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POGO Statement on Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Posted on September 14, 2023 by admin

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and a time to raise awareness and express support for the children and youth with cancer, survivors of childhood cancer, and their families. 

The burden of a childhood cancer diagnosis on families is immense, affecting them emotionally, socially, financially and countless other ways. In Ontario, from the time of diagnosis, childhood cancer patients have access to a coordinated system of care in leading hospitals across the province.

Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario, POGO, is a made-in-Ontario solution, working in partnership with these hospitals and the Ontario government to help ensure everyone affected by childhood cancer has timely access to the best care and support.  

This September, we acknowledge the children and youth in treatment or follow up care, the survivors of a childhood cancer diagnosis, the loved ones lost, and their families; and we are grateful to the many incredible organizations and multidisciplinary healthcare teams caring for them, and to those who provide other invaluable supports.

Watch the video statement from Premier Doug Ford, Health Minister Sylvia Jones and POGO Board Chair James Scongack.

Statement from Premier Doug Ford

“September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Throughout this month I encourage everyone across Ontario to help raise awareness for this tragic disease that affects thousands of children and youth in our Province. Not only is cancer devastating to those diagnosed, it also deeply impacts their families in countless ways. I want children and youth, as well as their parents, siblings, friends and loved ones to know that they have a team Ontario on their side as they fight through this terrible disease. I want to thank the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario for their support in providing patients and survivors with world class care. I look forward to continued collaboration.”


Statement from Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones

“This September, I want to recognize children and families across Ontario impacted by childhood cancer. September is a time to recognize the courageous children who are receiving or have received treatment and thank their families for staying strong through their treatment journey. Cancer touches so many lives and I want to thank the dedicated Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario who advocates for patients and survivors through these difficult times. Our government will continue to work with you and our hospital partners to ensure children in Ontario have access to the care they need and deserve close to home.”


Statement from POGO Board Chair James Scongack

“Cancer is something that impacts us all, whether it’s ourselves our loved ones our family members, our friends, our neighbours or individuals in our community. At some point or another in all of our lives we will be impacted by cancer. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in Ontario and throughout September it’s a really important opportunity for us as a province to come together to raise awareness around childhood cancer but most importantly come together as a province to do everything we can to be there for those kids and families who are battling childhood cancer. The partnership between the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario and the Ontario government and our entire hospital and pediatric oncology sector is a good example of how we can come together as a province and be there for families and kids not only today during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month but every single day of the year. I want to take this opportunity to send a very clear message to the families and kids that are battling childhood cancer, not only today but in the future, that we have your back; that we will continue to work as hard as we can every day to not only raise awareness but to continue to do better. Finally, I want to recognize the frontline healthcare professionals; you do incredible work. We’re proud of you and during September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, let’s not only think of the families who are challenged with childhood cancer and battling it today; let’s also thank those frontline workers who come to work every single day under extraordinary circumstances.”

Posted in In the News

Four Ontario hospitals first in Canada internationally certified as Centers of Excellence in Supportive Care in Cancer

Posted on November 23, 2022 by admin

Four major Ontario pediatric hospitals, with specialized childhood cancer programs, are the first hospitals in Canada to be awarded prestigious international certification recognizing their excellent supportive care for children and youth with cancer.

CHEO (Ottawa), The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto), Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre, and McMaster Children’s Hospital (Hamilton) were each certified by the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) as Centers of Excellence in Supportive Care in Cancer.

Supportive care refers to the prevention and management of the adverse effects of cancer and its treatment. This includes the management of physical and psychological symptoms and side effects of treatment, such as infections, prevention of nausea and vomiting, nutrition, physiotherapy, and psychosocial support. Supportive care aims to improve the quality of rehabilitation, secondary cancer prevention, survivorship, and end-of-life care.

