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‘I need to fight because of them’: How a Winnipeg woman navigated cancer while caring for her aging parents | CBC News


‘I need to fight because of them’: How a Winnipeg woman navigated cancer while caring for her aging parents | CBC News

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It was 2022, and Eufrecina Juan had a lot on her plate. Both of her parents were elderly. Both were unwell. Both were forgetful. So Juan was their primary caregiver.

And then that summer, things got more complicated. Juan found out she had cancer.

“It’s a really hard situation,” Juan said. “I’m still caring for both my sick parents. And I cannot be a patient caring full time for my sick parents at the same time.”

But she had no choice. So she continued on, caring for her mother, Pacita Juan, and her father, Pedro Juan, while going through 29 rounds of chemotherapy, then surgery, and then several more rounds of chemo.

“It’s not only for myself, but I need to fight because of them,” she said.

A selfie of a person wearing a gray beanie, glasses, and a blue surgical mask, sitting in a room with medical equipment visible.
After her cancer diagnosis, Juan found herself navigating the squeeze of dealing with her own cancer treatments and caring for her elderly parents. (Eufrecina Juan)

Juan’s fight — for both her life and for her parent’s quality of life, all at the same time — is a scenario that Cheryl Dizon-Reynante, a psychosocial oncology clinician based in Winnipeg, sees often.

Caregivers living with cancer sometimes don’t reach out for help, and instead try to persevere in silence, she said.

“They may be protecting loved ones in their life and not want to talk about the experience of cancer,” said Dizon-Reynante, but “you don’t have to do it alone.”

Clinicians like her “can help them to ease some of that distress and burden … by just being able to talk about it and name it and process,” she said.

A woman stands pouring a dark beverage into a mug for two elderly people seated together at a kitchen table.
Pedro and Pacita Juan, both 89, are cared for by their daughter Eufrecina, right. (Chantelle Roderiguez)

Today, Juan says she is healed and can go back to putting all her energy into caring for her parents.

“Now that I have time, [I] make sure that I will do everything for them,” Juan said.

She shares her story in a short documentary, produced by Chantelle Rodriguez, Caleb Saladaga and Whydah Marley, who are student filmmakers in the Create post-high filmmaking program at Sisler High School in Winnipeg.

Click on the player above to watch.

Meet the filmmakers

Head and shoulders portrait of young woman with long, straight black hair. She has braces on her teeth and is wearing a V-neck T-shirt.
Chantelle Rodriguez is a proud Filipino who graduated from Sisler High School. She has had a long-standing passion for filmmaking since middle school, specifically editing and cinematography. Beyond filmmaking, she also enjoys photography to capture meaningful memories, and scrapbooking to enhance her creativity. (Sisler Create)
Head and shoulders portrait of a young man with short, dark hair. He has thin, black-frame glasses and is wearing black sweatshirt.
Caleb Saladaga is a storyteller at heart, blending creativity and technical skill to craft films and media projects that leave a lasting impression. With experience in editing, production and narrative development, he thrives in collaborative environments where ideas can grow into meaningful visuals. Driven by curiosity and a passion for connection, Caleb continues to explore new ways to bring stories to life and inspire audiences through his work. (Jurgen Haussler)
Head and shoulders portrait of young Filipino woman with long, blond straight hair. She is wearing a black top with gold ring accents.
Whydah Marley has always loved documenting life’s moments, a passion that naturally led her into filmmaking. She sees film as a way to capture emotions, tell stories and preserve memories. She enjoys getting lost in music and art. Her curiosity and time with loved ones inspire the everyday moments at the heart of her storytelling. (Jurgen Haussler)

More about Project POV: Sisler Create

CBC Manitoba’s Project POV: Sisler Create is a storytelling collaboration that partners filmmaking students with CBC Manitoba journalists to produce short docs. You can see past projects here. 

The Winnipeg School Division’s Create program is hosted at Sisler High School and trains post-high students in the creative digital arts.

During fall 2025, CBC journalists taught storytelling to filmmaking students and led producing workshops at Sisler.

Create focuses on education and career pathways into the creative industries. Students can take courses in animation, film, game design, visual effects, graphic design and interactive digital media.