Caregivers and grievers need (more) help. Supporting someone going through cancer is like taking a final exam that is worth 100% for a course in which you've never taken a single class.

But, how dare we, as caregivers, complain, right? I mean, we're not (usually) the ones with cancer.

The language and systems of cancer care are often very unfamiliar, plus the emotions, financial and family duress during and afterwards (whether your person dies or not) can be understandably overwhelming and require their own support and recovery.

Caregivers are a huge segment of our population outside of—but essential to—our social and healthcare systems. Yet, we are largely invisible and often deep in the trenches of grief. I found the cancer centre social workers (usually cost-free, although very busy) and the Ontario Caregivers Organization to be helpful resources. We need more.

Survivors of childhood abuse have worse cancer outcomes. Data from Statistics Canada in 2018 indicates that 1/3 of adults are survivors of childhood physical or sexual abuse. It is also known that cancer patients with trauma history are screened later (if at all), have lower treatment compliance, and die more and sooner. While I am not a trauma expert, I have created a workshop to assist healthcare providers, based on our experiences with the re-activation of trauma that affected my husband's cancer journey.

Anyone who has lungs can get lung cancer. And, the number of young, never-smoking patients (especially women) keeps rising. Although there have been encouraging advances in treatment in very recent years, over 70% of patients aren't diagnosed until advanced stage when it is usually incurable. Not only that, but lung cancer kills over 1/4 of all cancer patients each year—far and away more patients than any other cancer , including breast, colon, and prostate cancer COMBINED.

Despite those devastating facts, it is under-funded, often stigmatized, and there still aren't consistent screening programs nation-wide. In addition to shouting loudly on social media about it (my friends love that!), I am offering as much support as I can to my local cancer centre, Cancer Care Ontario, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, The Lung Health Foundation, and Lung Cancer Canada, the only organization in Canada that focuses solely on lung cancer.

The only lung cancer-focused organization...for the leading cancer killer. That still blows my mind and enrages me.