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IGLULIK - An Iglulik family may be separated because the parents cannot afford to have their children accompany their father as he receives cancer treatment in the south.

Uriah and Mary-Lee Aliyak and their children Kutserk, 15, Quqtii,8, and Misheralak, 5. - photo courtesy of Mary-Lee Aliyak

Uriah Aliyak has been diagnosed with intestinal and liver cancer. He requires chemotherapy and radiation treatment in Winnipeg, but the policy in place only allows him to take one escort to help him through the ordeal. Uriah's wife Mary-Lee is deeply reluctant to leave her three children, but cannot let her husband go through cancer treatment without her support.

"We can't have our kids (with us) for six months to a year or longer," says Mary-Lee of the lengthy separation period.

Upon his diagnosis Uriah was informed he cannot return to Nunavut unless he responds exceptionally well to treatment. A common fever would be life-threatening for Uriah's weakened system and he would need immediate high-end medical attention unavailable in Iglulik.

Without government support the Aliyaks have two options. If Uriak and Mary-Lee leave their children in the care of relatives in Rankin Inlet they can live in the Inuit Centre in Winnipeg, paid for by the Government of Nunavut. Or they can get an apartment in Winnipeg and live their with their

children at their own expense.

Uriah's prognosis is grim. His doctors told him he probably has only two to five years to live even with treatment. Without treatment Uriah might only have a few months left.

His doctor informed him he could no longer work at his maintenance job with the Nunavut Housing Corporation and Mary-Lee is on a year's unpaid leave from her position at Iglulik's Department of Human Resources.

"Within just two months our whole life situation has changed from a family with two working parents to two parents not working and maybe separated from our kids," she laments.

Uriah had been suffering from digestive problems for years and received many different diagnoses. His symptoms worsened over the summer as he lost 24 pounds in two months. A check-up in Ottawa revealed he had a massive tumour blocking his intestine, requiring emergency surgery. Further tests showed more tumours in his liver.

Uriah's cancer treatment is expected to last at least six months, so when his and his wife's employment insurance runs out they'd have to go on welfare to make ends meet if they live in Winnipeg as a family. This is not an option the Aliyaks are eager to pursue.

"I just never want to be on welfare," Mary-Lee insists. "I like to work and I like to say I support my own family."

Mary-Lee is deeply critical of the government's lack of support for keeping families together in a difficult situation like hers.

"There's nothing in place for long-term care outside of Nunavut," she says.

She hopes to get some kind of additional financial help so she and her husband can live in Winnipeg with their children while Uriah is in treatment. They'd like to register their children to attend school there.

Nunavut Department of Health and Social Services spokesperson Yasmina Pepa would not comment on the Aliyak family's predicament, but says, “the service is for the patient. Our primary concern is to care for that patient. Hopefully the family has a support network in place.”

Pepa says the Department of Health and Social Services does have a provision for patients and escorts to bring an infant who is still breastfeeding, but that is all.