CBCN had the opportunity to attend the ABC7 conference in Lisbon, Portugal from November 9 to 11, 2023. Here are some highlights from the conference.

I am a woman. I am active. I am a mom. I am also living with metastatic breast cancer, and I am living well. I have been active all my life. I played a variety of sports ever since I was little, like competitive fastball and hockey. So, how could a super active, fit, and healthy individual, with no breast cancer or any other type of cancer in her family, all of a sudden be told she has stage IV breast cancer?

When people think of therapy the most common therapy session that comes to mind probably includes a person sitting across from or lying down beside a therapist and talking about their feelings. But what if you can never quite find the right words to say to express yourself or talking through what you are feeling doesn’t seem to be helping? The truth is therapy comes in all shapes and sizes. People are looking for and creating new ways to help cope with the stresses in their lives.

In October 2013, Allegra Kawa of Edmonton had surgery to remove both her breasts.  She’s also considering surgery to remove her ovaries and uterus.

The topics of financial planning and preparing your will can be complicated and distressing especially at a time when you’d rather focus on your family and your wellbeing. As difficult as tackling these tasks may be, many people describe feeling relieved when they have their financial affairs in order and feel that they can more fully enjoy time with loved ones without worrying about the to-do list in the back of their minds. Today we are breaking down many of the confusing terms that come up when preparing a will and your finances for end-of-life.

It’s now 2020! How strange does that sound? 2019 was a busy and impactful year at CBCN. So, we thought we’d look back and see what blogs you, our readers, found to be the most valuable. Here’s the top 10 list of most read blogs on CBCN’s Our Voices.

Life is about change and every change brings loss with it. Whenever we lose something or someone that we value, we grieve. We grieve for the past – for how things were—and we may not be able to imagine our future. Although it may not be welcome, grief can help us to find ways to live with -- and even grow from -- our losses.

Did you know that accessing treatments for stage IV metastatic breast cancer (mBC) is not universal across Canada? We live in a country that promotes universal health care to all but accessing cancer treatment varies by each province.

Self-care during treatment is so important for maintaining not only a good quality of life but your sanity as well. From doctors appointments, to managing the emotional aspects of a breast cancer diagnosis, there’s a lot to juggle. We’re excited to announce our new partnership with Self Care Catalysts and our Health Storylines mobile app.

Are you looking for a clinical trial but not sure how to start or where to go? A new Clinical Trials Finder has been developed by Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO) to help you. You can search for a clinical trial in any province or territory in Canada, using only a few simple search terms.

We asked Tricia, a member of our patient advisory committee, to share her thoughts on our newest digital tool, the FinancialNavigator, designed to help connect patients with financial resources in their community. Here’s what she had to say.

In August 2014 I found a lump in my left breast. This is unusual for inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a rare and very aggressive cancer where cancer blocks the lymph vessels.

No person truly understands what it’s like to be diagnosed with breast cancer until it happens to them. It can be terrifying and overwhelming and can take physical and psychological tolls on a person’s body. 1 in every 8 Canadian women will hear the words “You have breast cancer” in her lifetime and 5,000 Canadians die from metastatic breast cancer each year. That means 26,000+ women every year have to live through surgery, chemo, radiation and side effects like fatigue, depression, chemo brain, and nausea, all while balancing their work and home life. Understanding the lived experience of a diagnosis like this is imperative to improving support for patients, survivors and their families.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about new metastatic breast cancer treatments that can greatly extend the lives of many people in Canada. Targeted therapies are changing the landscape for mBC in a big way.

In August 2016, Erin Richard of Sydney, Nova Scotia was diagnosed with triple negative metastatic breast cancer.  She was only 39 years old.

In 2003, I was a happily married, active, stay-at-home mom in Calgary, Alberta, where I was born and raised. I was 46 years old and filled my days going to the gym to work out, volunteering at the school and church, and running an active household. My son was 13 and my daughters were 11 and 8 at the time. I felt healthy and not overly stressed.

Patricia Stoop, 43, is a wife, mother, and home care occupational therapist living in a small city in British Columbia. In 2011, she found some lumps in her breast and was diagnosed with an aggressive, locally advanced HER-2 breast cancer.