Welcome to my fundraising page for the Man & Woman of the Year challenge.
In honor of my 5th anniversary in remission, and to pay it forward to future patients, I’ve accepted a nomination to be a candidate in the Woman of the Year competition with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC). My goal is to make an enormous effort to raise more than I can dream of - 30,000 dollars - to support research on blood cancers between March 24th to June 2nd.
I am alive because of cancer research. Whenever I’d come to Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, I’d walk past a wall dedicated to the people who have made survival possible including Dr. Vera Peters, who worked to cure Hodgkin’s disease in the 1950s. Since then, the survival rate for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma has gone up from 30% to 86%. However, more needs to be done to ensure young adults like me don’t merely survive after a diagnosis but thrive. Blood cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in children and young adults. I want to live to see a day when harsh chemo is not the only option and young people don’t face life-altering side-effects – from impacts to their fertility, to learning disabilities. The LLSC is doing just that by focusing on funding research that addresses unmet needs in patient quality of life, and pediatric blood cancers, and taking bold action through research and advocacy for patients.
Cancer does not discriminate – it impacts all our families, the young and old.
In some of my darkest days, I would find myself at the top floor of the hospital where there were comfy leather couches to sink into. On the wall, there is printed a beautiful quote that says:
“Cancer is so limited - It cannot cripple love. It cannot shatter hope. It cannot kill friendship. It cannot suppress memories. It cannot invade the soul. It cannot silence courage. It cannot conquer the spirit.”
Thank you for bringing help and hope to the blood cancer community!
I am fortunate to live on the unceded homelands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations and grateful to have recovered and healed from cancer on the homelands of the Lkwungen (Esquimalt, and Songhees).