MASCC certification recognizes these oncology centres for integrating the highest standards of comprehensive supportive care services with cancer treatment. These hospitals provide comprehensive supportive care to their pediatric oncology patients. They work in partnership with the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) to ensure everyone affected by childhood cancer has access to the best care and support, including through POGO’s Interlink, Transitions, AfterCare, and Satellite Clinic services, and implementation of POGO’s evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. 

These four Ontario hospitals join other leading healthcare facilities around the world as MASCC-Designated Centers of Excellence in Supportive Care in Cancer.

MASCC certification is valid for three years.

About MASCC
The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) is an international multidisciplinary organization dedicated to research and education in all aspects of supportive care for people with cancer. The certification program aims to promote and recognize oncology centres that demonstrate best practices in supportive cancer care by successfully integrating oncology and supportive care, upholding high standards, and maintaining comprehensive supportive care services. Learn more.

About POGO
Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) works to ensure that everyone affect by childhood cancer has access to the best care and support. POGO partners to achieve an excellent childhood cancer care system for children, youth, survivors, and their families, and healthcare teams in Ontario and beyond. POGO champions childhood cancer care, and as the collective voice of this community, is the official advisor to Ontario’s Ministry of Health on children’s cancer control and treatment. POGO is a non-profit organization with charitable status, here for kids with cancer, for now, for life. Learn more.

Posted in In the News

Welcome New POGO Board Member – Jennifer Lomax

Posted on November 21, 2022 by admin

POGO is pleased to welcome Jennifer Lomax as Chair of our Development Cabinet and member of our Board of Directors.

Jennifer is Founder and Principal Consultant at Lomax & Co., an advisory firm that mobilizes strategy and implements sustainable management systems to drive superior business results. In this capacity, Jennifer worked with POGO to develop its current organizational strategy. Energetic, pragmatic and unapologetically candid, Jennifer uses her mastery of stakeholder engagement and facilitation to devise and deploy practical, high-impact business solutions. She has over a decade of experience working with organizations of all sectors and scale, including Fortune 500 companies on the client side and in strategic planning roles. Jennifer most recently served on the board of the Loeys-Dietz Syndrome Foundation of Canada.

She attained her MBA from Ivey Business School in 2011 and in 2013, Marketing Magazine named her one of Canada’s Top 30 under 30, recognizing the country’s smartest young marketers.

“I’m passionate about supporting my community and meaningful causes and pleased to join the POGO board and serve as Chair of the Development Cabinet to support POGO’s strategic, fundraising and outreach goals.”

Posted in In the News

Patients and families tell their stories through their eyes

Posted on August 18, 2022 by admin

To quote Brené Brown, “Maybe stories are just data with a soul.” It is POGO’s hope that everyone who engages with these stories will learn something new about the childhood cancer experience, by seeing it through the eyes of patients and their families.

Ethan’s Story

Ethan was six years old when he was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, sub category 3.

Today, Ethan is 10 years old and in this story he draws on his love of video games to talk about overcoming obstacles, forging new paths, and appreciating what makes him and others unique.

Layya’s Story

This story is a poignant reminder of the impact that a childhood cancer diagnosis has on the entire family unit, in particular, siblings. Layya talks about the confusion and pain she felt watching from the sidelines as her sister, Sara, went through treatment for a brain tumour.

Sara’s Story

Sara is Layya’s sister. She was diagnosed with low-grade astrocytoma when she was seven years old. What followed was a harrowing journey that moved her family from their home in Lebanon to Canada to seek treatment, which was difficult for the entire family. The hardest part of the journey for Sara, though, came after she was declared “cancer-free,” which is an experience shared by many survivors. Reintegrating into school and relating to her peers were tremendous challenges at first. Yet Sara perseveres, and her story is a powerful reminder that even small acts of kindness can make all the difference in the lives of a child with cancer. 

Yvonne’s Story

Yvonne is mother to Alyssa. This story describes Yvonne’s early experiences with the healthcare system as she searched for an answer to what was ailing her child. A mother’s intuition is a powerful thing, and Yvonne knew something was terribly wrong. Instead of support, she encountered suspicion, judgment and worse.

