Jennifer Weiss was 32 years old when doctors discovered the cancer. The stabbing pains in her upper abdomen, it turned out, were caused by an extremely rare islet cell neuroendocrine tumour of the pancreas. A new mother to a six-week-old baby girl, Weiss was floored.

"I was just spinning," said Weiss of the day more than seven years ago. "I was desperate to have surgery. I knew I had to get it out. It was total desperation."

What Weiss didn't know at the time was that the diagnosis would spawn an incredible friendship, strengthen another and change her life for the better.

Seven months after receiving the news, Weiss had surgery to remove the tumour. A liver resection came 18 months after that, followed by six months of chemotherapy. The cancer returned, however, leaving Weiss palliative. The only option left -- one only available for rare types of cancers such as Weiss's -- would be to ask friends and family to donate half a liver.

"It's really risky to donate half of your liver and it hadn't been done a lot in B.C.," Weiss said. "I didn't want to guarantee anything, so I just ... sent out an e-mail and linked to BC Transplant's living donation page. I said, 'I totally understand if you can't do it, but please consider being an organ donor.'"

Friend Sonnet Force was selected out of more than 50 replies and met transplant criteria. On Jan. 11, 2007, Weiss's daughter's fourth birthday, the two women had surgery.

"I had made a wish that I could do something to help and thought, 'Well, here's my opportunity,'" said Force, who didn't hesitate to volunteer. "At that moment, I asked myself if I'm that person I want to be, and if I am, and I have integrity, then this is my chance."

Said Weiss: "Her act of giving taught me, and my family, the true meaning of generosity, friendship and what it means to put the needs of others first."

Ten days after the operation, however, Weiss suffered a blockage in her hepatic artery and required yet another liver transplant -- this time from a deceased donor.

Force, meanwhile, endured a postprocedural complication that required a second operation later in the year. Even knowing this, Force said she would do it all over again.

"You don't often get a chance to really help somebody," she said. "We kind of stand by and watch friends and family suffer, and feel helpless. Here was an opportunity to help somebody I cared about."

Force ultimately gave Weiss much more than a liver, however. A former member of a local choir called Singspiration Singers, Force introduced Weiss to the group and recommended she join. Headed by vocal instructor, composer, singer and songwriter Julie Blue, the group meets every Tuesday evening to sing uplifting and inspirational songs, many written by Blue herself.

Force, who was with the choir for about a year, said it had helped her overcome relationship and trust issues.

"My experience with Singspiration brought me to a heightened level within myself," she said.

"It was very uplifting for me, very open and positive, though I didn't realize it would be such a profound transformation for her."

Weiss joined the choir last November and credits it for restoring hope in her life.

"I feel like this woman [Julie Blue] has totally transformed my whole life," she said. "It's one thing to be healed, it's another to believe it. It's a whole other to feel like it, too. She's part counsellor, part coach. She really encourages people to be the best that they can be."

Blue credits the choir's healing ability to a comfortable and nurturing environment that enables members to open up and relax.

"There's also an element about music itself that is so powerful," she said.

"Music touches us at a soul level. Another thing is, when we sing, we breathe like we breathed as babies. The body has to engage fully and you really move out a lot of tension."

Weiss, who has now been given a clean bill of health, will perform with Blue and the Singspiration Singers at Mount Seymour United Church in North Vancouver on Saturday.

Tickets for adults are $20; children by donation.

awoo@vancouversun.com