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Religion: Breast cancer survivor’s journey of faith raises funds, inspires others

A former educator with the Saskatoon Catholic Board, Francesca Iosca-Pagnin documented her breast cancer journey and her story of healing in a book entitled Reflections 'NPink On The Wings of Love.

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In 2001, Francesca Iosca-Pagnin received the devastating news that the breast cancer she’d been treated for seven years earlier had recurred.

The initial cancer was eradicated with a lumpectomy and a regimen of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Not being a person content to sit back and simply endure, Iosca-Pagnin embarked on a program of information and education on the subject of breast cancer.

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“I felt I needed to do something constructive to make sense of what had happened to me,” she says.

Francesca prepared a proposal entitled ‘Fighting Back Through Education’ and presented it to the Cancer Society, the local Public Health Board, plus the Catholic and Public Boards of Education in Saskatoon. With the approval and endorsement of all these agencies, she began a schedule of public presentations on the subject of breast cancer.

Francesca Iosca-Pagnin documented her remarkable, faith-filled journey with breast cancer in REFLECTIONS ‘NPINK ON THE WINGS OF LOVE. Photo by Darlene Polachic
Francesca Iosca-Pagnin documented her remarkable, faith-filled journey with breast cancer in REFLECTIONS ‘NPINK ON THE WINGS OF LOVE. Photo by Darlene Polachic SASwp

After much networking and partnering with individuals and organizations in the community, Iosca-Pagnin organized the city’s first public-wide fundraiser walk for breast cancer. Fundraiser walks of 1998 and 1999 were huge successes and unprecedented in terms of money raised, sponsors acquired and people participating. Some of the funds raised from the 1998 Walk were used to buy an apheresis machine for stem cell transplants in Saskatoon.

In 2001, seven years later, Iosca-Pagnin was facing the same physical challenge. She made the difficult decision to have a mastectomy, but in the meantime, a woman she calls a visionary with the gift of healing hands was praying for her.

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Francesca was healed from the breast cancer, and knows exactly when it happened. The day was March 8, 2001. She was lying awake in bed at 4 a.m. praying.

“I felt methodical, deliberate heat surging through my body with movement so precise and calculated, I knew intuitively that something not-of-this world was taking place,” she says.

It was the beginning of an incredible physical and spiritual journey that would change Iosca-Pagnin’s world forever and create an acute awareness of God’s presence and power in her life.

Once again, she determined that the experience would not be wasted and that she would make lemonade from the lemons she’d been handed.

A former educator with the Saskatoon Catholic Board, Francesca documented her breast cancer journey and her story of healing in a book entitled Reflections ‘NPink On The Wings of Love. The book was an account of her journey taken from her recollections and the journal she kept throughout her breast cancer experience. It was published in 2004 and became a tool and a springboard for Francesca to speak about her experience and raise money and awareness for breast cancer initiatives in Saskatchewan.

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With sponsorship from Concentra Financial, Iosca-Pagnin had 3,000 books printed and 5,000 crystal-encrusted butterfly pins (designed by her son Rob) manufactured and sold. More than $600,000 was raised. The money was donated toward the purchase of a Mammotome Vacuum Biopsy System, Mammovision Elite CCD Digital Imaging equipment, and a Mammosound Integrated Ultrasound Device for Saskatchewan’s Breast Health Centre which was soon to open.

Francesca organized book launches and fundraising events and accepted invitations to speak all over the province about her journey with breast cancer. Her faith-filled presentations of hope, love, healing and encouragement were eagerly embraced by her audiences. Between February and November of 2004, she made more than 80 public appearances.

“All the books sold,” she says, “and all the money was donated to breast cancer initiatives. It was a totally non-profit venture. We estimate that for every one of the 3,000 books sold, 10 people read it.”

Shortly after Reflections ‘NPink On the Wings of Love was published, Francesca set up a website — www.reflectionsinpink.com — where people could learn about her breast cancer journey.

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“Last year, in 2017, I decided I’d shut down the website,” she says. “I figured it had outlived its usefulness. But when I checked the numbers, I was amazed to find that tens of thousands of people were still visiting the site. I realized I hadn’t finished telling my story.”

Instead of shutting down the website, Iosca-Pagnin had it updated to include Reflections ‘NPink On The Wings of Love which people can read for free.

“I wanted to make it accessible to everyone,” she says.

“The book is a story of hope for anyone facing turbulent times, and if it gives someone a glimmer of hope and light at the end of a dark tunnel, I’m happy. It’s amazing how much it means when I can say to a woman, I’m a breast cancer survivor. Her face just lights up.

“I tell women that if they hang in there with faith, they can stay the course.”

In 2005 Iosca-Pagnin was given the Commemorative Medal for the Centennial of Saskatchewan, and in 2015 she was inducted into the Saskatoon Council of Women Hall of Fame.

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