| Hello Friends … we hope you are all still safe and well! Throwing Bones , CLL Pharmacist and AnCan, ‘home of peer-to-peer virtual support groups’, are delighted to bring you our Blood Cancers Virtual Support Group – live audio/visual discussion in real time! The group is free, drop-in, and you can join online or by telephone – full instructions at the bottom of this Reminder. Check in with your peers this Thursday night at 8 pm Eastern and tell us how the past 30 days have been for you. Much happening since we last met including re-heightened concerns and closings due to the continuing current surge of COVID-19. Not to mention this week’s heated election! As if daily life as patients and care partners isn’t anxiety packed enough! Our Blood Cancer virtual support group is eager to hear about you – the good and, should you want and need to share, the not so good. We’d like to know how you are surviving Coronavirus, especially as a person at higher risk than most …. since most blood cancer patients are immuno-compromised. Or let us know if you have pandemic fatigue? tired of isolating? Do you have any tricks or treats or tips to share to make all of our lives easier? And with winter coming for some how will you be able to stay active, positive or find joy during these peculiar times? Please share with us. It’s been an active time for Food and Drug Administration blood cancer approvals – Venetoclax in combination with azacitidine, decitabine or low-dose cytarabine for untreated acute myeloid leukemia; and immunotherapy pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for adult patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) and pediatric patients with refractory cHL, or cHL that has relapsed after 2 or more lines of therapy. Plus there are several ongoing clinical trials giving us all hope for many future treatment options for hematologic cancers. Peer-led by an experienced team of moderators who have all lived with various Blood Cancers, we may be the first to bring your communities a virtual group where you can actually chat about your disease with peers who really hear what you are saying! All those questions you wanted to ask, but never could, can now be posed and resolved. Talk about treatment, care navigation, the challenges of the condition, the best doctors, the feelings, frustrations and fears, or anything else on your mind related to living with blood cancers . You can read about your moderators, Michele Nadeem Baker (CLL), Kenny Capps and Richard Farmer (both MM) and Tom Henry (CLL) and the group on our web page. At this time of social distancing, virtual support meetings like ours are a fantastic way to connect with others. AnCan, a 501c3, knows from experience that there is no substitute for peer wisdom. We have been hosting virtual meetings for 10 years, long before this type of meeting was on anyone’s radar because we recognized that geographical, physical and social difficulties prevent many from gathering in a physical setting. Now we host 27 virtual meetings each month and rightly call ourselves “The Home of Peer-to-Peer Virtual Support Groups.” And please note we have a Caregivers Group available for your carepartners – it meets tonight, Tuesday, Nov 3 @ 8 pm Eastern and every 1st &3rd Tuesday in our Barniskis Room – free, drop-in … just click here. Throwing Bones was formed around 5 years ago when Kenny Capps made the decision from his Emory hospital bed to address the demons of his mutliple myeloma by running the Mountain to Sea Trail 1,175 miles across the State of North Carolina. The funds Kenny raised, and has continued to raise since then, are dedicated to improving the quality of life for those living with any form of blood cancer. Our Blood Cancer Virtual Support group meets the 1st Thursday of every month at 8:00 pm Eastern. You can join online OR by phone …. although the online experience is definitely better and recommended. We aim to bring you a group that feels just like the physical meeting some of you may have attended, but you can join from your own armchair. The full joining instructions are below. At this time, we welcome patients of any type of blood cancer as well as care partners. Please forward this reminder to anyone you think could use it. And if you would like to receive it directly before each meeting, please sign up here. Please note your moderators have decided to record the sessions. These will be made available within about 24 hours on AnCan’s YouTube Channel and on the moderators’ social media channels so those unable to attend can benefit later … and some can listen again. If you are uncomfortable with the recording, please let us know ahead of time via info@ancan.org and we will accommodate you. Kenny Capps, Throwing Bones Rick Davis, AnCan Michele Nadeem Baker, Patient Power Richard Farmer, Tom Henry, The CLL Pharmacist |
| JOINING INSTRUCTIONSAnCan Schmier RoomUse your preferred method:Please join our meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.Click here or paste the link below into your browser:https://www.gotomeet.me/ancanschmierYou will be using your microphone and speakers (VoIP).A USB headset is recommended for the best sound quality. To minimize background noise, please mute your mic when not speakingYou can also dial in using your phone.United States +1 (646) 749-3129Canada +1 (647) 497-9373Australia +61 2 9091 7603Access Code: 656-182-845Additional Countries #’s click here |