Update…and Young Adult Awareness

A couple days ago, one of my friends at work berated me for not updating the blog in a more timely fashion. My response was that I didn’t have much to update it with. I’m out of treatment, I’m in remission, life is somewhat quieter…I don’t have much to share. Then she said, “Well, maybe people just want to know how you’re doing!”

Honestly, that never even occurred to me. It never even crossed my mind that people who read this blog just might actually be invested in my story and would want to know how I was doing after the cancer experience. I figured that sharing the things that happen during cancer treatment and survival might help someone understand the process, or help another cancer patient feel less isolated. Most of the hits on this blog come from outside of Canada (don’t worry, I can only see the country, not actual cities or addresses), so most of the people reading have never met me. What I didn’t figure was that others, people who only know me through cyberspace, might actually start caring. So thank you to everyone who reads this, whether you stumbled upon it during a search for Pinky and the Brain, whether you found my story when looking for something about lymphoma, whether you know me or not. Thank you for caring, and God bless you all 🙂

I’m doing very well, trying to navigate through my world of remission. today I attended a Young Adult Cancer Awareness event in Toronto, led by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It was a collaborative awareness and education event, with seminars by professionals on different cancer related topics like exercise (confession – I slept in and missed that one), nutrition and stress management. We also had time to network and hear about different programs and organizations who are working to raise awareness or to help young adult cancer patients. I had the chance to represent Wellspring, the cancer support centre where I did the exercise program, and where I’ve made a few friends through a young adult support/social group. It was a lot of fun, and I got to meet and reconnect with a lot of pretty cool folks. This event just strengthen my resolve to get involved and try my best to make a difference.

One of the best parts of the event was meeting Scott Adams and learning about his initiative, Cancer Fight Club, which is by far one of the coolest, most efficient and most necessary resources for young adults with cancer. Cancer Fight Club is a website that collects information about every possible resource that a young adult cancer patient could need, and compiles it in a way that makes it incredibly, superbly easy for the patient to find. Patients can search for online resources, community resources like financial aid and health resources like clinics and rehab centres, specific to their general kind of cancer and location. It’s pretty freakin’ brilliant. Cancer Fight Club is pretty new right now, so they have more information about Canadian resources, but they’re hoping to expand. I certainly hope that they do; it’s a fantastic portal for patients to find things, and it really reduces the anxiety of newly diagnosed patients trying to find information that’s useful to them.

Anyway – that’s all for now. Thank you, everyone, again, for continuing to share my story with me. Feel free to drop me a message anytime 🙂

Robin: lymphomalowdown@gmail.com