Cancer Advocacy

Lung Cancer and the Canadian Cancer Society

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In my earlier days advocating for people affected by lung cancer, I heard rumours that the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) didn’t give a fair amount of funds for lung cancer research. I did not know if that was true and believed it was important to find out. I determined to investigate, and learn how to advocate about this, but the Canadian Cancer Society seemed so big. I felt intimidated at first and did not know how to start.

Advocacy is relational work, and with encouragement from Chris Draft I worked on getting to know people at the CCS (and other organizations) and building relationships. People from the CCS reached out to me also and asked me to participate with them in various ways. They were interested and listened empathetically as I informed them about lung cancer.

For several years now I have been working with the Canadian Cancer Society. I have served as a panel member, speaking into the decision-making process about which research gets funded. I’ve shared my story quite a few times to raise support for cancer research in Canada and to inform and increase support for people affected by cancer. And of course there have been many conversations with thought-provoking questions and honest dialogue.

This year my lung cancer story is being used again as part of their holiday fundraiser, and also another big fundraiser in the new year. I’m glad to be part of significant cancer research fundraising as a multidisciplinary team member and that my advocacy training and life experience can make a difference.

Earlier this Fall I was also invited to be part of a panel member for the CCS Breakthrough Team Grants: Transforming Low Survival Cancers, specifically lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. (More info here.) It was very exciting to be asked to be part of this, especially due to the lung cancer focus, and I quickly agreed and submitted my “paperwork” to sign up.

Since advocacy is relational work, like so many other advocates I have worked hard to build relationships and partner with researchers and advocates from coast to coast to coast (and around the world). This has gone so well that when I filled out my Conflict of Interest form for the CCS Breakthrough Team Grants I realized that I knew and had partnered in research with a very large number of the research team members who had applied for funding. It was not a huge surprise, but very disappointing that the CCS team (after careful review) determined that I know and have worked with too many applicants to be a panel member this time. This time did not work out, but I’m definitely open to future opportunities.

The Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) is a national program of the Canadian Cancer Society. I’ve been part of the patient representative committee and lung executive with the CCTG since 2018. I’ve also spoken about lung cancer at CCTG Annual Meetings several times. Very grateful for the good work the CCTG does.

For quite a few years, I have been continuing to have conversations with people from the CCS about things related to lung cancer. They are generally eager to engage, and we are thrilled that this year there is special lung cancer specific funding available and that lung cancer researchers have applied. This increases hope and potentially can make a huge difference for many people affected by the deadliest cancer.

On average, 82 people in Canada are diagnosed with lung cancer every day. Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer, killing more people than the next three deadliest cancers combined.

More research means more survivors and better survivorship. Here’s to more research!

Dr. Vicky Forster and I at the Toronto CCS offices October 2019

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month (LCAM). What is your Cancer Centre doing for #LCAM?

Virtual / Reality

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We have a carport and it’s a great place for visits most of the year. A dear friend from High School ordered a heater for us and had it delivered shortly after a chilly visit last Fall, and that has extended the carport visiting season. So grateful!

It’s very special to be able to meet with people in person, and this summer quite a few friends are coming to town and making time for carport visits. Yesterday a childhood friend (we used to play piano duets together) came from the Seattle area and her Mom (who still lives in the same home with the same phone number (which I and so many others still remember)) came to visit. Such a treat! It’s so good to see people in person, even from 6 feet apart outside. In my opinion, it’s better in person than at a distance. Better in reality than virtually, in my opinion.

Don’t get me wrong, virtually is good, and in some circumstances it can open doors and provide opportunities that would not otherwise be possible. This is one of the silver linings of COVID and don’t get me wrong, I am grateful. It’s so good to meet “face to face” virtually when it’s too challenging (for a potential variety of reasons) to really meet face to face. There are good reasons for both. There is a season for everything. So grateful for a variety of options.

This is one of the reasons I’m such a fan of and advocate for CRAFT, 3CTN’s framework to make clinical trials more accessible for Canadians living in remote and rural parts of our geographically huge country. So important! 

Here’s a short video about CRAFT with some great quotes from a few people which was made over a year ago. CRAFT has now been rolled out and is serving people at several locations.

Zoom and other similar platforms have enabled many of us to speak at international conferences and other events the past couple of years. I’ve spoken at so many virtually, and we recognize the upside of not having to travel and spend time away. This has been a good gift which has also been a real difference maker for many of us.

