[2021-10-20] Cancer Champions Breakfast
Bright and early this morning, I headed to a studio on Holland Avenue to take part in the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation Cancer Champions Breakfast, which was held virtually again this year.
Lucy van Oldenbarneveld, former anchor of CBC Ottawa news at 6:00, hosted the virtual event. In addition to welcoming participants and introducing the powerful Hope is Now documentary, she interviewed Michael Maidment, President and CEO of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, and subsequently me.
From my vantage point at the back of the studio, I couldn't see or hear the documentary, presenting the stories of four individuals diagnosed with cancer and interviewing Dr. Rebecca Auer, cancer surgeon at The Ottawa Hospital and Director of Cancer Research at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. It was perhaps just as well that I didn't view the video before sharing my own journey, as it's an extremely moving documentary. Instead, I viewed the video this evening, finding the stories raw and real, but the hope also apparent.
The video reminds us that nearly 1 in 2 Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime. That high incidence of cancer makes the burden of the disease huge, says Dr. Auer. The burden is also significant because cancer doesn't affect only the patient but everybody around them. Given the chronic and potentially fatal nature of cancer, she adds, it's a difficult disease to have or to watch someone else confront.
She argues that we need to attack cancer on a number of fronts: determine why the incidence of cancer has increased so much, understand why younger patients are getting cancer, and reduce the burden that cancer has on both patients and their families by improving the efficacy of therapies and reducing their side effects.
Given that my interactions with the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation were for coaching, I hadn't fully realized until today that the Foundation also supports research and clinical trials.
Dr. Auer points out that "cancer is thousands of diseases." While survival rates have improved over the years—from 25% in the 1940s, to 55% in the early 1990s, to 63% today—this is not true of all types of cancer.
She states: "It's so exciting when you find that there might be a therapy out there that will target that individual's cancer, specifically and uniquely, and maybe have the potential to cure them as well but also without the side effects, without the long-term consequences of a successful cancer therapy."
What she sees in the future is this: "every single sub-type of cancer will have its own unique therapy, and it won't seem like a miracle—it will just seem like what we do when we have cancer."
In my five-minute interview, I answered Lucy's questions about how I learned that I had cancer, why I started this blog to document my journey, when I became aware of the coaching services of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, and what that experience has been like.
I told the story of my July 29, 2020 trip to the emergency department of the Queensway Carleton Hospital for what I thought was an issue with my gallbladder, only to leave hours later with an unexpected diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
Regarding my blog, I talked about my initial desire to maintain connection with my employees but also about how blogging became a way to increase awareness of ovarian cancer and to chronicle—more faithfully than my memory ever could—my physical and emotional state as I went through treatment.
I noted that I had learned about the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation a few months after my diagnosis, but reached out only after I had completed chemotherapy, as I wasn't sure that I needed a cancer coach. I subsequently found that I hadn't known what I was missing until I got a coach. I assured Lucy that my cancer coach hadn't taken a cookie cutter approach to our conversations, instead allowing me to focus on my goals and to—as my coach put it—hear the sound of my own voice.
Had there been time this morning, I would have expanded on the benefits of having a cancer coach. I found that once I raised an issue with my coach, I was more likely to take the necessary steps to address the concern. Coaching increased my knowledge, skills and confidence to tackle emerging issues—whether or not they were related to cancer.
If you have cancer, or if you are a family member of someone who has cancer, reach out to the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. We are blessed to have this service in our community.
Photo credit: Michael Maidment
Logos courtesy of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation
