Work, lately...

I don’t usually mix my personal blog and my professional life - and I don’t often write about work here. But as we move into a new year, and as Allan Events Co. continues to grow, it feels like the right moment to connect a few dots.

I’ve been working with many new colleagues in Prince George over the past couple of years, and I’m realizing that not everyone knows why I do the work I do, or where it really comes from. My LinkedIn bio hints at it, and this blog has inadvertently documented the last 11+ years of my life, but this feels like a good place to pause, reflect, and explain things once - clearly.

Where this all started (and continues)

In 2014, my life changed in ways I never expected. A diagnosis of metastatic melanoma (AND then thyroid cancer) reshaped my priorities, my pace, and my understanding of what meaningful work actually looks like.

Those years were hard, frightening, and deeply clarifying. And while I am currently grateful to be living with no evidence of disease, I remain “on surveillance” at BC Cancer, with annual CT scans, regular follow-ups, and the quiet knowledge that cancer is not something I can ever fully put behind me. It is part of my life, and it continues to inform how I move through the world and my work.

Living with serious illness has a way of stripping things down to what matters most. For me, that meant focusing my energy on work that feels purposeful, connected to people, and genuinely useful - work I can feel proud of at the end of the day.

That clarity eventually became Allan Events Co.

My professional path before and alongside this chapter has included roles in sales, technology, finance, and leadership with organizations such as OpenText, BlackBerry, Scotiabank, Loblaw, and Community Futures. Since my diagnosis, I have also been deeply involved in oncology patient advocacy, leading national education and awareness initiatives with Save Your Skin Foundation and Ocumel Canada. Strategy, communication, education, and compassion have become inseparable for me, both personally and professionally

This work is also personal in another way. Mike and I met through patient advocacy, connected by a shared experience with metastatic melanoma and life-saving immunotherapy clinical trials. It’s an unusual thing to have in common, but it shapes how we move through the world and the work we choose to take on. We know - very clearly - that every day matters.

What we do at Allan Events Co.

Allan Events Co. focuses on business events and medical education, delivered with care, precision, and a deep respect for the people involved.

We coordinate events in all formats - conferences, trade shows, training sessions, roundtables, CME-accredited symposiums, and community gatherings. Much of our work happens behind the scenes: venue sourcing, budgeting, timelines, sponsorship, catering and A/V coordination, speaker and exhibitor management, and all the small details that make an event run smoothly.

Our role is to bring all the moving pieces together, keep everything on track, anticipate challenges, and create space for our clients to focus on what matters most to them. We aim to deliver events that feel thoughtful, seamless, and impactful. And we genuinely have fun in the process!

Recent work & gratitude

Over the past year, we’ve had the privilege of supporting several projects in Prince George and beyond, including work with the Prince George Chamber of Commerce on initiatives such as the Business Excellence Awards and Voices for Change Safe Streets Rally. These events take many hands, minds, and partners to bring to life, and we love collaborating with venues, suppliers, technicians, and community organizations to transform spaces into exactly what our clients need.

One of the most meaningful projects of late 2025 was supporting Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation on their 32nd annual Festival of Trees at the CN Centre. Spirit of the North is a driving force in advancing healthcare across northern British Columbia - funding equipment, innovation, and care that directly impacts patients and families in our region. As someone who continues to live with the long-term realities of cancer, being invited to support Festival of Trees was both an honour and a deeply personal full-circle moment.

Looking ahead

As we move into 2026, I’m looking forward to continuing work that sits at the intersection of community, education, and patient advocacy.

Alongside ongoing projects through Allan Events Co., I’ll be spending time this year supporting national oncology education and awareness initiatives - including continued collaboration with Save Your Skin Foundation, consulting work in the cancer education space, and participating in conversations that help bring patient perspectives into broader healthcare discussions. There are also a few upcoming speaking, writing, media, and podcast projects in the works that I’m excited to share when the time is right.

These efforts are deeply connected to the local work I do in Prince George. Whether coordinating events, supporting healthcare foundations, or contributing to national education initiatives, the goal is the same: to create spaces - in person and online - where learning, connection, and advocacy can meaningfully happen.

