Thank you from a Winnipeg woman with cancer

We at Cancer Crossing were happy to receive heartfelt thanks for another person who received our help. She wrote how grateful she was for the support - financial, physical and mental - from several agencies, which helped make the very challenging journey through cancer so much easier. Specifically, the support received from Cancer Crossing helped her pay for parking fees and for groceries, lessening her burden at a very difficult time. Please help support other cancer patients by donating at http://www.cancercrossing.org/

Exercise and Cancer

Approximately 45% of Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. While many cancers are survivable with treatment, cancer still remains the leading cause of death in Canada.

Physical activity and exercise can help you avoid developing several cancers and help you survive cancer if you have already been diagnosed. Here is how exercise helps. Exercise reduces inflammation in your body, which helps avoid cell damage and slows cell growth. It gives your immune system a boost and regulates hormones like estrogen and insulin. Exercise also helps move food waste through your intestine more quickly, so that anything harmful in food waste spends less time in your body. Additionally, if you've already got cancer, exercise alleviates fear and depression, improves physical strength and improves your immune response. Exercise can inhibit cancer cell growth by regulating the tumor environment, and reducing inflammation, which in turn may enhance treatments like chemotherapy. While you may not feel like exercising, any an all exercise will help you so lace up those shoes and go for a walk around the block, or hit the gym for some weight lifting. No gym? Grab some cans of food or fill some empty pop bottles with water and use them as weights.

https://www.cdc.gov/.../health.../lowers-risk-of-cancer.html

https://www.cancer.gov/.../physical-activity-fact-sheet

http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/.../physical-activity/the-science

We at Cancer Crossing want us all to live long healthy lives and wish those with cancer all the best as they undergo treatments.

Eastern Manitoba man is assisted

Cancer Crossing has helped a man from eastern Manitoba with travel expenses for cancer treatment. He is in his mid-50s with a teenaged son. He has had surgery and now is traveling to Winnipeg for radiation treatment for his mouth cancer. His 30 treatments amount to over 7200 km travel. There is no volunteer drivers in his area meaning that he is driving himself to treatments. He is on short term disability payments and Cancer Crossing stepped up to fill the gap in his travel expenses. You can assist people like him by donating at http://www.cancercrossing.org/

Thank you to Cancer Crossing and donors like you!

We were delighted to receive a thank you from a previous recipient of financial assistance. She mentioned that the help that Cancer Crossing gave her eased her stress and helped her afford to travel to treatments. We were so pleased to be able to help her. You too can help cancer patients in need by going to http://www.cancercrossing.org/ and clicking on the "donate" button on the top left.

Breast cancer patient gets travel expense aide

Cancer Crossing has provided help to a woman in her mid-60s who was diagnosed with breast cancer nearly 10 years ago. She continues on treatment as her cancer is metastatic and this includes follow ups with her oncologist in Winnipeg twice a year. She lives in western Manitoba. While she has CPP and OAS and a pension, her spouse was diagnosed with dementia recently, meaning she could not continue to work part time as she is his primary caregiver. Their expenses are greater than their income and travel to Winnipeg for oncology appointments is not possible without help. Luckily Cancer Crossing is able to give some relief so she can make those trips. You can help us help cancer patients by donating at http://www.cancercrossing.org/

Cancer Crossing helps man living north of Winnipeg

Cancer Crossing has been asked to assist a man in his early 60s with progressive cancer of the head and neck. While he lives closer to Winnipeg than many others that we assist, his financial needs are every bit as daunting. His condition has deteriorated and he was on EI benefits and applying for CPP. He came to Winnipeg for emergency tracheostomy and has a feeding tube. He needed to return for appointments to see his surgical oncologist, radiation oncologist and medical oncologist. All those trips took a toll on his pocket as did extra medical supplies not covered by Manitoba Health, and he fell behind on his bills. Since he is prioritizing his housing expenses we assisted with transportation expenses so he can continue to drive to care in Winnipeg. We are pleased to be able to offer help thanks to donations from people just like you. Donate at http://www.cancercrossing.org/

Photo credit: Travel Manitoba

 

Cancer research in Canada

Cancer research in Canada is leading the way world wide. One scientist in Toronto has achieved ground breaking discoveries that are acknowledged internationally and have changed the way cancer is treated, leading to better outcomes.

This scientist is Dr. John E. Dick. Dr. Dick was born and raised in a small town near Winnipeg and his elementary schooling was in a one room school house. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Manitoba in 1984 and did his post doctoral research in Toronto. Dr. Dick is a Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Biology, a Senior Scientist at the McEwen Stem Cell Institute at UHN, a professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto and Director, Program in Cancer Stem Cells at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

Dr. Dick discovered cancer stem cells in the 1990s. His first research in this field was in the human blood system and leukemias and his discovery was considered controversial and ground breaking. This discovery lead to new and better treatments for various cancers. His work and his discovery is now being used around the world.

Dr. Dick was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2004, and as a Fellow of the Royal Society (in the UK) in 2014. The Royal Society is the oldest scientific society in the world, dating back to 1663. Other Fellows include Sir Isaac Newton and Steven Hawking. Dr. Dick is in prestigious company indeed. In 2024 Dr. Dick was inducted to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. See the following links for more of his awards and further explanations of his research and what his achievements have meant in curing cancer and helping untold numbers of people. We are truly fortunate to have a scientist of his caliber in Canada, and many other scientists doing decades of painstaking work for the benefit of humanity.

https://www.uhn.ca/corporate/News/UHN_Podcasts/Behind_the_Breakthrough/Pages/Season2_Episode10_John_Dick.aspx

https://www.cdnmedhall.ca/laureates/johndick

https://www.cdnmedhall.ca/laureates/johndick

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edgar_Dick