A few years ago I posted about finding this group called Save Your Skin Foundation (SYSF), founded by BC-based melanoma survivor Kathy Barnard, and all about how Kathy and the SYSF team helped me through my cancer experience. (Click here for a quick re-cap: "Queen's Park Yesterday")
Since that time I volunteer-blogged for SYSF, and was a Spokeperson for them at Ontario events and then nationally, until I felt well enough to go back to work, knowing I needed to do something meaningful with my career and help others the way SYSF had helped me. I badgered Kathy into hiring me part-time as a Project Coordinator, and off we went!
I tested the employment waters for about eight months, got my legs back under me, and then moved into a full-on Director role in which I have been working for the past five years. As you know, that didn't leave me much time to write on my blog - but it's okay - I was able to pour all of my creativity and combined professional skills into my work at Save Your Skin, and I love it. Love working in this field, though stressful at times, I am proud of what we do, and I endlessly appreciate my mentor and friend, Kathy.
Recently we were both interviewed for a joint article for AIM at Melanoma in the States, and this write-up took me right back to how I felt about Kathy and SYSF six years ago, and it is still how I feel today:
From Survivors to Advocates: Two Leaders are Pushing for Progress in Canada and Around the World
It is true that the Oncologists on our team joke with Kathy and I about how they help save melanoma patients and then Kathy hires them. Kathy saved me - then she saved my career, and then she saved my love life LOL! (More on that later - as I mentioned, Mike is a melanoma survivor and he has long been a Spokesperson for SYSF, and that is how we first met and became friends years ago. 😊 )
Many of my family and friends have asked me over the years "what IS your job?"
I can explain. It is oncology patient support and advocacy across Canada. Helping patients like myself navigate the health care system, figure out - and access! - treatments, support them through the emotional and sometimes financial hardships of a skin cancer diagnosis, inform them about their disease and options, and simply in general BE there for them.
In the last five years, along with the Team and Board and Medical Advisory Board at Save Your Skin, I have supported the Foundation's work by:
- facilitating 14 educational webinars on melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancers, and ocular melanoma
- hosting two fund raising Galas in Toronto, and one virtual one (since covid)
- attending the Canadian Melanoma Conference in Banff three times
- traveling around the world to attend conferences such as the Society for Melanoma Research Congress, European Post-ASCO Melanoma/Skin Cancer Meeting, CureOM Science Meetings and Patient Symposiums, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, European Society of Medical Oncology, and many more - next post is all about these! (Travel to all the conferences helps us learn all the latest news in skin cancer and advocate for the best treatments to come to Canada)
- representing SYSF and working with many Canadian and international groups to endorse and support work in the field of melanoma skin cancer research and support, including being on the cover of the newest National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) Patient Guide for Melanoma. True story:
- writing content and guiding awareness and support initiatives in all aspects for the SYSF community across Canada - annual Melanoma Awareness Month, Cancer Survivor Day, press releases, city proclamations, media opportunities, development and publishing of video productions, educational materials, blogs, newsletters, countless patient/caregiver meetings and roundtables, the list goes on...
Below are a bunch of photos of my work in the last five years.
To kick those off I want to show you our newest video - among other items, most recently we launched a project about which I am very proud and excited: Sty-Lives - Styling Hair and Saving Lives. (You may or may not know my Cass is a Hairstyling Apprentice, graduated from Marca College in Toronto, so she was a contributor on this project.)
Sty-Lives is being rolled out across the country by a team of Medical Student volunteers, plus our SYSF staff and supporters, to hair salons and barbershops for the education of hair professionals to help detect suspicious spots on clients' heads/ears/necks, encouraging them to seek an appointment with a Dermatologist for professional examination. All salons are eligible to register for this free program, so if you'd like more information or for me to mail you some materials for your salon, email me or let us know, here:
And here is the video:
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Collection of photos - just some of the many friends I have made and experiences I've had along the way. Enjoy!
Giving Hope Gala
<--- oh and there's Mike! :-)
Move for Melanoma Annual Event
Global Coalition - Melanoma Research Foundation, U.S.
( and you might recognize this guy... ---> )
Conferences and Roundtables
MI-PAC - AIM at Melanoma, U.S.
And some random shots from over the years at the Cdn. Melanoma Conference at the Banff Springs Hotel:
And a random selection of our materials:
Thank you Save Your Skin Foundation, I love you!
Save Your Skin Foundation (SYSF) is a patient-led organization dedicated to the fight against non-melanoma skin cancers, melanoma, and ocular melanoma through education, advocacy, and awareness initiatives across Canada. SYSF provides a community of oncology patient and caregiver support throughout the entire continuum of care, from prevention and diagnosis to survivorship.
