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A Quest for Personalized Care

When my mother finished her breast cancer treatment at the end of April 2018, she was told she was considered cured with at least 10 - 15 years ahead of her. Having always had an active lifestyle coupled with a healthy diet, never smoked and rarely consumed alcohol, she made further changes to her lifestyle with the goal of beating the odds and living to be one hundred years old. She was pursuing professional re-certification, starting to learn another language and considering a PhD program at the University of Victoria to bring together her expertise in learning technology and public health to improve cancer patient care.

She had undergone surgery and an aggressive chemotherapy treatment for early stage breast cancer. Residing in Northeastern BC, she often found that reliable access to cancer care and services was restricted. Information provided by one professional source was often contradicted by another, with few possibilities to undergo treatment in the area. In the end, she underwent treatment away from home in the BC Interior. During her treatment, it was important to her to stay informed and active in her care to understand what they could do, why they were doing it, what outcomes were to be expected and if alternative treatments were available. Lack of information and personalized care was often a sticking point for her throughout this time.

Towards the end of the summer in 2018, she felt her energy and overall health was not where it should be. Basic blood tests showed nothing abnormal and it was dismissed as further effects from chemotherapy. In the last week of September 2018, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer with ‘extensive liver involvement’ meaning that multiple tumours existed across both nodes of her liver. Even as her health was failing, she chose to attend an all-day cancer patient journey mapping session to share how cancer care is delivered and received by people around British Columbia. She wanted to do as much as possible to improve access for the North and ensure future patients benefitted from her struggle. She passed away in mid-October 2018.

I share my mother’s story because her cancer could not be successfully treated with the current standard of breast cancer care. She suspected that this was the case for many people across the province and wanted to create a fund where money could be ear-marked for research in improving patient specific care.

The money donated to this fund will go towards the BC Cancer Breast Cancer Research Initiative that aims to sequence the genome of every breast cancer patient’s tumour. (https://bccancerfoundation.com/why-give/world-class-care/precision-medicine)

Please consider donating in memory of Jackie now and in the future to further breast cancer research and realize a future where everyone can have access to personalized care, treatment, and information.