If you’re here because you know me personally, professionally, or somewhere in between - thank you. This post exists to offer a bit of context, so there’s a shared understanding as I continue focusing on the work that matters.

 

(...and if you want to know more, feel free to peruse the blog tags in the right sidebar, see some highlight photos below, or view my portfolio, here) 

Lymphedema Education Day - Nov-2024

Accredited Medical Education Conference

Prince George Chamber of Commerce 2025 Business Excellence Awards

 

...including time spent with The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould

So very grateful for all of the wonderful people, businesses, organizations, and concepts that we get to work with! 

And lots more to look forward to 😊

  

March is Lymphedema Awareness Month

Over the years I have written quite a bit about my experience with lymphedema - secondary lymphedema in my right thigh, from surgery for melanoma skin cancer. Lymphedema (lim-fa-DEE-ma): lymphedema is a lifelong condition caused by a buildup of lymph fluid. This happens when the lymphatic system is either faulty or damaged and cannot function as normal. It leads to chronic swelling in the tissues where the lymph flow is blocked.*  I've dabbled in pursuing treatment for this but will admit I have not yet established ongoing management of it. Still on my to-do list. Mike also has lymphedema, from the same surgical procedure for melanoma, but it settled more in his foot. 

In any case, having bolstered a bunch of melanoma-related patient support and education initiatives with Save Your Skin Foundation and on my own over the years, I am now adding a lane, and lending a hand with lymphedema patient support. Recently I have joined a team in Prince George who are planning a Lymphedema Education Conference later this year for Physicians and allied HCPs in the Northern Health region of BC. I am happy to be working with an esteemed local Physiotherapist who is leading the initiative; I will support with my event planning and tech experience. 

Not only am I learning more about lymphedema, and the needs of patients, but through this project I am learning more about the health care system in our region, and the access to resources that Physicians may or may not have. 

Our group is excited to be planning this informative event, which will consist of a full day for Physicians, including a lymphedema care doctor guest speaker from Ontario, and then a half-day for allied health care providers on lymphedema care and bandaging, etc. While planning all of this we are learning about the process of hosting - and funding - an accredited conference for Physicians. It's a big undertaking! But a necessary one, as continuing lymphedema education fights for attention just as many other medical infirmities have to. 

View this video from Shirley Bond, MLA, Prince George-Valemount speaking about World Lymphedema Day and the local work and recent initiatives underway in our area:

I'll update with more information when I can, but in the meantime, I'll end with a shout-out to the 1 million Canadians impacted by lymphedema and bid them a healthy Lymphedema Awareness Day. 

For more information, please check out the Canadian Lymphedema Framework, and/or the lymphedema association in your province:

Canadian Lymphedema Framework

A Year to Review

As I prepare to spend the next year writing a book and pursuing a career as a freelancer and advocate in the oncology space, I have been reviewing the multitude of resources collected in my cancer travels over the last nine-plus years. I am inspired to share the knowledge I have gained through my work, but also to re-visit it with the additional perspective I have developed since first being diagnosed with advanced cancer. 

Some resources I'll mention in the coming months you will have heard me touch on before, some might be familiar only to those who follow Save Your Skin Foundation (where I wrote about them but didn't share on my personal blog), and others will be completely new to all of us. I will be expanding on my experiences with these items, and in some cases, I expect my extended thoughts on the topic will reveal some new context. 

January is as great a time as any to kick off a new plan - I'll start with a plug for those who enjoy setting new years resolutions. An easy one for the year is to perform a monthly skin self-exam to stay on top of any changing skin spots, moles, or conditions. Our skin is our body's largest organ, and we need to check it to protect it. Set a reminder in your calendar, google, or Alexa, and/or align your skin check with the full moon every month - easy peasy!  (Just saying... if I hadn't neglected my weird mole all those years ago, I wouldn't now be sitting here talking about metastatic cancer.)

Click here to learn how to do a skin check

Also in January, it is Children Impacted by a Parent’s Cancer Month (CIBAPC), in the United States.

