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About a year ago, Nathan Fehr received a shocking diagnosis.
He learned that he had Stage 3 colorectal cancer.
Around the same time he was setting down the path of his treatment, he caught wind of a community initiative that had new relevance to him: Cancer Care Manitoba Foundation’s Lemonade Stands for Hope.
From here, alongside the difficulty of treatment, Fehr and his family also experienced the comfort and hope of being involved in the project, which sells the sweet and sour beverage to raise funds for cancer care in the province.
Last year, with their “Cats and Rainbows Lemonade Stand,” named by then seven-year-old Cassidy, the Fehrs raised over $4,000.
“The response was incredible,” said Fehr. “It was amazing.”
How are things now?
The Fehr family will again be holding a lemonade stand for Cancer Care Manitoba in 2025, but the circumstances are a bit different — and brighter.
“This year, thank goodness, I'm a survivor,” said Fehr.
A year’s journey
Although Fehr has reached the finish line after his victory over cancer, the year leading up to this point hasn’t been an easy one.
He completed “two major rounds of treatment” in summer and fall last year, which was a difficult process about which Fehr continues to show a sense of humour.
“They gave me the harder course of chemotherapy, not to brag,” he said. “Because I'm young and reasonably healthy, they hit me with the harder stuff.”
A part of the process included taking a grand total of 12 pills a day, a necessity that he said he made more palatable by enjoying peach candies afterwards.
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Fehr also said that one of the harder parts of the process was weathering the side effects of his treatment, one of which might be new to those who haven’t gone through cancer.
“The result of the IV chemotherapy was this extreme cold sensitivity,” he said. “I had gloves in the kitchen if I needed to take something out of the freezer because it was like it would burn my hands. It was like holding ice cubes and just trying to hang on to them.”
Missing time with family
For Fehr, another difficult part of treatment that was a consequence of the physical toll it took was that he wasn’t able to spend as much as time with his children (who are now eight and four years old) as he wanted.
“There are a lot of interactions with your kids that you're missing out on,” he said. “It's tough to sort of take that much time out of your day when you have two young and active kids and you know you're putting a lot on your spouse to handle that stuff.”
On the other hand, Fehr joked that his time spent resting during treatment helped him forge a new understanding with the family cat.
“I napped a lot — the cat and I got along great,” he said. “We found a new stage to our relationship.”
A surprising part of treatment
When Fehr reflects on the experience of fighting cancer, he said that one of the most unexpected features of it was the good nature and the light that the medical staff he encountered embodied.
“I was surprised at just how positive and patient people can be, seeing so much challenge and struggle and suffering around them,” he said. “It’s amazing. They’re special folks.”
Triumph and a new lemonade stand
Now, a year later, Fehr is enjoying his life post-cancer.
“I'm a cancer survivor now,” he reiterated. “I had major abdominal surgery in February, did a lot of recovery from that, and got used to a new way of living.”
Although the circumstances of the Fehrs’ lemonade stand this year are different, the family is just as enthusiastic about this iteration.
For Fehr, it means a lot to support the cause.
“As a cancer survivor, I benefitted directly from the research that this stand funds and I benefitted from the supplies that it buys for people,” he said. “This is one way that you can directly and indirectly ... help folks that are going through cancer.”
Like last year, the mind behind the stand is Fehr’s daughter, Cassidy, who will be helped along by the Cancer Care Foundation, which provides lemonade crystals, signage, and small giveaways for the fundraiser.
The name of the lemonade stand, after the family cat Gideon, is “My Cat Wants You To Buy Lemonade,” a title developed by Cassidy herself.
According to Fehr, the young “creative director” of the stand will also contribute some artwork to the sale in the form of bookmarks.
Baked goods will also be available.
To support cancer care in Manitoba at the My Cat Wants You To Buy Lemonade stand, visit 780 Townsend Drive in Winkler from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Gideon the cat (and the rest of the Fehr family) will thank you.
With files from Ty Hildebrand