A cancer diagnosis will change your life, but it won't necessarily end it.
That's the message from cancer survivor Cathy Telfer, who was diagnosed with melanoma twice, but has now been free of the disease for ten years.
The Chatham woman volunteers at the Canadian Cancer Society, which released a report Tuesday that says almost one in every two Canadians is expected to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.
The report says that the risk for men is slightly higher at 49% while the risk for women is 45%.
"Certainly the statistic is maybe a frightening statistic," says Telfer. "But I think when you look around at the survivors we have... you realize that although it is a very frightening diagnosis, it is life-changing, but it is not life-ending and we need to keep that in mind."
Telfer says there's reason for optimism because cancer is being detected earlier now than it ever has been -- and treatments are more personalized and less invasive.
"The doctors and the caregivers have learned so much more about how to individualize treatment," says Telfer. "Not only is [cancer] being detected earlier, but the treatment for it is helping our quality of life."
Telfer's optimism is also supported by the report from the Canadian Cancer Society.
It says that the overall cancer survival rate has increased from about 25% in the 1940s to 60% today -- and that some cancers, like thyroid and testicular, have a five-year net survival rate of over 90%.
Education is also key and that's something Telfer can personally attest to.
"Certainly in my case, I did not realize, as a teenager, that being out in the sun as much as I was without sunscreen was going to cause so much difficulty down the road, but we didn't know that then," says Telfer. "Similarly with smoking, we now know the damage it can do, but we didn't know the risk factors back then."
You can find more information on early detection, supports, and treatments on the Canadian Cancer Society's website by clicking here.
