When a person is diagnosed with cancer, they and their loved ones may feel like their world has turned upside down. We know that talking to others who’ve gone through a similar experience is comforting.
Our free CancerConnection service connects people living with cancer with trained volunteers who listen, provide hope, offer encouragement and share ideas for coping – all from their unique perspective as someone who’s been there.
How can this help me?
Many people who have used this service say it helped them get a better understanding of what to expect throughout their or their loved one’s cancer experience, making them feel more hopeful and less anxious. It helped them cope.
What can I expect?
Support is provided over the telephone. This confidential service is tailored to your needs and preferences. We match you with a volunteer based on a number of factors, including cancer type, sex, language and lifestyle.
How do I sign up?
Who can use this service?
CancerConnection is available to people with cancer and their caregivers who are 18 and over.
In some cases, your needs may go beyond what our volunteers can offer. If that is the case, we’ll suggest other services that may be able to help. You don’t have to go through cancer alone.
Referrals by a healthcare provider
To refer an individual to CancerConnection, call 1-888-939-3333, email cancerconnection@bc.cancer.ca or fax a completed health care referral form to 604-675-7301. A CancerConnection coordinator will contact the person you’ve referred within 2 business days.
In accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), personal information collected on the referral form will only be used by the CancerConnection team to contact the individual and to initiate the matching process. For further information, call 1-888-939-3333.
What people are saying about CancerConnection
There is nothing quite like talking to someone who understands what you’re going through because they’ve been there. It may be someone who had a treatment you’ve been considering or who had the side effects you’re experiencing. Or maybe it’s someone – like you – who had young children at the time of their diagnosis.
CancerConnection will match you up according to what is most important to you:
“I’m not sure yet if I’ll be getting a mastectomy or a lumpectomy – could I talk to people with my sort of cancer who had both?”
“My doctor says I am cancer-free, but I can’t seem to get on with living – I’d like to speak with a long-term survivor about how to move from being a cancer patient to a cancer survivor.”
“Do other people get the same side effects on my chemo?”
“I feel so frightened but don’t want to make things harder for my family by talking about it to them.”
“Can I talk to someone who … had a colostomy, lost a limb to cancer, had thyroid cancer?”
“I’d like to talk with someone with a sense of humour, a compassionate person who won’t judge me.”