To start off Season 3 of the GOSH Podcast, we are excited to share the story of a new educational resource for gynecologic cancer patients entitled "Gynecologic Cancers: Your Journey". This resource was developed in partnership between the Gynecologic Cancer Initiative and BC Cancer to help support gynecologic cancer patients in finding easy-to-understand information and resources after being diagnosed with gynecologic cancer.
The resource presents the entire gynecologic cancer journey to them upon diagnosis and points them to relevant information and resources. Through a series of working group meetings and interviews, the resource was developed in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams at BC Cancer and GCI patient partners. This resource was built by gynecologic cancer patients for gynecologic cancer patients but at every step of the way, we received a lot of important insight from Gynecologic Oncology Specialists, Palliative Medicine Specialists, BC Cancer Supportive Care Manager, Plain Language Specialists, Library Services and many others.
The resource is now available on the BC Cancer website:
http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/library-site/Documents/Gynecologic-Cancer-Your-Journey.pdf
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Welcome the three patient partners Nancy Cleveland, Siv Klausen, and Nicole Keay, who played a really important role in making this resource a reality.
Nicole Keay is an experienced communications professional and a patient partner with the Gynecologic Cancer Initiative (GCI). She also co-hosts the Gynecologic Oncology Sharing Hub (GOSH) podcast alongside Stephanie Lam. In her early 30s, Nicole was diagnosed with cervical cancer and underwent intense treatment including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy resulting in the loss of her fertility. Nicole now uses her experiences to help guide, support, and be a voice for women who have been diagnosed with gynecological cancers.
Nancy Cleveland has lived in Vancouver for her entire life and is married and the mom to two beautiful adult children. In her professional life, she spent 35 years as a teacher with the Vancouver School Board. In May 2019, Nancy was diagnosed with Stage 3C Primary Peritoneal Serous Ovarian Cancer after going through what she thought of as a routine laparoscopic surgery for a gallstone. Her journey has had its ups and downs, but she continues to believe that there is a lot of hope for gynecologic cancer patients and survivors. Nancy has had some great experiences with clinical drug trials and research that continues to improve outcomes for patients across BC.
Siv Klausen is a Patient Partner with the Gynecological Cancer Initiative. After experiencing vulvar cancer in 2018, she underwent surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation at the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver. Siv lives in Tsawwassen with her husband and son, and JoJo the poodle.
Stephanie Lam is the Research Coordinator for the Gynecologic Cancer Initiative (GCI), a province-wide initiative aimed to accelerate transformative research on the prevention, detection, treatment, and survivorship of gynecologic cancers. Currently, Stephanie supports a broad range of research activities within the GCI including clinical trials, knowledge translation, and educational programs. An important part of her role is in the area of patient engagement and patient-oriented research.
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For more information on the Gynecologic Cancer Initiative, please visit https://gynecancerinitiative.ca/ or email us at info@gynecancerinitiative.ca
Where to learn more about us:
Twitter – @GCI_Cluster
Instagram – @gynecancerinitiative
Facebook – facebook.com/gynecancerinitiative