Calgarian actress Allison Lane, 36, was diagnosed with breast cancer just over a year ago. After a few months of shock and denial, Lane opted to take a unique approach to go through with her treatment. She decided to turn her ongoing battle into a short documentary called “Chem-Ho” and record herself during all the phases of her disease.

From hair loss to wig shopping to ultimate depression, Lane, who is also an acting teacher, producer and writer, explored how she coped with cancer in her dramatic and at times comedic short film.

Allison Lane posing for the camera.

“I was thinking, ‘What am I going to do now to get through this?’ It was either keep a journal or do something else; but I’m a performer, I needed to perform.

“I had a video camera and I had a great editing program in my computer. Plus, it was a full time job just keeping people updated, so I told them, well just go watch my videos.”

The Calgarian performer came up with the name of her series by joking that she is the “ho” of chemotherapy. She said this is because while she was getting treatment, she was “out and about” hitting on several different doctors to be seen.

Lane recorded several chapters of the different stages of her disease and posted them on YouTube. Due to the many hits and responses to her videos, the Toronto-based management team at Breast Fest Film Fest (an online short movie festival focused on breast cancer) chose her video to be one of the festival’s eight finalists.

“I was thinking, ‘What am I going to do now to get through this?’”
—Allison Lane

Nikki Byrne, the manager at Breast Fest Film Fest said: “The film was selected because we knew a lot of women would be able to relate to Allison’s story.  She’s a natural storyteller and her film was able to balance the really tough emotions that come with going through breast cancer with humour, and that’s not easy to do.

“Her short film draws you in and leaves you feeling hopeful and inspired.”

Lane’s co-worker Katia Kerekesova, who works at John Robert Powers Talent Agency, where Lane works as an acting teacher, said: “The way she lives her life now is full-on and it’s amazing to see this.

“Things are going really great for her so I’m really happy that she managed to beat the disease. And now with this film being selected it’s great. I didn’t doubt her for one second through this whole process.”

The winner of the Breast Fest Film Fest has not been announced yet, but the winner will be flown to Toronto for a presentation of their film on Nov. 21 and will be awarded with a $1,500 cash prize.

Lane’s video can be seen at www.breastfestfilmfest.com or on YouTube at www.youtube/thebizzybeaver.com.