peacefully on July 19, 2003 surrounded by her parents, Renee and Duncan and her sister, Jennifer.

"Leida taught me that it's the snall stuff that can bring you joy," says Rogers. She was perfectly happy spending the end of her life surrounded by the people who loved her. "She faced death, talked about it and this film is her gift to the audience."

Leida's family has set up a scholarship in her honour. See resources for details.

KEN'S STORY

Ken Hickey was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of pancreatic cancer. Doctors knew very little about it but planned to treat it aggressively. Ken and his wife Rolanda share their thoughts as they face the future together. LAUNCH PHOTOGALLEY

Ken Hickey, a research radar engineer from St. John's Newfoundland was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in his early forties. "There are only eighteen reported cases" he says, "you'd have better chances of winning the Lotto than getting this."

He was stunned and at first, didn't believe the diagnosis. "I was so weak at that time that I felt like a dead body living in a bed," he remembers.

Making a film
His wife, Rolanda met filmmaker Gerry Rogers in the hospital where Rogers was also seeking treatment for her breast cancer. "We offered to film Ken so that Rolanda would have something to hold on to," remembers Rogers, "at the time, he was so sick that we didn't expect him to survive."

Then they decided to participate in the film that Rogers was making with their neighbour and cancer victim, Leida Finlayson. "I don't know why I did it," says Ken, "I guess it kept my mind off my problems and I hoped that it would help somebody else."

"No matter how weak he was Ken would get outside and shuffle up the hill," remembers Rogers. "He wouldn't give up." But Ken had to learn to let people help him. "I was like a baby overnight and Rolanda had to do everything."

Treating the cancer
Ken was treated with chemotherapy and radiation for six weeks in April 2003. The treatment was difficult but he did start getting stronger. The cancer is still in his pancreas but it's stopped growing. Now he has a CT scan every four months so doctors can track it.

PHOTOGALLERY: View photos and share Ken and Rolanda's thoughts as they faced his cancer. LAUNCH

Eighteen months later he says that he is at about sixty percent of his former energy level, "Every few months I feel just a tiny little bit better. It's been more up than down lately." Although he still has the cancer, Ken is hopeful about the future. He and his wife Rolanda are trying to start a family.

He says the experience has changed him. "I don't rush around as much as I used to. Everything has a lower priority. Now I only think about my wife, my family and a few close friends."

FILMMAKER - GERRY ROGERS

Gerry Rogers, in a scene from My Left Breast.

Pleasant Street is Gerry Roger's second film about cancer. Her first, My Left Breast documents her own, very personal, struggle with breast cancer.

When she was diagnosed in 1999 she looked for a film about cancer that would speak to her own experience. "I was afraid and ambivalent about treatment," she says, "but none of the films I saw reflected that." So Rogers set out to create her own.

"Cancer is the anti-thesis of life," she reflects. For her the film was as an act of defiance and an opportunity to gain some control over her life. "I filmed everything, even myself at my weakest and I was stripped bare during the experience." She learned that her vulnerability was her greatest strength.

The result is a moving film that has touched many people deeply. My Left Breast has won over 20 awards including two Geminis. Rosie O'Donnell saw it and invited Rogers to be a guest on her show. O'Donnell then purchased one hundred copies to distribute among her friends. "Afterwards I learned that the world is a lovely place, there are so many people who want to connect," says Rogers.

Listen to an interview with Shelagh Rogers with Gerry Rogers, after the release of My Left Breast. (20 min)

Gerry Rogers walks up Pleasant Street in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Rogers was in hospital undergoing her second mastectomy when she met Leida Finlayson and Ken Hickey who also both lived on Pleasant Street in St. John's Newfoundland. "I never intended to make a second film about cancer, we just started filming and the project grew from there."

Rogers spent nearly sixty hours filming with Ken Hickey and Leida Finlayson. "They just kept giving and giving, it was a relationship that was built on trust." The films follows Ken and Leida's journey with cancer.

Unfortunately Leida Finlayson grew sicker and sicker in front of the cameras and died in July 2003. "I was not prepared for that," says Rogers. "She didn't want to die. But she faced her death and talked about it." The most difficult moment came when she screened the completed film with Leida's parents. "It was so hard, everybody was crying. But they were proud of her and they knew she would have loved it."

GERRY ROGERS FILMOGRAPHY

Gerry Rogers began her film career in 1982 at the National Film Board's Studio D in Montreal. In 1992 she returned to her native Newfoundland and founded Augusta Productions.

Among the many films she has produced include the internationally award-winning To a Safer Place. Her directorial credits include the NFB/CBC co-production After The Montreal Massacre, the internationally award winning Vienna Tribunal, and Kathleen Shannon: on film, feminism, and other dreams.

^Top