Maura C. had recently returned to work after maternity leave when her daughter, then 15 months old, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and immediately admitted to the oncology ward. “This is a nightmare I’m not waking up from,” Maura thought over the 5 months her toddler was in the hospital. She says she and her husband moved from their initial “fight-or-flight” mode, to chronic anxiety – both over the treatment period and afterwards when “we felt anxiety about the cancer coming back.”  Maura acknowledges that support for mental health was important for her. "Our family docto ..read more

The emotional cost of caregiving when a loved one has a blood cancer is no small matter – as Saskatchewan’s Lori Galbraith can attest. The mother of four was the caregiver of her husband Jim, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and underwent a stem cell transplant. “The hardest part was providing positive emotional support [to my husband] when I was worried and wondering if I’d ever get back the husband I had prior to AML... I’m trying to support him through it all – but what do I do with my thoughts?” Lori says in this podcast. Are you caring for someone with a blood canc ..read more

The term, “palliative approach to care” refers to a person-centered, holistic approach including emotional, spiritual, social and psychological care, offered by a larger team of healthcare professionals (beyond doctors and nurses) and introduced earlier in a cancer experience for full integration into an individual’s care plan. Valerie Fiset, director of the Champlain Hospice Palliative Care Program at the St-Vincent Hospital in Ottawa hopes individuals and their families shift their perspective on palliative care "from being afraid they’re coming to the end of life, and start to feel that pal ..read more

Dr. Philip Kuruvilla, hematologist-oncologist at the William Osler Health Centre at the Brampton Civic Hospital in Brampton, Ontario talks about chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL): Current treatment options, potential side effects and how to manage those side effects. CLL is the most common type of leukemia in adults. For more information about CLL, visit: https://www.bloodcancers.ca/I-Have-a-blood-cancer/Leukemia/chronic-lymphocytic-leukemia ..read more

Dr. Tobias Berg, an associate professor and researcher from McMaster University explains maintenance therapy as a treatment option for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and the factors that influence the decision to start this type of treatment. Maintenance therapy is treatment given after the first (primary) therapy used to manage your cancer, or to stop it from coming back. Some people may use maintenance therapy for a long time. This type of therapy can include drugs, vaccines, antibodies, or hormones. Maintenance therapy can be used after a stem cell transplant for a blood cancer or after your ..read more

Blood cancer survivor Meredith, 26, talks about her love life after stage 2 Hodgkin's lymphoma. She was diagnosed at age 18 and in university. A love life can be positively or negatively affected if one of the partners is diagnosed with cancer. Meeting a new partner following the disease could also cause several concerns. How to discuss changes in the relationship with your partner? How to deal with possible sexuality and fertility problems? Should someone tell a new date that they had cancer? If so how and when ..read more

Jacqueline Galica an oncology-certified Registered Nurse with over 20 years of experience in oncology. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Queen’s University School of Nursing, where her research program focuses on the psychosocial concerns – including fears of cancer recurrence - of post-treatment cancer survivors ..read more

Join Charlotte Hall-Coates and Natasha Sani as they discuss the role of a Community Services Lead in providing personalized support to those in the blood cancer community. In this podcast, Charlotte and Natasha highlight the individualized support available to you through the Community Services Lead in your region and how they can help you through each step of your blood cancer experience ..read more

Ever since he was diagnosed with myelofibrosis 20 years ago, Doug Chisolm has tried to live every day to the fullest, even spending all his retirement savings and having to start saving again. In this episode, Doug speaks about the ups and downs of his blood cancer experience, why he thinks it's crucial to have a strong support system and what he shares as a First Connection peer volunteer ..read more

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) survivor Samantha Redsky discuss the all things relationships - how a cancer experience can change the relationship you have with yourself, with your loved ones, and even with your own body ..read more