I have set a plan for my blogging to align with a calendar of cancer awareness days for 2024. As you know, through my work I have inadvertently become an "unofficial expert" on melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, as well as ocular (or uveal) melanoma. Also having had a simultaneous diagnosis of thyroid cancer, and becoming extensively familiar with the treatments for all of these, as well as related conditions and topics such as lymphedema, gene testing, and treatment side effects, I will share news and insights on each of the ones I feel equipped to speak about.

You may have already noticed I added an image with a link in my blog sidebar to the right showing the I Had Cancer calendar for 2024. This calendar is the most comprehensive of its kind, that I've seen. I Had Cancer is an online patient support community I have been a part of for many years, wrote a blog for them once upon a time too. I'm inspired to share their excellent resources and to be able to do so on a wider array of cancer indications and related topics. 

My journey with melanoma skin cancer has many similarities to that of folks with other cancers, so I will speak to that throughout the year. 

Also, I realize that you know people other than myself who have cancer - it isn't all about me.... so you may find some interesting information and additional cancer resources such as awareness months/days and ribbon colours, and support resources for a wider community.

This calendar is free to download so if you'd like a copy you can click here to get it. I'll keep it in the sidebar this year and refer to it in upcoming posts, but also please feel free to get it and share with your family and friends. 

Why do I feel cancer or health-related awareness activities are important? For the same reason I still write about my journey almost ten years after it began: to be part of a community of support. When I was first diagnosed, I felt very isolated, filled with fear, and like no one understood what I was going through. When I started to research melanoma and found people who had survived it, I felt hopeful. They helped me, and now I can help others.

Everyone everywhere who is diagnosed with any life-changing disease or condition goes through a unique and often terrible range of emotions as they learn about their condition, their "new normal" - or wonder if there will ever be anything "normal" again. Cancer, diabetes, MS, heart disease, lung disease, Crohn's, lupus, hepatitis - too many to list. We all have something. And, pack animals that we are, we often find comfort in engaging with others who are in the same community. It is part of coping, learning, sharing, and giving back.  

Another great resource for patients and caregivers includes the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) Guidelines on melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, and many other indications, as well as supportive topics such as immunotherapy or treatment side effects, mental wellness, and survivorship.

I wish I had had NCCN® guides for melanoma and thyroid cancers back in 2014-2015, though these have been newly developed in recent years. Through my work at SYSF I got to research and endorse many of these guides, and provide patient quotes from our community, and somehow my little face is even on the cover of the 2021 melanoma guide. That is how much I love these guides and recommend them to patients and caregivers. 

(Clicking this image will take you to the most current 

Melanoma Patient Guide from NCCN, updated in 2023)

Though these guidelines are developed with best practices in use in the United States, the resources do apply to patients and clinicians in Canada (where treatment options and access apply), as I have personally confirmed with members of the SYSF Medical Advisory Board. Canadian doctors do refer to the NCCN® clinical guidelines, and they do support the distribution of NCCN® patient guidelines to Canadian patients.

Plus - the other day when I was researching NCCN® updates I found they have published a new guide on thyroid cancer in late 2022! This is exciting, as I have never really understood the details of my thyroid cancer diagnosis. I knew I had papillary thyroid cancer, and that they were happy the tumour wasn't melanoma, so I had a complete thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine treatment. That's kind of it. Until now - I just finished reading this and I'm clearer now on more of my details. Check it out: Thyroid Cancer

Also please feel free to see other NCCN® guides related to this community, including the Survivorship books, which contain quotes from yours truly: 

NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Melanoma

NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Squamous Cell Skin Cancer

NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Basal Cell Skin Cancer

NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Immunotherapy Side Effects series:  

Immunotherapy Side Effects: CAR T-Cell Therapy and Immunotherapy Side Effects: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Survivorship Care for Healthy Living and Survivorship Care for Cancer-Related Late and Long-Term Effects 

NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Distress During Cancer Care

NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer

The Patient books are easy to read, well-illustrated, and are all available for free to view and print at NCCN.org/patients or via the NCCN® Patient Guides for Cancer App: Virtual Library of NCCN Guidelines® App – Available for iPhone/iPad and Android Smartphone/Tablet.  Keep an eye out for new guides all the time, they are ever-expanding. 

