ALBERTA

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSES IN ONCOLOGY

Martine Elias, Director of Access, Advocacy and Community Relations, and Aldo Del Col, Co-founder and Chairman, represented Myeloma Canada at the Canadian Association of Oncology Nurses (CANO) annual conference held recently in Calgary. Oncology nurses play an integral role in patient care and are often the primary source of information. By highlighting the educational material that is available, as well as promoting the support groups across the country, nurses will be better able to help and support their patients in their times of need. With over 500 nurses in attendance this year, Martine and Aldo were kept busy raising awareness of Myeloma Canada's patient services and distributing educational material. Building strong working relationship with nurses supports Myeloma Canada's goal of reaching out to influential stakeholders to strengthen our coast-to-coast network.

SUPPORT GROUP LEADERS SUMMIT

Focusing on grassroots patient outreach, Myeloma Canada works with 22 support groups across the country who meet and exchange regularly to learn more about the disease, how to self-advocate and support each other.

In order to empower and facilitate the support group leaders in their important work, Myeloma Canada hosts a national Support Group Leaders Summit each year, where leaders from across the country are invited to learn and exchange, discuss common issues, challenges and best practices. This year's summit was held in Edmonton, Alberta on November 4th and 5th. A highlight of the two-day meeting was the unveiling of the new Support Group Leaders Toolkit, which was enthusiastically received by everyone. Special thanks to Martine Elias, Julie Salsman, Robin Sully, Norma Lindner, Lorelei Dalrymple and Linda Latham for their hard work in creating this important tool to help support group leaders in the important work they do in their local communities.

ADVOCACY SUMMIT

On November 6th, the support group leaders from coast to coast were invited to participate in the annual Myeloma Canada Advocacy Summit. By bringing together patient leaders from across the country, Myeloma Canada strives to drive engagement and mobilize the local communities to advocate and take action to help improve access to therapies and the overall healthcare ecosystem patients live in every day. The driving theme for this year's annual Advocacy Summit event was how to self-advocate and engage others in the local support groups.

Thank you to Martine Elias, Shaneika Heslop, Julie Salsman, Norma Lindner, Robin Sully, Nancy Shamanna, Ron Surry and Lorelei Dalrymple for assisting with the planning of both the Support Group Leaders and Advocacy Summits held on November 4th-6th in Edmonton.

AWARENESS DAY IN ALBERTA

Dr Turner, MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud, Dr Tay, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Dr Sandhu and Dr Venner, Cross Cancer Institute, Deborah Drever, MLA for Calgary-Bow  and Aldo Del Col, Co-founder and Chairman,   Myeloma Canada

Each year, Myeloma Canada hosts an Awareness Day in provincial legislatures, to meet with elected officials and the Ministry of Health to increase awareness of the disease and share the challenges patients face living with myeloma, with the ultimate goal of advocating for provincial funding of new therapies. Since 2014, Myeloma Canada has organized Awareness Days in both Ontario and Quebec; this year's focus was in Alberta.

Thank you to both patient support groups in Alberta, the Southern Alberta Myeloma Patient Society (SAMPS) and the Myeloma Alberta Support Society (MASS), as well as the members of Myeloma Canada's Patient Advisory Council (PAC) for representing and advocating for the myeloma community in Alberta, alongside Myeloma Canada. Together, we are making a difference!

BRITISH COLUMBIA

FAMILY MEDICINE FORUM

Representatives from Myeloma Canada and patients living with myeloma recently attended the Family Medicine Forum in Vancouver to raise awareness of myeloma with family doctors. As many patients can attest to, a timely diagnosis remains a significant challenge and in the majority of cases, patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, after they suffer bone or kidney damage. Given that the presenting symptoms are often "vague" (e.g. fatigue, back pain) and most people who develop myeloma are in their mid-60's or older, often times the appropriate follow-up or diagnostic tests are not done, thereby delaying the diagnosis. With over 2,000 family doctors in attendance at this year's event, the Family Medicine Forum proved to be an excellent opportunity to highlight the symptoms to look out for and promote the importance of a timely diagnosis. Thank you to Lorelei Dalrymple, Ev McDowell, Martine Elias and Tony and Kara Malley, for assisting Myeloma Canada in bringing awareness to family physicians about the importance of early diagnosis.

ONTARIO

TRAIL TREK FOR JUDY

A huge congratulations to Sara Montgomery, for having completed her 110km Trail Trek over three days to raise funds for Myeloma Canada, in memory of her mom Judy. Sara raised an impressive $8,000 for the cause, surpassing by $3,000 her original fundraising goal! Click here to view a video that Sara posted during her journey trek: