One year and three months after our first meeting in 2010, the new resource for women diagnosed with gynecological cancer is completed! Our journey began with a strong mandate from our newly created alliance of women with breast and gynecological cancer - provide us with information! Raising to this challenge, a courageous and generous group of women came together, relived and shared their journeys through cancer helping to shape the content of Taking it Step by Step.
One year and three months is actually a short time to develop a new provincial and territorial resource that would be used by just over 1000 women annually. First we needed to identify experts in all the areas to be included. There were doctors, nurses, rehabilitation professionals, counselors, nutritionists and of course the all important women who have been through these journeys themselves. You can imagine the challenge of getting all these individuals to write the pieces requested and then the work of putting the information in a manageable format. It was like editing a book!
The design team also felt it was important to have an evaluation survey completed of the content to ensure we were on the right track, information was understandable and the tone was correct. Such important aspects when considering who this guide is for.
With these goals, we created a review survey to gather this important input. We had over 20 women with gynecological cancers as well as 10 professionals complete the review survey. Our evaluator was in awe of our ability to secure this many reviewers! We had literally pages of edits, suggestions and concerns to deal with after that. Again - off to do major editing.
Next came putting colour, feeling and a look to the words on the paper. The design was developed rapidly and the words flowed into the look quite easily from the beginning. Thank you to our wonderful designer Ann for her skill and patience with us.
Now Taking it Step by Step is complete. We are off to the printers and we will be working with the medical community to ensure these are provided at the time of diagnosis to women in BC and the Yukon.
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It is a great completion to a project which is not only the first in BC/ Yukon but also in Canada. A collective sigh of relief rises up from the group.
Over the past 12 years I have been fortunate to bring together women who have had a cancer experience. This is always inspiring and humbling for a person who has been on the outside of it, looking in for years. While my mother has had breast cancer, I still continue to shake my head in wonder at the strength and dedication that comes from the volunteers that I have worked with over the years. Their desire to better and improve the journey for people that come after them is a cause to be reckoned with. I constant derive motivation from this spirit. No words can express my gratitude to the many women in the many projects we have worked on together.
If you are a women diagnosed with gynecological cancer please call the Canadian Cancer Society, Cancer Information Service to receive a free copy of the guide. We hope it is helpful to you no matter what stage in the journey you are at this point. Call 1.888.939.3333 or go to www.bccancer.bc.ca >> Patient & Public Info >> Types of Cancers >> your type of cancer
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