So there, that is my plan for the year - laid out in January - how organized! I'm also set for a couple of my own appointments in the coming months, including my annual CT scan in March. I'm also happy to be co-supporting, with a lovely group of inspired volunteers, an accredited 'Lymphedema Education Day' to take place later this year for Physicians and allied health care professionals in the Northern Health region. Stay tuned!

Once a Nosy Patient, Always a Nosy Patient (Advocate)

Note from a reader: Enough gallivanting around Natalie, get back to work!  

OK, back to work I go - I have cancer to write about, experience to share, fellow patients and warriors to help through their crappy time the way others helped me through mine (and still do). 

Earlier this year I wrote about my most recent surgery (not cancer-related), and the results of that - not anemic anymore - good stuff! But there is more... I have learned a lot in the past couple of years about my health and options. Thanks to a move in provinces, I basically qualified for a whole new round of Physician referrals and perspectives, which is pretty interesting to experience. I was very happy with my care before, but now I have some new tools to add to my repertoire.

First off, I am fortunate to have another great family doctor (GP), who has been fantastic acting as my advocate and connecting me with specialists I may not have discovered otherwise. 

Right out of the gate he got me referred to the BC Cancer Agency (the equivalent of the formerly named Cancer Care Ontario, which governs all cancer care in the province - in the western provinces and some of the east, they actually refer to it as "Cancer Agency," which I had learned in my work with SYSF, but hadn't encountered personally, in Ontario). Every province has its own health care budget so if you move you get a new health card and you fall into that province's budget, and you no longer get services in the other province. There are times when patients can qualify for out-of-province treatment/care, but I'll save that topic for another day.

BC Cancer (BCCA) has a beautiful Cancer Centre here in Prince George, and a couple of CT scanners in the adjacent hospital UHNBC, as well as MRI (though for PET we have to go to Vancouver). My first experience with the centre here was interesting, as, being new to BC Cancer, I was to follow the "new patient intake" pathway. My intake interview was conducted by a nurse over the phone (thanks covid), and I was struck by the complete line of questioning as it was almost exactly what I had experienced seven years prior, when I was first diagnosed with melanoma. 

It was rather surreal, and to the surprise of the nurse, so many of my answers were detailed and knowledgeable. In 2014, being brand new on the scene I had stumbled with many of the questions, not understanding what the staff were saying to me, not knowing my family/cancer history, being in shock in general as a brand new cancer patient. They were very sensitive and gentle with the questioning, but to be asked again this far down the line if I had a Will in place and a Personal Care representative and my affairs in order was a stark reminder of the deadly disease I am dealing with.

This time around I heard the questions and knew what to say and what to expect, from my years of personal research as well as work in the space, but I couldn't help being taken back to my first cancer centre experience, sitting in the waiting room holding that tell-tale newly-diagnosed envelope. It was emotionally difficult to answer some of the interview, as I had entered the process knowing I was new to this centre, but not comprehending that they wouldn't just read my file, they would treat me as an entirely new patient. 

Overall it was interesting to have that experience and it reminded me of the compassion all newly diagnosed patients require.

Image source: All.Can Canada

Intake complete, I was referred to the Medical Oncologist who travels here to cover melanoma patient care, among other indications. My first impression - aside from knowing no one could compare to The Boss - was that I would have to advocate for myself right out of the gate. Because I was past five years with no evidence of disease since melanoma diagnosis, in this Oncologist's opinion, I no longer needed to be followed. Well I know otherwise! 

A metastatic melanoma diagnosis is forever. It is a sneaky disease too, in which one might not experience symptoms of recurrence for months, and if not for being followed, one would not find out they have recurred until it is potentially too late to treat. 

A patient has the right to choose their follow schedule based on guidance from their medical team, but also on how they are feeling and doing, and any symptoms they may or may not be experiencing. I am clearly aware that I can request a CT scan any time I wish. I want one annually even in good health, so annually one I will get.

