The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network’s team was very pleased to be in Edmonton, Alberta last month for the Right2Survive Legislative Reception.
Tuesday, November 19th, 2024 was a very busy day for CCSN and their invited patient advocates Diane Colton, Tim Monds and Kelly Graham-Miele. Throughout the day, there were private meetings with MLA Sarah Hoffman, Hon. Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, TJ Keill (the Special Advisor to Premier Danielle Smith) and MLA Martin Long. The commonality between all those meetings was that a) everyone has been touched by cancer, and b) all were very receptive to what we would like to see happen with lung cancer screening in Alberta.
MLA Sarah Hoffman also invited our group to Question Period where we were introduced to the members. She later posed a two part question to the Minister of Health regarding cancer care operational funding and the extension of – or – preferably, making permanent the lung cancer screening pilot program.
The reception was attended by many lung cancer survivors, clinicians, researchers and patient advocates, as well as MLA Lorne Dach, MLA Jackie Lovely and The Minister of Health, Adriana LaGrange.
Dustin Pearson from Evict Radon, Theresa Tang from Praxus Health (formerly 19 to Zero) & James Puckrin from Aceso Medical also joined our reception and had lots of great information to share.
The speakers at the event included our own Lindsay Timm, Dr. Alain Tremblay, patient advocate Diane Colton and Minister LaGrange.
Lindsay opened the reception by addressing the importance of early screening and credited the Alberta government for funding the pilot program.
Diane Colton, who is a three time cancer survivor, told her success story but stressed that many are not as fortunate as her. She also talked about how the incidence of lung cancer is growing compared to other cancers because screening for those have become part of our standardized care. Which begs the question why lung cancer screening isn’t as readily available as other cancers, such as breast, cervical and colorectal.
Dr Tremblay spoke to the Alberta Lung Cancer Screening Pilot Program (ALCSP) and the many successes they’ve achieved so far. He also impressed upon the listeners the importance of continuing this screening program.
Minister LaGrange highlighted the success of the ALCSP Pilot and the government’s support for the mobile lung screening bus. Being a cancer survivor herself, Minister LaGrange understands better than most the importance of catching cancer early.
Lindsay Timm closed out the event by reminding all in attendance that “we are all the same, made up of the same cells that can turn on us and grow cancer.” She asked the room to work together to ensure that everyone who is at risk of lung cancer have access to screening that could save their lives.