When Frank Sobey was recuperating from surgery for prostate cancer last year, he and his wife, Debbi, watched a lot of the World Series baseball games. “I realized that as a batter prepared to face off against a pitcher the outcomes were fairly well known. Yet when doctors talk to patients about the outcomes of prostate cancer surgery, those outcomes are not nearly so well known,” says Frank Sobey.
That realization hit home and led the Sobeys to establish the Soillse Fund for Clinical Outcomes Research. “Our goal was to establish a $2 million endowment that would focus on clinical care of patients with prostate cancer,” says Debbi Sobey.
“We’re 60 per cent of the way there,” she adds. The Soillse Fund is not about curing cancer. There are other initiatives focused on that very important goal. Traditional prostate treatments are typically directed at the management of cancer rather than the side effects of treatment. This endowment – the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada – is focused on specifically improving post-operative recovery, reducing complications and improving quality of life – for patients and their families. The first award has now been given to Dr. David Bell, the Maritimes’ leading prostate cancer specialist.
The Sobeys decided to establish their endowment fund through Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation because of its close relationship with the Dalhousie Medical School, the only training ground for physicians in the Maritimes, and the long history they have with the charity. Frank Sobey is currently Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
“We were also aware of just how important Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation is to cancer research in this province,” says Mr. Sobey. “The Foundation is the largest non-government funder of cancer research in Atlantic Canada.”
The name of the vital new fund, Soillse, is a Gaelic word pronounced “saul-sha” that means elucidation or light. “Prostate cancer has been one of those forbidden topics,” says Debbi Sobey, a Gaelic learner. “People have been uncomfortable talking about it. We wanted to shed light on the fact that it’s not the end if you are diagnosed with cancer, especially prostate cancer.”
In the case of the Soillse Fund, it is a light that will keep on shining.