Speaking personally, these visual platforms have also transformed much of my patient research advocacy in other ways. I used to have so many phone call meetings prior to COVID, and some of them with quite a large number of people. Initially I hadn’t met all the researchers in person and I did not always recognize all the voices. Sometimes some of the people did not introduce themselves when they started speaking and it could be challenging to figure out which person (from which place) was speaking. It’s so much easier with platforms that can show faces and even list their names. So much easier to get to know people and be better able to contextualize their comments. So  much better for community building than a mere large group phone call. So grateful for this!

In recent months, many members of the lung cancer community and other friends have sent gift certificates for our family to order food in. It means so much to receive this support that comes with love and appreciation. One ordered pizza for us, several have brought food, and many friends including our church community has brought much food and sent food in various ways as well. It’s such a treat and very much appreciated. Twice people have sent fruit bouquets which are so delicious, and so many other yummy things have arrived at our door – too many to name, and received with tremendous appreciation whether sweet or savoury. Thank you!

I’m very grateful for local friends who have done things this week – again, too many to name – like offer to pick up a walker for me, or regularly walk our dog. The reality is that there are times when we need real physical, local support. So many people here in Ottawa have offered and/or given support when needed, for example, rides to appointments, picking up groceries etc. Where would we be without our local people?

As much as we appreciate the virtual reality, we recognize there are some things that obviously cannot be done from a distance. Even for those who are part of strong virtual support groups, it seems obvious that it’s important to make sure we are also cultivating relationships with people in our own geographic community. We never know when we might need local support.

Please let me say again that we are incredibly grateful for the reality of this local support as well as the support from a distance.

#love

#hope

#support

August 1 is World Lung Cancer Day. What is your cancer center doing to celebrate?

Presenting at ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology)

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Presenting at ASCO, the world’s largest cancer conference, was a great opportunity to strategically represent lung cancer survivors and cancer survivors worldwide.

It was a terrific experience, so good to work with awesome co-presenters and bring significant contributions along with them on our panel discussion:

Where Do You Go When You Put Your Best Foot Forward? Challenges After Upfront Use of Next-Generation TKIs in Driver-Mutated NSCLC. We gave a 60 minute panel session during which we discussed cases in an interactive manner with the audience. Here is the multi-disciplinary team:

ModeratorLyudmila Bazhenova
An International Academic Oncologist PerspectivePilar Garrido
North American/Community Oncology PerspectiveMakenzi Evangelist
A Patient PerspectiveJill Hamer-Wilson
A Radiation Oncologist PerspectiveMatthias Guckenberger

As far as we know, only two lung cancer survivor advocates presented at ASCO, and this is the first panel discussion with a patient/survivor/caregiver advocate. Here is a tweet from our moderator:

A wider picture of my teammates: Dr. Makenzi Evangelist, Dr. Matthias Guckenberger, Dr. Lyudmila Bazhenova and Dr. Pilar Garrido with their The White Ribbon Project ribbons!

I echo our moderator’s Tweet: Great job, ASCO! Thank you for including this survivor advocate as a co-presenter at #ASCO22! May there be many more of us to follow! Well done, team! Thank you for caring about your patients. A real pleasure to present with you. An extra big thanks to ASCO for changing things up to including me in an online format when health would not allow me to present in person. This shows that ASCO values the survivor voice. #grateful

Here are some of the things we spoke on … biopsies, holding targeted therapy during radiation, questions about increased toxicity with potentially no clear benefit, different kinds of lung cancer like ALK, EGFR, EGFR C797S …

Before the presentation, I reached out to some people affected by lung cancer from here in Canada as well as the United States and around the world to bring their input into the presentation, to be able to represent them as best as possible. They brought a lot of good input, and the time was definitely too short to say it all. Here are a few of the things I said …

Each patient is unique, and every patient-doctor relationship is unique. I urged oncologists to not make assumptions (e.g. that we can’t afford it), but instead to ask questions, discuss options with us. Please inform us of the pro’s and con’s. Empower us to make good decisions with you. And always be empathetic, because getting a lung cancer diagnosis can be traumatic.

Here is the link if you’re interested: https://meetings.asco.org/2022-asco-annual-meeting/14236?presentation=205915#205915https://meetings.asco.org/2022-asco-annual-meeting/14236?presentation=205915#205915 You may need to sign in, and I think it’s free for survivor advocates but I’m not sure about others. You may have to ask the good folks at ASCO and I’m sure they’ll help you out.

A number of cancer researchers and organizations are working on figuring out how to engage with people affected by cancer. Some are effectively including patients/survivors/caregivers at the table. This is best practices.

Many of our advocacy efforts have been about strategically creating pathways to make it easier for others to also do advocacy. Two lung cancer survivor advocates presenting at ASCO this year? Let’s work for many more in years to come!

