Month: March 2021

Together We Make a Difference

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A huge thank you to all you wonderful people who wrote letters, called and/or emailed for people with ROS1 to get access to Crizotinib. I asked you in a blog post on September 13, 2020, to write officials requesting for Crizotinib to be added to the formulary for people with ROS1 lung cancer. I heard from over 30 of you who took the time to help save lives. Thank you! Together with all the other people who communicated, our voices were heard and Crizotinib was approved! Together we make a difference!

This is wonderful news for so many people, including B. who dropped by to chat and pick up two The White Ribbon Project ribbons today. She was diagnosed fairly recently with ROS1 lung cancer and is taking Crizotinib. She’s a lovely person with a family and strong support community who love her. It meant so much to give her two ribbons with love: one for her and one for her to give to a supportive friend.

Thank you to Bill and Lisa Weir, Canadians who make each ribbon with love and give each ribbon with love. Following the lead of Heidi Nafman Onda and Pierre Onda , making and giving ribbons with love. Thank you Lisa Weir and Bill Weir for working with care, ensuring that each ribbon is exactly like the originals. Same measurements, same materials, same fonts, same stickers. Strength in uniformity. Love in every single detail. #thewhiteribbonproject bringing people together, reminding us we’re not alone. #love #team

#thewhiteribbonproject #inclusive #supportive #anyonecangetlungcancer

Thank you!

Made in Canada with Love

Advocacy in my DNA

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When I was a little girl, my Mom was a neighbourhood activist. She connected with people from all over our neighbourhood and worked to change traffic patterns. My mom worked with a team who mobilized the community with teams and block captains. They fought City Hall and won! Our neighbourhood streets were slated to become arterial thoroughfares, but because people took action, our neighbourhood is now one of the most desirable and most walkable areas in the city.

It seems advocacy is in my DNA!

Advocacy brings me joy. I love connecting with people and doing meaningful work. Advocacy can include amazing things like working with teams of people to decide which international research proposals gets funded (prepping for this tomorrow), or giving input into Canada’s cancer research priorities for the next five years (online meeting tomorrow). It’s important that people affected by lung cancer are represented in these kinds of conversations.

I’m keeping quite busy with my regular lung cancer advocacy work. I have a number of regular meetings and ongoing projects, and there are also frequent additional opportunities to learn, connect, and/or serve in some way.

On Saturday, for example, I worked with someone from an organization I’m connected with to shoot a brief video via zoom for an upcoming conference, participated in a great zoom team meeting for The White Ribbon Project, and had a prep meeting via zoom for a speaking engagement that I was invited to do through my volunteer work with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group. I’ll be team speaking with a dedicated cancer advocate and an oncologist about clinical trials at a big online meeting in May.

Over the weekend I spent a lot of time connecting with lung cancer advocates from across North America, which I really enjoy. Advocacy is accomplished through relationships and teamwork, a lesson I learned as a little girl from my Mom and have seen repeated over and over again. I am grateful to get to know so many amazing people! This is one of the silver linings of lung cancer.

Advocacy work lights my fire!

#lungcancer #advocacy #lcsm #CCTG #thewhiteribbonproject #joy #relationships #team #Mom #itsup2us #grateful #neighbourhood #walkable #teamwork #work