It's been a long journey, but Agnes Pascal's effort to give a Book of Hope to the Northwest Territories has come to fruition.

Her work documents stories of NWT cancer patients alongside coping techniques from experts in the field and survivors themselves, as well as maps showing the connections between NWT communities.

"It gives you an idea of how long a distance patients travel," Pascal said. "If healthcare providers were to read it, I would hope it would influence them to work on change."

One thing absent from the book that Pascal had hoped to include is a story from every community in the NWT. However, she was able to ensure every region has representation.

In spite of this minor setback, she said she's quite happy with how the project turned out, noting that cancer itself doesn't exist in isolation from other aspects of physical and mental health.

"These storytellers, they trusted me," she said. "They were open and shared really personal parts of their lives with me. When you read the book, you'll see it's not only focused on cancer, they bring out a lot of other areas that we didn't plan on, but I'm glad we did.

"We also heard a lot of things that could be better in the healthcare system — not only offering of healthcare to patients, but also things like having an escort. A lot of our stories that were shared were of financial difficulties they experienced during treatment.

"It can be triggering. It does bring up addictions and residential schools. When I was done an interview, I would have to take a few days to process what I just heard."

Starting with funding from Hotii ts’eeda, a health research advocacy group hosted by the Tlicho Government, and some support from Crystal Milligan at the onset, Book of Hope came together through Pascal's resolve alongside Aurora Research Institute research chair Sara Komarnisky and accomplished NWT author Catherine Lafferty. The book would not have been possible without Komarnisky and Lafferty, according to Pascal, and she expressed her deepest thanks to them.

The book was born of the Inuvik cancer support group, which was founded in 2018 as a means for patients to connect and support each other.

Having now published her first book, Pascal said she is focusing on finishing her diploma in ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Indigenous counselling and establishing a stable career in that field. However, she added she has other projects in mind. Particularly, she said she's interested in doing a book on the work of her late father, Winston Moses.

But in the interim, she's enjoying the feeling of having completed the project.

"It's really a wide range of emotions," she said. "There's a sense of relief, excitement and an overwhelming gratitude to everyone who was involved in getting us to where we are today.

"Book of Hope became more than any one of us could have imagined."