Novartis Canada has created a website to support women with breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
The site’s name, ExtraordinaryMoments.ca, spotlights one of its features — glimpses of extraordinary moments in the lives of patients or their families.
Novartis said the site is also aimed at raising awareness of metastatic breast cancer, which usually spreads to the lungs, liver, bones, or brain.
The company has developed treatments for breast and other cancers for more than two decades, and supported programs for people living with them. The website broadens it support role by offering patients, their families, and caregivers a list of psychosocial resources.
A key goal of the site is to show women with metastatic breast cancer that they are not alone. One way it does this is by featuring extraordinary moments in the lives of women with the disease or the lives of family members who have supported them.
“Programs like Extraordinary Moments provide an opportunity to share experiences and educate Canadians about the unique needs of those living with, and affected by, an advanced form of breast cancer,” Winselow Tucker, the general manager of Novartis Oncology Canada, said in a press release.
The website also covers therapies that complement traditional treatments, emotional well-being, coping with cancer and peer support groups, and it offers a support and information helpline. And it links to the Rethink Young Women’s Network, an activist organization composed of young women across Canada who have had personal experience with the disease.
Information for caregivers includes caregiver support, caregiver assessment, how to be a loved one of someone with cancer and husbands’ perspectives on supporting a wife with metastatic breast cancer. There are also links to the top five websites for caregivers.
Family members can find information on how to cope within a family, how to help someone with cancer, support for children and adolescents, talking to your kids about breast cancer and other topics.
Also on the website are videos of women with metastatic breast cancer and family members who wanted to share extraordinary moments.
Prominent breast cancer associations in Canada, including the Canadian Breast Cancer Network, the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, and Rethink Breast Cancer, are showing their support for the site with a YouTube video.