Simultaneously I received a referral to a Dermatologist for a full skin exam, which I should also have every year, but hadn't in I won't say how long. That one I'm not as hot to pursue, as I was educated from my first Derm years ago, my metastatic melanoma would not cause new moles or lesions. I may get new ones, but they would be unrelated to the first. While of course I do my monthly skin self-exams, it's the internal melanoma spread to lymph nodes and beyond I need the cancer centre's help watching out for. 

There are not official guidelines in place across Canada for metastatic melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers at this time. There are some guidelines in a few provinces, but not a complete set, so this explains why patients in some centres will receive completely different information about their disease than patients in other areas. 

It is a disparity that continues, and that should be addressed so that patients will no longer fall through cracks in the system, as I could for example, if I wasn't being scanned. Or as melanoma friends I have met on many occasion could, when they receive outdated treatment information or options. It is discouraging that we still see many of the same things happening in skin cancer care now as Mike experienced when he was first (mis-)diagnosed in 2007. But I digress...

Got a clear bill of skin health from the visiting Dermatologist, and that's great. Since then though, I'm happy to report that PG has gotten two new Dermatologists here full time, so that will help to address the Derm shortage for everyone in the Northern Health region of BC. I go see my new Derm for the first time in January so stay tuned for updates on that. You can be sure I'll be doing my usual dig-for-info-as-informed-patient at that one!

Alongside all this melanoma-maintenance, my GP referred me to an Endocrinologist. You may know from my thyroid cancer battle that I had dabbled in Endocrinology lessons in 2015-2016 at the same time as melanoma, and that involved neck surgery and radioactive iodine treatment. Completely different experience from skin cancer, but again a whole bunch of information a patient needs to know.

My new Endocrinologist here in PG was extremely compassionate and thorough, and once more it was like I was a new patient all over again. He requested all of my surgery and pathology reports from Sunnybrook, and explained things to me in a way I had not heard before. We did bloodwork several times to get full stats on my TSH/T3/T4/Thyroxine/Thyroglobulin, and he ordered an ultrasound on my neck/throat to get a baseline in case we needed it for future. 

It hadn't occurred to me to get an ultrasound sooner, as since my thyroidectomy and follow-ups in Toronto I was on a maintenance-dose of daily thyroid hormone supplement to keep my system running and keep any potential thyroid cancer cells away. Plus with the head to toe CT scans for melanoma I figured I was covered for metastasis-checks. 

Turns out an ultrasound every few years is a good idea as well, to check for any lumps or bumps that may not show up on a CT scan. In any case, ultrasound was clear, bloodwork was good, he adjusted my dose gradually down a little bit, and I'm rolling with that for the foreseeable future, consistent bloodwork pending.

So that's my informal cancer lesson for the day, work done - check and check! Though I do continue to look for ways to help myself and others in this disease space, so consider this an open invitation: if you have any questions you need help answering, about cancer, but especially skin cancer or thyroid cancer, I may be able to steer you toward the right source of information. I hang out with lots of health care providers and patient advocates alike and am always open to helping someone get the support they need. With gratitude, chat again soon. 💝

Meeting Local Celebrities

Among my BC-travel highlights are the times I have had the privilege of meeting people who I think are pretty neat. Of course family and friends rank at the very top of my neat-people list! But there are some additional folks that have touched my life that I'd love to mention here, in the name of blog-updating and British-Columbia-life-sharing.  

For years I have been honoured to meet, travel, and work with many of our absolute stars in melanoma skin cancer treatment in Canada, namely from Toronto, Edmonton, Victoria, and Vancouver. Last year I even got to pop down to the Okanagan to have a SYSF dinner with a number of our treating Dermatologists, Oncologists and Surgeons in the area. As always, it was humbling and inspiring at the same time: learning on behalf of skin cancer patients, and speaking on behalf of skin cancer patients. 

In addition to these meaningful exchanges, I have had the fun of meeting up with local celebrities that are on TV. And yes, I do count medical-educational webinars and recorded zoom meetings that are online as valuable viewing material! 

