Sisters

RIP Kim MacIntosh, Lung Cancer Survivor Advocate

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Before I met Kim MacIntosh I knew I would like her, because of the way my friends were speaking of her.

I couldn’t go to the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Toronto in 2018 because I had suffered progression. Andrea and Peggy promised to tell me all about it when they came back, and they did!

There were so many exciting stories: people they’d met, promising new research, fun times, but of all the details in all the stories, Kim was the person who stood out by far! I couldn’t wait to meet this lung cancer survivor advocate that I’d heard so much about.

Kim started driving in to our Ottawa lung cancer support groups – more than an hour each way, and she fit right in with the group. It was so good to get to know this lung cancer sister.

Kim cared about people. She deeply loved her family: husband Dean and daughters Ceilidh and Sadie, her parents, siblings and extended family; and friends, especially her besties. She spoke often of them and participated in all kinds of traditions with them that filled her calendar with meaning, joy and laughter. She knew half of Cornwall, and a good deal of other people as well.

Before Kim was diagnosed with lung cancer she worked as a nurse and had a fierce passion for advocacy. Kim brought her medical and scientific knowledge, her understanding of how the system works, and her prior passion for people and advocacy to her lung cancer advocacy. She could often be overheard encouraging people to apply for their disability parking pass or tax credit, reminding them that they were entitled to it and telling them step by step how to go about applying. Kim cared about people.

Andrea and I compiled this list of highlights of Kim’s lung cancer advocacy:

– early member Ottawa Lung Cancer Support Group (October 2018)

– IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer, Toronto 2018

– staffed outreach tables at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre

– shared her cancer story at the Ottawa Lung Cancer Patient Summit, November 2019

– went to LUNGevity conference in Washington DC, 2019

– member of the EGFR Resisters

– started the EGFR Canada fb group

– early leader in the Canadian Lung Cancer Advocacy — Breathe Hope fb group

– very strong presence on Twitter and on fb. Shared lots of research etc.

– co-designed the Lung Cancer Strong tee shirts and organized the ordering, printing and distribution

– completed IASLC’s STARs Program in 2019 and attended WCLC 2019 in Barcelona

– participated in June 2019 CCSN/LCC Breakfast and meetings with MPPs on Parliament Hill

 – made a video on her experience as a LC patient for CCSN’s Right to Survive campaign

– did a podcast for LCC with Dr. Paul Wheatley-Price

– member of Programs Committee, Lung Cancer Canada

– participated in The White Ribbon Project for lung cancer awareness and travelled in both Ontario & Quebec distributing white ribbons to lung cancer patients, advocates & medical staff

Kim was a good friend to many, a devoted wife and mom, and a fierce advocate for lung cancer and other important causes. She was deeply loved and she is missed. RIP, Kim, and thank you.

Kimberley Ann (Moran) MacIntosh September 30, 1967 – November 17, 2021

Kim’s obituary can be found at this link.

#hope #team #gratitude

Seven years – Wow!

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Cheers to the researchers, and the whole team who has helped keep this mom of three alive for seven years since a stage four lung cancer diagnosis December 2013!

I’m so grateful to be here! My life is enriched through knowing and spending time with a variety of very special people (whether online, on the phone or in person). I’m blessed with dear friends and meaningful work as a lung cancer survivor advocate. This weekend, two of my fellow lung cancer survivor advocates sisters gave our family this feast to celebrate my seventh “cancerversary”, along with a beautiful card. Thank you, Andrea and Kim! (photo’s of people all taken before COVID).

This seventh year has meant a lot because my youngest turned 13. She was only 6 when I was diagnosed, and she doesn’t have many memories from before then. During these seven years she has grown and matured, and I catch so many glimpses of the amazing young woman she is becoming. Now we’re in this brief, sweet spot where all three are teens. Parenting adolescents isn’t easy, but it’s a privilege and there is so much joy. The oldest is doing well in his second year of Electrical Engineering and Physics at University, and the middle one is currently enjoying a high school co-op placement perfectly suited to him and his love of music and music education. What a gift to walk with them through this season! #ResearchMatters

Here are some photo’s of the kids from the past seven years. We are so grateful for milestones and memories!

We owe a debt of gratitude to the researchers who, through creative brilliance, steadfast discipline and diligent tenacity navigate the twists and turns, false starts and dead ends that form the research pathway from bench to bedside, from idea to effective treatment.

And the whole team of administrators, statisticians, economists, funders, panel members, visionaries, regulators, encouragers, and so very many more very necessary and important team members, Thank you!

Way to go, team! Thank you! Thank you for working to keep me alive these seven years! On behalf of family, friends and communities, THANK YOU!!!

We had no idea I’d still be alive seven years after diagnosis. Please keep working hard with urgency so that I and others like me can live longer and better!

  • My amazing oncologist, Dr. Garth Nicholas

thank you