Recently my colleagues of the CCTFA Foundation and I joined many friends,
supporters and members of the media for a breakfast event to mark the official
launch of our new online community, facingcancer.ca,
and the report that inspired it, Lives affected by cancer…800 women speak. It marked the culmination of a lot of hard
work that began, really, when we launched Look
Good Feel Better in 1992.
Since that time, more than 110,000 women
have benefitted from our workshop, and over the years they have told us many
things about the impact of cancer on their bodies, their lives and the lives of
their loved ones. For nearly two
decades, we have been listening and collecting their stories of courage and
inspiration in our hearts and in our heads. We learned a lot from these women
and in 2010 we broadened the mission of our Foundation to encompass the
psychosocial needs of lives affected by cancer, which, quite simply,
encompasses everything ‘else’ a woman many be going through with cancer, beyond
the medical care of the disease. In an
effort to learn even more about the social and emotional impacts of the
disease, and to look at ways that we as a Foundation could help women address
some of these psychosocial needs, we conducted a Canada-wide survey to hear
first-hand what they had to share about life after a cancer diagnosis.
Pictured L-R are Sherry, Dr. Alexandra Ginty and Darren Praznik, President and CEO of the CCTFA and CCTFA Foundation.
The resulting report, Lives affected by cancer…800 women speak reveals that even after
cancer and its treatment, may women struggle to return to their “normal” life,
or perhaps more appropriately worded, their “new normal”. Whether our body has been changed physically as
a result of cancer, we are grieving the loss of life as we once knew it, or
dealing with issues of fatigue that can take months or sometimes years to go
away, like it or not, many of us have a changed reality. As one survey respondent told us, “You can’t
just close the door and walk out. You’ll
never be who you were.”
For me, although I’ve been cancer free for
more than 21 years, the impact of the disease is still very much a part of my
daily life, and always will be. My
treatments and surgeries left me with nerve damage that requires me to wear
braces on both legs to walk, and I use a cane to support me as my balance is
now poor. Mind you, my cane is studded
in rhinestones! But the lingering effect
of nerve damage has meant that my quality of life is different from what it may
have been. And while physically I cannot do some of the things I used to, as a
result of my cancer journey I am emotionally and spiritually rich in life
appreciation as a result of my new normal.
There are many women who will tell you they
have emerged stronger and better than ever after cancer, finding that the
experience of looking into the face of the disease forces them to find inner
strength and draw on reserves they didn’t know they possessed. One of our Look Good Feel Better Ambassadors
and models, Line, recently realized a dream of hers and opened a body clinic,
Nueeva, in Brossard Quebec with her daughter. With her breast cancer gone and
her treatments now complete, she finds she has more confidence that ever
before. “I went through all of this, imagine what I can do today,” she says. “I
found out that I am very strong.” Our beloved
blogger Dr. Alex Ginty also tries to focus on the things she has learned from
cancer, using her experience to relate to the fear and anxiety her patients
sometimes feel, and sharing some of the tips she used to get through the darker
days of her journey. She eloquently shares some of what cancer has taught her
on her blog, Both
Sides.
Of course not everyone finds the ‘silver
lining’ to cancer. And no one should
ever feel pressured or guilty to move on.
Healing takes time, and the fact is, cancer does change you, even if that
change may be in your outlook on life, or through the newfound inner-strength
and wisdom you’ve unleashed from within. And no matter what, we know that the need for
support does not end with the last treatment, or when we ring the chemo
bell. Though our hair, brows and lashes
will grow back and many of us do return to work, for many women there are bound
to be hurdles throughout the cancer journey.
For many of us, healing and well-being becomes a life-long quest – it
has for me. I would like to personally
encourage every woman who has had cancer not to be afraid to acknowledge that
you still may need help, that some days are harder than others, or that you are
scared that cancer may rear its ugly head again. If you need or are seeking support
or resources to help you on this next stage of your journey, please visit the Resources page of
facingcancer.ca for a list of places and programs that may be of help to
you.
I’d love to hear from you. You can send me a note on this site, or at thecancerjourney@cctfafoundation.ca