"Old Man Keimo" Keith Whyte, a farmer from the Bengough area, shared his story as a cancer survivor at the annual general meeting for the Southeast Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society, held on Feb. 29 in Weyburn at McKenna Hall.

Whyte's journey with cancer began in 2006, when he fell off his tractor at his farm in Bengough and, the next thing he knew, he had a 30 minute operation to remove a tumour.

"The doctor said they were about to pull the plug on me, but they were able to save me," Whyte said. He was then told that they had found more cancer and that he had four to six months to live, but that could be extended with chemotherapy and the drug Avastin.

"When you have cancer, it is like having a bad dream. When you have a bad dream, though, you pinch yourself and wake up. With cancer, you wake up but the cancer is still there," Whyte said.

Knowing that his time was running out, Whyte decided to take up singing at the age of 64 to help raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Whyte is also known for his very public battle with the provincial government to have Avastin covered under Sask. Health. The drug costs $2,500 per shot and has put Whyte deeply in debt.

He remembered being contacted by the Saskatchewan Party before the last election wanting to use his figures and, in January, he was invited to a news conference being held by Premier Brad Wall.

"The day after the election (Wall) asked 'how fast can we get Avastin to Keith and the other patients?'," said Whyte.

The final word of advice that Whyte gave to those in attendance was to focus on something and don't put it off.

"You don't know what tomorrow will bring, so live your life," he said.

Saskatchewan division executive director Keith Karasin was also on hand and gave a presentation on PARIS (Prevention, Advocacy Research Information Support) and the Canadian Cancer Society's current status.

Karasin said that in 2006-2007, a total of 280 projects were underway across Saskatchewan. The downfall, however, is that last year only 29 per cent of the projects eligible for funding were funded.

"We left a lot of good science on the table," Karasin said.

He said that the current priorities of the Society are to get more complex tobacco control strategies, getting a colorectal cancer screening program and the banning of ornamental use of pesticides.

Some of the highlights from the past year included Saskatchewan and Manitoba signing an inter-divisional agreement, the development of the "Environment and You" publication, the release of Vitamin D recommendations, changes to breast health messages, a colorectal screen pilot that will be announced at a future date and holding a survey on advocacy topics.

The Society has developed a series of prevention and advocacy materials and products in the past year and are giving an addition $150,000 per year for three years to Saskatchewan cancer research projects. They are also giving an additional $100,000 for the Synchrotron project in Saskatoon.

"Now the society has put $200,000 to the Synchrotron project moving forward," Karasin said.