#hope

#pathways for advocacy

#strategic

Research Matters

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On Monday March 14, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre lab drew blood to be analyzed by Canexia in Vancouver, British Columbia, to test to see if there is a treatable kind of cancer attacking me. We’re still waiting for results and holding onto hope.

Our family values hope. These terrific shirts are part of the lung cancer advocacy of Robyn Denis and family. Zebbee.com

Biomarker testing matters.

If the testing comes back with information about a treatable cancer, then taking daily pills could potentially turn my health around. Many lung cancer patients go from extremely poor health to feeling quite well in only a matter of days, once they start taking the right treatment (targeted therapy pills). This is what we are hoping for me. New research, as you probably know, is a game-changer for many people affected by cancer. We are hopeful that there will be some effective new research that will make a difference for me.

It’s possible that I may have to travel to get access to the pills through a clinical trial. We won’t know until we get information from the test. As many of you know, there can be challenges for people affected by lung cancer to get access to the life-extending treatments they need. Advocates fight for drug approvals and funding, for better access to clinical trials and for clinical trials to be offered in more geographical locations. Access matters.

Research matters – it matters for testing, for treatment options and for access to those treatments. Research matters, to me and to so many others, for people with lung cancer and so many other kinds of cancer. Advocacy matters! Research matters!

A day in the life of an advocate

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Lung cancer advocacy offers a world of opportunity! A variety of sizes and shapes so that everyone who wants to stand up for people affected by lung cancer can find ways to apply best practices to make a difference!

Let me give you a small taste by telling you about my day yesterday, and some of the terrific teams I get to work with …

International Health Advocate Chris Draft called from Atlanta yesterday morning. Great call: inspiring and energising! Team Draft invests in lung cancer advocates: supporting, training, encouraging. Chris is a strategic big picture thinker, always challenging people and organizations to leverage opportunities to do even more good for people affected by lung cancer. #Grateful

Chris Draft (far right) with some of the terrific lung cancer advocates from Australia, the Netherlands, Mexico and Canada at World Conference on Lung Cancer, Barcelona, 2019.

A team from The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre is working on a resource package that will go out (on paper and electronically) to people who are newly diagnosed with lung cancer. This project matters because it helps fill a gap in patient care. We are a diverse team, representing all key groups: administrators, nurses, psychosocial oncology, doctors, and survivors. This diversity is important to ensure that the package will be as effective as possible, and that it will actually get to people. I spent some of yesterday working on the letter from survivors that is part of the package.

My awesome oncologist, Dr. Garth Nicholas, who is part of this team (photo taken before COVID-19)

What happens after lung cancer researchers apply for funding? A team of reviewers invest many hours carefully reading their research proposals, discerning strengths and weaknesses and evaluating, then gathering to discuss which they will recommend to receive funding. I spent time yesterday reading a research proposal as part of a review process.

The Patient Representatives Team of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) met (online) yesterday, so (among other things) I got to hear research updates from some amazing people, and present what’s happening with the lung site. Clinical trials are getting back on track after some things had slowed down due to COVID. Good news! Research matters!

The Canadian Cancer Research Alliance is supporting a project to gather recommendations for cancer research. I applied and was honoured and humbled to join the team. We were each asked to submit our five key Canadian cancer research priorities. What cancer research do you think is most important for the coming years? Yesterday the Ontario team met to discuss the priorities we had submitted, and worked together to discern the most important. Other regional teams will be meeting in days to come, and the rest of the process will unfold. What a tremendous opportunity to together influence Canadian cancer research priorities! Our voices matter.

There is a new CCTG lung cancer research idea that has been worked on and debated about for months. I’m excited about it, and have spoken up for it in CCTG Lung Executive meetings. Yesterday another CCTG patient representative and I agreed to be involved as collaborators on the grant application. Research brings hope!

My day was filled with conversations, emails, messages and more, but before it ended I also decided to participate in research. I filled out the first survey for the Canadian Cancer Trials Group study: CCTG SC27 – The Impact of the COVID-19 on Canadians Living with Cancer. If you would like to learn more about participating in this study, please click here!

There are many opportunities for lung cancer advocacy. We need more people to step up and be part of the team! I enjoy investing a lot of time and energy, but you don’t have to do the same things I do. There are a wide variety of opportunities to make a real difference! We need people with different skill sets to bring their unique abilities and commit whatever amount of time they choose. It’s up to us. Advocacy matters! #Team

photo credit: Chris Draft

Every day I give thanks for terrific teams and advocates, and that I’m well and able to do this work. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or comments. #ResearchMatters #Hope #Gratitude