Breast cancer was always something that hung over my head as my grandmother passed away from the disease in her 50s in the 1990’s. Despite this, my doctor did not recommend any earlier scans or…

When I turned 40, I went to my GP and asked to be referred for a mammogram. Even though the recommended age for mammograms in Ontario is 50, I felt that I should have one…

It started off as a hunch. It came from anecdotal evidence….talking to friends, speaking with fellow breast cancer survivors. As a peer supporter for Breast Cancer Action Ottawa, I hear more than the average person…

I am a one and half year survivor of breast cancer, with no family history of the disease. For years after my annual mammogram, I received a letter from my gynecologist, stating “normal,” but there…

In 2013, I figured out I had dense breasts, but didn’t understand what that meant. Every time I went for a mammogram, they were always suspicious of a spot on the lower inside quadrant of…

I didn’t want to tell our sons because I knew I would start crying and that would scare them. But I could see the fear in their eyes anyway when my husband calmly explained that…

Every time I think about the destiny that was planned for me by a healthcare system I trusted, the words of an Ed Sheeran song play in my head, “Memories of a life that’s been…

Looking back now, I credit the Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews, New Brunswick for helping me find my breast cancer. I was attending a conference at the hotel and gearing up for a busy day…

I was diagnosed in early July 2017.  I was 51 years old, a police officer, wife and busy mother of a 15-year-old daughter.  I didn’t have time for cancer.  6 months earlier I had some…