But in this case I'm referring to celebrities on Netflix, History channel, CTV, Prime, Discovery, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc etc etc - you get the idea. Sheer fun!

Let's start with Mike Hall from Rust Bros, in the Shuswap area. I've watched every episode of his show, laughing out loud at all the casts' antics, and learning a lot about cool car restorations at the invitation of my boyfriend Mike. Mike first got to meet Mike on a boys' trip a couple years ago, when he stumbled upon the Rust Valley Restorers shop/property/set and decided to pop in. As (my) Mike always says, just try... "nothing bad is going to happen" - they drove in, and were respectfully checking out the place when the boss came out and hung out to look at their cars and chat.

So when we were with family in the area last summer and went out on some exploring, Mike said hey let's stop in - maybe you can meet Mike too! And so we did. He was so gracious, obviously busy but still stopped to chat with us and take a photo. So cool, very fun!

A second local celebrity honourable mention goes here, to Avery from Rust Bros, and Wildman Restorations. Little did we know, when we were in the Shuswap we drove right by Avery's place several times - and we didn't know it until this past season when we watched on TV and saw the road! Didn't get to meet Avery, but if you watch the show you'd know he goes with Mike Hall, two peas in a pod if you ask me. 😂

Click photo for creds

Shifting gears... ha ha ha...

As I've mentioned before, since I've moved here I've learned a lot about gold mining, minerals, the environment, and the terrain in northern BC. Mike and I dabble in gold panning and have plans for more next season. But in the winters when we can't be out on the land, we occasionally watch TV. And guess what's on there - Gold Rush! Yes, I am completely hooked. But alongside Gold Rush are the likes of The Curse of Oak Island and Jade Fever. Ok no we haven't met the Lagina brothers or Parker Schnabel (though last season he did visit Barkerville!), BUT - Jade Fever! - Claudia Bunce! 

In my last post I talked about our visit to Jade City on the Yukon loop. The one thing I didn't mention is that Claudia was actually there, at the Jade City store when we stopped in. I didn't think she would be there, as it was the start of summer, and one would suspect they have to make the most of their time on the land up north in the short summer season. But lucky us - she was at home! I wasn't cool calm collected enough to ask her for a photo, so you'll have to see her in this one (and at the links below).

Click photo for creds

Just hangin' out all cool and prosperous in her jade store, as welcoming as if we had been invited to Thanksgiving dinner. Instantly we sensed her intelligence and business acumen, she was open and totally friendly, and absolutely not shy about her jade mining family history, business success, and current work as well as future plan speculation. 

She chatted with Mike while I (gaped and) shopped (quickly) - Claudia even said to Mike "Wow you are a Champ for letting her stop here to shop even with your hurt arm!"  A Champ! Well yes of course Mike is a Champ, but now it gets a capital C because Claudia said it too. She also referred to another shop she is/was working on, closer to us, but you'll have to wait to hear more about that one in a future post.  Claudia and her family happen to be from Prince George, so that bought me time to shop while Mike chatted. We have actually seen her at Costco since then too but without picture proof I feel like I can't say that 😅

https://jadecity.com/

https://www.ctv.ca/shows/jade-fever

And I will close with a couple more honourable mentions for Jade Fever.  On the day of the 2021 Father's Day Show n Shine fancy car tour here in PG, we saw Claudia's nephew Shane, to the very right in the crew photo above. I saw him and (so elegantly) exclaimed (from the window of Mike's Camaro) Oh wow it's Shane from Jade Fever!! and he smiled and waved. Yep, totally cool. 

Also Scrappy Larry, in the middle of the Jade Fever crew photo above. Scrappy Larry is a side-story in the Jade Fever show, and a captivating one at that! We love Scrappy Larry, have spotted him in PG as well, and we are thrilled that he now has his own website even. 

He is funny, sweet, genuine, and he loves cookies. We had brought a freshly baked care package of cookies for Scrappy Larry when we were planning to visit Cassiar and find him on our Yukon trip, but when we had to cancel that part of our trip we missed the chance to deliver to him. In any case, we'll keep trying!

