Many of the faces depicted in the slideshow belong to members of the "Robin's Cancer Olympics" or RCO community. These are the determined individuals - extraordinary ordinary people - who changed cancer care in Nova Scotia.
On May 17, 2014, the book The Cancer Olympics was launched in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia at the KC Irving Centre of Acadia University. Over 150 people attended. The gifted harpist duo Ardyth and Jennifer performed. Because half of the proceeds of the book go to cancer charity, this event raised $2000 dollars for the Canadian Cancer Society, and the following Beatles Barn Dance raised $1000 for the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada. Many of the faces depicted in the slideshow belong to members of the "Robin's Cancer Olympics" or RCO community. These are the determined individuals - extraordinary ordinary people - who changed cancer care in Nova Scotia. The Cancer Olympics reads like The Hunger Games. Like Suzanne Collin’s bestseller, it is told in the first person present tense. It also relates a desperate story of survival against the odds, and how that survival leads to political activism and change. But unlike the dystopian novel, it is a true story.
Journalists who have written about the story and the book have chosen different elements in their pieces about it. For example, I was interviewed for CBC’s Information Morning by Margot Brunelle, whose reading of the book left her staggered by the enormity of the medical negligence I encountered on my path to diagnosis. She perceptively understood the interpersonal anguish that would beset a small professional community that has witnessed such betrayal. Knowing as she does how difficult it is to get the College of Physicians to discipline doctors, she explores and applauds my search for justice through that body. Our interview is here: http://bit.ly/1pQ0nfZ Other journalists are struck by the changes to provincial cancer care that arose from the events in the story. Paula Huntley and Glen Parker both write for The Chronicle Herald. Both relate how my community and I successfully lobbied the government to allow the best-practice chemotherapy for my kind of cancer – a treatment that had been denied in Nova Scotia until then. Both of them poignantly point out that the treatment was approved too late for me to receive it. Paula’s story emphasises how one would feel in such circumstances (http://bit.ly/RStsbp) whereas Glen’s teaches readers how many will be saved by access to better treatment (http://bit.ly/1jcYlPj) In contrast, some journalists are more interested in the ongoing efforts at patient advocacy captured in the Epilogue of The Cancer Olympics. Lynn Moar of The Chronicle Herald wrote a piece that emphasizes my ongoing personal support of individual patients, as well as my work as a patient representative on various provincial and national working groups. Her fullpage spread is about me and Relay for Life: http://bit.ly/1rjn1ub. Blogger and patient advocate Georgia Hurst has also avidly reviewed the book, highlighting the social media platform I used to seek and generate support: www.Lotsahelpinghands.com. She also reflects on how vividly the book describes the psychological pain of a cancer diagnosis http://bit.ly/V2MlKK Some writers have focused upon the humourous elements of the story, delighting in the “comic relief” episodes (such as my intimidating but amusing foray into a sex shop). Wendy Elliott of The Kentville Advertiser posted a supportive review in which she described the book as inspirational and powerful, but also highly funny: http://bit.ly/1lnm9zM I wrote a true story to share with the world that one can still live with resolve and resiliency when confronted by the unthinkable, and that even a struggling underdog can bring about political and healthcare change. I am glad that the various journalists see the many facets of my painfully-wrought diamond. All that is missing is my bow and arrow. |
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April 2024
CategoriesAuthorRobin McGee: psychologist, author, |