“I found a lump in my breast in January 2025 and honestly, I didn’t think much of it at first,” remembers Summer Bellamy.
As a single mom to three boys in Port Hope, Summer leads an active and busy life. Her friends would say she’s energetic, optimistic, and pretty determined – someone who tends to look for solutions and keep moving forward, even when things are difficult.
When she came to Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH) for a mammogram, she was not expecting it to lead to a cancer diagnosis. After her initial scan led to further imaging and a biopsy, she learned she had three separate lesions all rated BI-RADS 5, meaning they were all highly suspicious for malignancy. This was the start of her cancer care journey.
Thinking about her experiences – from that initial mammogram, through treatment at NHH – the word that jumps out to her is caring.
“Every time I have been at NHH, I’ve interacted with different people across different departments, and what consistently comes through is that people care,” Summer shares. “You feel it in the way they speak to you, in the way they explain things, and in the small interactions that happen throughout your visit.”
For Summer, being able to receive care in her community made a big difference. She found something comforting about being close to home and occasionally seeing familiar faces – it made dealing with something as disruptive and frightening as cancer just a little bit easier and the experience feel less clinical, and more personal. She is grateful to have this care available in her community and recognizes the role donations have played in ensuring our hospital is well-prepared to care for patients like her.
“When you donate to NHH, you may never know exactly whose life your donation touches, but there is a very good chance it will eventually be someone you know,” she shares. “Donations aren’t just buying equipment. They’re helping give people answers. They’re helping shorten the distance between uncertainty and diagnosis. And they’re helping healthcare professionals provide the kind of care they want to provide.”
