The Truth of It: Patients and caregivers talk about their experiences with cancer

March 1, 2011

Watch these videos of patients and caregivers sharing feelings, perspective and advice about their different experiences with cancer

Connect with people affected by cancer through this series of unscripted videos, called The Truth of It. Learn about patients’ and caregivers’ unique experiences as well as their common threads of emotions, coping and perspective.

Watch how cancer affects so many types of people – those who are teenagers, others who are young parents or seniors, some who live in remote parts of Canada, others who live in urban centres and those who are affected by cancer more than once, or have a family history. Their approaches often differ but they are unified in their poignant emotions, their need for support and their forever-changed life perspectives.

This video series is called The Truth of It because the interviewees express their own opinions, and not necessarily those of the Partnership. The videos are listed according to themes.

Telling friends and family

Receiving a diagnosis of stage 4 melanoma and sharing the news – Chris
Coping with relapse and facing hard decisions – Renée
Personal strategy for dealing with testicular cancer – Mark
A 23-year survivor looks back on lymphoma – John
Setting goals during breast cancer treatment – Karen
Asking for help during breast cancer and making life changes – Sarah
Talking about breast cancer with family and friends – Tracy

Talking to children

Surviving leukemia – Jennifer
Learning from three bouts of breast cancer – Deborah
Choosing how to live with metastatic breast cancer – Janet
Coping with cancer as a young father of a newborn and toddler (French) – Pascal
Talking about breast cancer with family and friends – Tracy
Coping with relapse and facing hard decisions – Renée

Being your own advocate

Lung cancer treatment is a full-time job when living remotely – Dave
Choosing how to live with metastatic breast cancer – Janet
Having cancer twice, as a child and then as a young adult – Kelly
Setting goals during breast cancer treatment – Karen
Having colorectal cancer at the age of 28 – Laurie

Learning about yourself

Reaction to a changed diagnosis for brain cancer – Doug B
Surviving breast cancer and conquering fears – Amita
Cancer diagnosis even after proactive surgeries – Anju
Prostate cancer, recurrence and bone metastasis – Doug G
A 23-year survivor looks back on lymphoma – John
A doctor becomes a breast cancer patient – Marla
Understanding a family history of breast cancer – Sandra

Hope and perspective

Palliative care after prostate cancer and bone metastasis – Doug G
Finding new hopes with palliative care for endometrial cancer – Linda B
Coping emotionally and finding gratitude with cancer at age 73 – Pert
Accepting a different body and outlook after breast cancer – Gill
A physician’s perspective while receiving palliative care – Dr. Larry Librach
Breast cancer before age 30 is life changing (French) – Frédérique
Only the sky is the limit after breast cancer (French) – Gaetanne

Body image

Rediscovering purpose after tongue cancer – Lew
Accepting a different body and outlook after breast cancer – Gill
Trying to find support during treatment for breast cancer – Tina
Having cancer twice, as a child and then as a young adult – Kelly
Finding normalcy as a teenager with cancer – Nicole
Talking about breast cancer with family and friends – Tracy

Friendship

Cooking soup to heal after Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 23 – Julie
Finding balance after leukemia – Lindsay
Finding normalcy as a teenager with cancer – Nicole
Only the sky is the limit after breast cancer (French) – Gaetanne
Coping emotionally and finding gratitude with cancer at age 73 – Pert

Fertility

Having colorectal cancer at the age of 28 – Laurie
Using hockey to understand leukemia treatment and dealing with recurrence – Geoff
Breast cancer before age 30 is life changing (French) – Frédérique
Coping with rare ovarian cancer as a young adult – Jen

Living remotely

Lung cancer treatment is a full-time job when living remotely – Dave
Receiving a diagnosis of stage 4 melanoma and sharing the news – Chris
The emotional impact of breast cancer – Beatrice
The emotional impact of breast cancer (Inuinnaqtun) – Beatrice
Travelling long distances for breast cancer treatment – Veronica
Travelling long distances for breast cancer treatment (Inuktituk) – Veronica

Work

Coping with rare ovarian cancer as a young adult – Jen
Having colorectal cancer at the age of 28 – Laurie
Coping with relapse and facing hard decisions – Renée
Learning from three bouts of breast cancer – Deborah
Prostate cancer, recurrence and bone metastasis – Doug G
Asking for help during breast cancer and making life changes – Sarah
Coping with cancer as a young father of a newborn and toddler (French) – Pascal

Quality of life

Living with terminal ovarian cancer – Carol
Finding new hopes with palliative care for endometrial cancer – Linda B
A physician wants to die with dignity – Dr. Donald Low
Rediscovering purpose after tongue cancer – Lew

Caregiving

Caring for a sister with colorectal cancer – Jeff
Caring for a wife and a daughter during cancer – Fred
Caring for a father with lung and brain cancer – Leslie and Sherrie
Caregiving for 11 years during her husband’s prostate cancer – Dianne
Caregiving for both parents when father learns of lung cancer – Linda S
Caregiving as a teenager for a parent with terminal cancer – Linda M
Seeing a negative side of yourself when caregiving for a long time – Kathleen
Transitioning from dating to marriage and caregiving – Ashleigh
Getting through the hardships of caregiving – Bernie
Enjoying married life after caregiving for a spouse with bladder cancer – Ieva

Palliative care

Palliative care after prostate cancer and bone metastasis – Doug G
Finding new hopes with palliative care for endometrial cancer – Linda B
A physician’s perspective while receiving palliative care – Dr. Larry Librach

Alternative and traditional medicine

Building a new life after cancer as a young adult – Sara
Coping with metastasized breast cancer through traditional healing – Donna
Choosing traditional First Nations medicines for breast cancer – Lillian

First Nations, Inuit and Métis

Talking about breast cancer with family and friends – Tracy
Understanding a family history of breast cancer – Sandra
A family’s reaction to breast cancer – Gloria
Trying to find support during treatment for breast cancer – Tina
Travelling long distances for breast cancer treatment – Veronica
Travelling long distances for breast cancer treatment (Inuktituk) – Veronica
Coping with metastasized breast cancer through traditional healing – Donna
Being diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy – Carol B
The emotional impact of breast cancer – Beatrice
The emotional impact of breast cancer (Inuinnaqtun) – Beatrice
Choosing traditional First Nations medicines for breast cancer – Lillian
Relying on community support during diagnosis and treatment – Alan
Caring for a sister with colorectal cancer – Jeff
Caring for a wife and a daughter during cancer – Fred
Caring for a father with lung and brain cancer – Leslie and Sherrie