The Blood Cancer Experience LLSC

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 doctor was an ally and a resource,” she says, “and I had an "amazing therapist" to deal with marriage strain challenges as well, and support from close friends and her parents. 

Are you a parent of a child with blood cancer? Find resources and support here:

https://www.bloodcancers.ca/i-care-someone-blood-cancer/blood-cancers-kids-teens-young-adults/childhood-blood-cancers#for-parents-and-caregivers

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 cancer? The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada has support, services, and resources for caregivers, including a peer-to-peer support program. Visit:⁠ https://www.bloodcancers.ca/i-care-someone-blood-cancer⁠

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 palliative care is going to support their well-being and quality of life."

Researchers are focused on maintaining an excellent cure rate in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and minimizing some of the treatment individuals receive – reduce the number of cycles of chemotherapy or avoid radiation, and looking at new drugs to improve the cure rate for others with DLBCL.

Join us as we chat with Dr. John Kuruvilla, working as a hematologist-oncologist for 20 years (currently at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto) including as a researcher in DLBCL, which is the largest form on non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Learn more about DLBCL at: 

https://www.bloodcancers.ca/diffuse-large-b-cell-lymphoma-dlbcl 

Dr. Rena Buckstein from Odette Cancer Centre in Toronto shares the basics of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) diagnosis, treatment, and side effects.


In Canada, it is estimated that up to 5,900 new cases of MDS are diagnosed each year - most often in older adults.



There are two main types of MDS: primary (de novo) and secondary MDS. The treatment for MDS varies according to the type and stage of the disease with the goal of slowing or stopping the MDS from becoming acute myeloid leukemia (AML).


For more information about MDS, visit:

https://www.bloodcancers.ca/i-have-blood-cancer/myelodysplastic-syndromes

Mayra Husic shares her experience with Follicular Lymphoma.