That's me, on the right, in May of 2020 with my radiologists at the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton. Just two members from a whole team of amazing doctors and medical personnel who helped make a year of life-saving cancer treatments go as smoothly as possible. Needless to say, this is a highly personal cause. My cancer journey began in 2019 when I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. What followed was six months of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, then surgery, radiation treatments and one year of a targeted immunotherapy that would not have been available to me only 8 years prior. I am so thankful to have come out on the other side with a clean bill of health. I am one of the lucky ones but there are still far too many who are not. Only one year after celebrating my ringing of the bell, I was attending the funeral of my father-in-law who passed away from pancreatic cancer.
The last few decades have seen much improvement in cancer diagnosis and treatments but there is still a very long way to go. Although ribbons have their place in all this, as a breast cancer survivor, it is extremely disheartening to witness so much "pinkwashing": the commodification and exploitation of cancer by brands and corporations for the purposes of promotion and profit. So I decided to use my existing platform for my own initiative; one that is simple and transparent. By purchasing any of the Charms for Cancer from this site you will be making a real and impactful contribution to the fight against cancer because 100% of the profit from each sale will be donated to various cancer organizations, hospitals and research programs.