This story delivers a message that is hard to hear, but one that we can all learn from. It is not about any one institution, but rather highlights inequities in the healthcare system at large that will only be corrected when we collectively acknowledge and address them. POGO shares this story in the spirit of learning together to help us all be positive agents of change.

Nelly’s Story

Nelly was diagnosed with medulloblastoma when she was 10 years old, which significantly affected her vision. She was in the dark—literally and figuratively—and felt so hopeless at times that she didn’t see the point of engaging with the world around her. Nelly’s story reminds us how disorienting a cancer diagnosis can be for a child, and how resilient children can be in the face of challenging circumstances.   

Posted in In the News

The Ups and Downs of Disclosing That You Are a Childhood Cancer Survivor

Posted on August 10, 2022 by admin

Jessica Wright is a brain tumour survivor. In 2018, after an application process, she was selected as one of four Survivor to Survivor (S2S) Network Presenters. POGO’s S2S Network is a special series of interactive sessions where survivors present helpful information, lead discussions and share personal experiences about a variety of survivorship topics. During the course of their engagement, presenters build skills, a connection and a community with fellow survivors.


By Jessica Wright

By the time I was 10 years old, I was having lots of migraines and struggling at school.

My family brought me to the doctor several times, but I wasn’t diagnosed until my teacher—a childhood cancer survivor herself—convinced my parents to insist I get an MRI. I remember all of us were in shock when they told us I had a pilocytic astrocytoma tumour, which is essentially a slow growing brain tumour.

The tumour is smack in the middle of my brain so chemo would not have been effective, and surgery was not an option. I was treated with radiation for six weeks, but I still live with the tumour today; I liken it to a dead mouse behind a wall. I also live with several side effects. I struggle with balance; I move a bit slower than the average person and my strength is very poor. I have a strong sensitivity to smells and I still suffer from migraines. I am also blind in one eye. None of these things are significantly noticeable so I blend in with the rest of the world and look like a healthy person. That’s the thing with childhood cancer survivors; many of us live with disabilities long after we survived our illness. For some people, like me, these disabilities are invisible so we can be perceived as lazy, especially in a school or work environment.

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That is why I am so grateful to POGO for creating a program where survivors can learn from each other about how to deal with things like employment, school, advocacy and disclosure. I need special accommodations to compensate for my disabilities and I have learned firsthand that how and when you choose to disclose these things can contribute to your success at work.

There was the time I was hired to work at a store, and I chose not to disclose my disability. My job was to stock the shelves and set up for the store’s grand opening, after which, perhaps, I would be hired permanently once the store opened. It went well for the first couple of days until I got stuck in the aisle with cleaning products. I tried to tough it out, but I got light-headed and felt faint. I asked my supervisor if I could be moved to another area of the store and she was accommodating, but my co-workers didn’t know why; they just felt I was getting special treatment. I think if I had said something at the beginning, I would never have been put in that aisle to begin with and maybe things would have turned out differently.

I have another story where I disclosed my disabilities during the hiring process because part of my job was going to be accepting deliveries. I let them know that I cannot manage with very heavy lifting and about some of my other challenges because of my brain tumour. My supervisor was very understanding and even supportive. After a few weeks, when she saw me struggling at the end of a long day, she asked if I wanted to work shorter shifts. She tried to work around my limitations as best she could.

Being a POGO S2S facilitator has enabled me to share my experiences with other survivors and hopefully help them cope with their own struggles. It has also been very uplifting and empowering for me. Everyone understands what I am going through. No matter what I say or what I do, they don’t judge me, and they don’t complain. I have never been anywhere where I felt so accepted. It has truly been the best experience of my life.

This story was featured in POGO’s 2019 Community Impact Report.

Posted in In the News | Tagged childhood cancer survivors, CIR, Community Impact Report, POGO S2S Network, S2S, Survivor-to-Survivor Network, survivorship

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