So that's it for my BC celebrity update at the moment, but stay tuned... hangin' out with Mr. Nothing-Bad-is-Gonna-Happen you never know what  - or WHO - we might encounter next! 

Ryan Reynolds is from Vancouver after all..... 

😈

Working Toward My BC Citizenship

Over the last few days (months) I've been toying with how to title this particular blog - it could easily be "The Evolution of the Journey I Didn't Plan to Take... Ex-Motherhood, Melanoma, and still no Maserati" LOL  but I'll go with the move to BC header. :-) 

I do recall earlier this year promising to blog more - a promise to myself as much as anything - and here we are, a bit late but it is still 2022 after all. A health update from that same promising blog - I am happy to report that since hysterectomy and (occasionally reluctantly) increasing my iron intake, I have been determined no longer anemic! Cool! My hemoglobin is higher that it has been since my late twenties, and that feels like a really neat medical success. 

On the "Ex-"Motherhood front, as I've mentioned before, the girls are all grown up, living together in the GTA, both have graduated their college programs and are working toward apprenticeships in each of their fields. They finished high school the spring that covid took over our lives, and then they worked, bravely moved out on their own, completed college programs (one by online education and one travelled via the TTC every day - eeek) and found their next-step jobs all in a little over a year, and during the height of covid 2020-2021. 

I am so proud of them every day I almost burst! It was a really difficult transition to move apart from eachother, as our bubble of three was literally our way of life for 18 years. But as baby birds are supposed to do, they were ready to fly out on their own, so I sold our nest and we now chirp to eachother on skypes at least weekly if not more. As life goes, my new nest is across the country.  But they are so supportive.  And though we miss eachother greatly, we know we are only five hours apart (well.... plus an hour and two planes and airport time, but we won't get picky, I'm just saying, technically I can be to them in half a day if needed).  

They haven't yet been able to come to BC since I've been here, but I have gone to Toronto a few times to visit, be there for their birthdays, help them with mother-daughter and life things, augment the parent-from-a-distance that successful young women baby birds don't mind having the odd time, and in the most recent visit - get a tour of the Toronto Islands, which I had never done before. 

After living in a small town for 17 years then moving to a different province (a.k.a. planet) having my girls be my personal tour guides around their new city is really neat - though I'm NOT proficient at the TTC!! 

They do say that eventually the parent-child roles reverse - watch Cass try to get me on the subway and you have real-life evidence of this grown mother throwing a tantrum. With real tears. Not sure why I excel at any form of public transit in all the foreign countries I've visited, but the Toronto Transit system makes we quake with confusion. Blech! Anywaaayyyyy....

BC - British Columbia! About that! 

Also during the height of a global pandemic, I chose to move across Canada. Well to East-coasters I realize Ontario to BC isn't exactly across country, but with "TorOntario" being the centre of the universe and all, I'm taking creative license and calling it across the country. Meaford to Prince George - just a bit of a switch! 

I will share with you some fun facts in the next few blogs, such as: Prince George is "BC's Northern Capital", and it is also an hour away from the geographical centre of the province, check me out in the picture proof below. 

PG has about 80,000 people, a Costco, Home Depot, all the essentials - and most recently even a SEPHORA! The two main highways in the north, 16 & 97, intersect here - where you can find Mr. PG (more on him later) - and in any one of the four directions you go on those two roads you will find the most gorgeous mountains, trees, lakes, wildlife, history, camping spots, gold-mining opportunities, and even an ancient temperate forest with the giant cedars like on Vancouver Island. 

I have learned there are some language barriers between left-coasters and Ontarians (shrimp = prawns, rubber boots are gum-boots, escarpments don't seem to be a thing here...and don't even get me started on "ATV'S" vs. Quads and "Side by Sides" !?). I have learned that sometimes a miscommunication can simply be a language thing, and I often stop to ask Mike what something means, just to make sure we're actually talking about the same thing. 

