Health Insight
CAMPAIGN: Blood Health (2023)
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One Patient’s Guide to Understanding and Navigating the CLL Journey
Every Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) journey may be unique but leaning on trusted resources and a strong support network remain critical to navigating the complexities of a diagnosis. Margaret Barber was just 63 when she was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). “I’d been athletic my whole life,” she says. She knew something was wrong,...
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Students Saving Lives: The Next Generation of Stem Cells
The patient search for a life-saving stem cell donor may begin with family members, but the vast majority must rely on unrelated volunteer donors from the global stem cell registry. Finding someone with the same ethnic ancestry is challenging, particularly since the global registry is predominantly Caucasian (70 per cent). “A patient’s best chance of...
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Treatment Advancements Changing Lives of Individuals with Multiple Myeloma
Innovative research is leading to key advances in therapies and prognosis for people with this blood cancer. Rinat Avitzur says being diagnosed and treated for multiple myeloma changed her perspective on life. “You live for the day. I used to think I would start travelling later in life, and during treatment I realized why wait?”...
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Advances Bring Hope to Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common blood cancer in older adults. With new treatments, patients are living longer and better. In October of 2021, Shawn Omstead of Toronto and his wife were preparing to host Thanksgiving dinner. “I noticed I didn’t have much of an appetite. A few weeks earlier, while visiting my...
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Why It’s Important to Be Aware of This Rare Blood Disease
While rare, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria can be fatal if not treated. That’s why awareness is so important. Zach Cressman, 20, is an aviation student living in Southwestern Ontario. One day in February 2015, at age 12, he was sent home from school after taking part in a physical education test. “I had scored half of...
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Surviving Rare Cancer: Journey through Diagnosis, Delays, and Determination
Mediaplanet sat down with Harjeet Kaur to discuss her diagnosis and key resources that have supported her cancer journey. Learn more about Harjeet’s story.