I would have never thought that I would be telling my story to a large group of people but today I consider it an honour.

I am a 43-year-old mother of two amazing children, I have been in love with my wonderful Martin for 20 years now and I am a research professional in the health sector. Until August 2018, I was considered a breast cancer survivor. My cancer had been treated in the best way possible. My son was not yet one year old at the time (in 2012). I went through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy, a mastectomy and, finally, a breast reconstruction.

Every year on February 4^th, World Cancer Day, we get the opportunity to reflect on the work we’re doing to help reduce the impact of cancer. World Cancer Day, led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), has an action packed slogan: I Am and I Will. They’ve developed a set of key issues that affects us all. Here’s how CBCN is working to reduce the affects of cancer for Canadians based on these key issues:

Giving Tuesday is coming up on November 27^th and we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the amazing work Canadians have done to support the Canadian Breast Cancer Network. The Annual Pink Ribbons Project Gala hosted by the Full Circle Foundation for Wellness is a perfect example of community involvement shaping CBCN’s valuable resources.

Together we can accomplish great things! It’s always amazing to watch how individuals coming together as one united voice can truly make a difference in the lives of others.

This holiday season consider adding CBCN to your list for charitable giving! Here’s what you’ll be supporting.

How valuable is patient input to decision-makers and how can we work to make sure that the patient voice is really being heard? These are just some of the important questions that I and many others gathered to discuss at the annual Breast Cancer Patient Group Forum in Vienna, Austria.

This June I had the opportunity to attend the Europa Donna Metastatic Breast Cancer Advocacy Conference in Italy. The chair of our board, Cathy, was asked to speak and I was happy to join her to share with the group the advocacy that CBCN has been doing in Canada. While most of the participants that attended were representing various organizations, it was interesting learning that many of them were also women who were living with metastatic breast cancer.