And the time difference, OH THE TIME DIFFERENCE. You wouldn't think three hours would be that big a deal, but... it's just enough to make communication with home needing a strategic planner on it's own. You'd think I would have known that already, having worked from Ontario for a west-coast organization, I was always planning meetings based on the Eastern - Pacific time zone differences. Shoe on other foot when I got here and ugh.... 5am Pacific meetings suddenly became a norm. And on the days I'm not rollin' by 5am, half the day is already gone for the girls and my Mom by the time I've just woken up. We're slowly getting used to it, but it is challenging to keep in touch, especially with my friends who also work and have busy lives.

So I just realized I said "home" a second ago - this brings me back to the title of this blog and my reference to a BC Citizenship. There is not actually a citizenship change required to live here, it's more like a Mike-approval-phase I have learned I must pass before I can truly consider myself a British Columbian. 

Something about having to drop Ontario chip from shoulder, become a little more hardy in the wilderness (get 8,000 pairs of hiking shoes!?), drive according to their weird little road rule differences (and not complain about it - oh and probably not call it "their"), and in general just chill the eff out. Oh and stop telling everyone I meet that I'm from Ontario. 

Mike tests me regularly. I frequently "lose points," but then I get them back in sneaky-smart I'm-gonna-be-a-BC-girl ways ha ha - so fingers crossed for the five-year test. After being here for five years I should quite capably be able to call BC home.  

This is us with Mr. PG, the city mascot

It is super fun here, there is adventure around every corner - I totally give Mike credit for that. He is lovely in general of course, hence the being swept off my feet and moving here to be with him! But he is also a thoughtful personal tour guide, super fun and adventurous, knows everything about the area and still loves to explore everything. We have gone so many places after I tell you about all of them I really will have to re-name my blog - I won't have time for melanoma or Maseratis at all!  

We travel quite a bit around the area up here in northern BC and Alberta, either with our little RV, or in Mike's Camaro, depending on the destination, and the goal of the trip. Last year we camped almost every weekend May-October, and we did not go to the same place twice! There is so much to see and do camping all around here - waterfalls, hiking, checking out historical spots, and kayaking too. We are also quite interested in gold panning and there is a tonne of that here. 

(yes, for my Ontario friends... gold-panning - I didn't quite know if Mike was joking-slash-language-barrier when he first told me about it but nope - it's true! And we now have our miner's licenses and spend some of our spare time gold mining/panning, and checking out spots to potentially get a claim of our own. True story!)

The move itself to get here was super fun too. I had shipped my belongings on crates in advance from Meaford to PG, and then Mike flew to Toronto, got a few days whirlwind tour meeting some of my family and friends, we moved the girls and Reese to Toronto, and then we started driving west, in my Jeep, which is now a BC Jeep. (LOL that's become a big joke here as my cute little SUV is "not a real Jeep" - compared to the crazy tricked-out off-roading vehicles all over the place here, my Jeep is a dinky car)

Mike bonded with the Jeep over the six day drive from TO to PG, it was so cute. Being the trained race car driver Mike is, having the dinky power of a 4-cylinder grocery-getter added a particularly comical element to all that came with his inviting me to come live with him in the wild northwest, beginning with the looooong drive there. 

In any case, neither of us had done that full drive before; we had a great time, and of course hit a few of the main tourist spots that make Canada what it is - giant nickel in Sudbury, giant goose in Wawa, giant Ukrainian Easter egg in Vegreville. The Terry Fox monument of course too, and we also stopped to explore in the cities where we were born - the Sault for me, and Winnipeg for Mike. It was an awesome trip! 

And when we approached the BC border and drove through the mountains wow... I knew my next chapter was on a road I had always dreamed of, but thought I'd never find.

So now I keep at it, am learning the BC lingo, have chilled out considerably (which I especially notice when I visit Ontarionto), and have also learned to identify my BC drivers license from my Care Card (Health Card) - they look the exact same, it's painful. Honestly!

We camp and explore, and live every day to the fullest, and I have SO much to fill you in on... 

My work at SYSF, explained

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:

https://saveyourskin.ca/sty-lives/

And here is the video:

***

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.