Women with cancer get online support

Canadian women with cancer’and those who care about them’can now go to a new online resource designed so they can connect with others living with cancer, and find useful information on the emotional and social aspects of this disease. Facing Cancer Together launched today through the efforts of the Canadian Cosmetic, Toiletry & Fragrance Association (CCTFA) Foundation.

This morning, I attended Facing Cancer Together’s launch event, which also marked the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. There, CCTFA executive director Sherry Abbott shared her own moving story of more than 20 years as a cancer survivor. At just 30 years old, Abbott received the grim diagnosis of stage IV ovarian cancer and  was told she had less than a year to live. So it’s with compassion and a knowledge of the stark reality so many women with cancer face that Abbott announced the launch of this site.

The resources that Facing Cancer Together provides reflect the results of a study done by the CCTFA called "Lives affected by cancer…800 women speak." (Marie Grey, pictured above, is one of the women featured on the report’s cover.) It found that 73 percent of respondents went to the internet and cancer-related websites looking for support, yet only 21 percent of those women said the internet is one of their most helpful resources.

Abbott also encouraged all Canadians to support the women they know with cancer by adding a name to the online support wall’the "tell her" movement‘and sending her a note of encouragement. (Already, 222 names have been posted!)