Body Image, Social Support, and Physical Activity Among AYA Cancer Survivors

hands reaching

Lacuna Loft loves sharing about research studies.  Check out this one from the University of Toronto!

You are invited to participate in a research study that aims to better understand body image, social support, and physical activity behaviours among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.

The study involves completing one 30-minute online questionnaire. Your participation in this study is voluntary.

Your participation in this study will assist the researchers in developing future programing to help adolescent and young adult cancer survivors to help manage quality of life issues and increase physical activity.

Participants will be entered into a draw to receive one of twenty $25 gift cards for your involvement in the study.

This study has been reviewed and received ethics approval through the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board (Reference #39245).

Thank you for your time and consideration. If you are interested in participating in this study please contact Madison Vani (madison.vani@mail.utoronto.ca, 416-854-9662) directly or complete the survey here.

Join A Butterfly Wreath Creative Art Workshop

butterflies on pink wall

Do you like to make art or craft?  Are you a young adult cancer survivor or caregiver?  Join Lacuna Loft while we make a one-of-a-kind butterfly wreath with paper in this online creative art workshop for young adults facing cancer!  This soothing and repetitive activity will be fun to make along with others in the Lacuna Loft community!

Who: 20 young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.

When: Wednesday, April 28th @ 4:30-6:30 pm PT / 6:30-8:30 pm CT / 7:30-9:30 pm ET via video chat.* (*US time zones…please confirm what time this means for where you live).

How does it work? We’ll send you all of the materials you need to participate! Lacuna Loft will send you an email about a week before the workshop with information on how to join the video chat. ***You’ll need the link that we’ll provide you, a headset with a microphone, and a webcam.***

Please note: Due to the global pandemic and ever-increasing customs and delivery times, we have stopped shipping outside of the United States. If you are interested in joining, please fill out the form and we will send you a list of supplies needed to participate, so you can still join us! Thank you for your understanding! If you have any questions, you can contact aerial@lacunaloft.org.

Next Cohort Of The Survivorship Series For YAs Facing Metastatic Cancer

cactus

Welcome to the Survivorship Series!

We piloted this program about a month ago and it was so much fun.  The group grew together in community, we had a ton of fun with each of the sessions of the series, and the private facebook group was alive with activity!  With that experience in our pocket, we’re launching the next cohort of the Survivorship Series, this time specifically for those young adults facing metastatic cancer of any diagnosis.

Together, 25 young adults facing metastatic cancer will go through a 6-week, online program experience where you’ll hit the highlights of our workshops!  You’ll form a tight-knit community and every other week, you’ll take part in a different 2-hour program with the same group of young adults moving together through the series.

In week 1 you’ll join a Creative Art Workshop, in week 3 a Journaling Workshop, and in week 5 a Young Adult Cancer Hangout + Game Night.  In between workshops, you’ll have access to a private Facebook group for your cohort of 25 young adults where you can connect and communicate.  You may only take part in the series once, and when you sign up you are committing to taking part in all 6 weeks.

The next round of the Survivorship Series has been scheduled and starts on Tuesday, April 20! 

Week 1:  Tuesday, April 20 @ 4:30 pm PT / 6:30 pm CT / 7:30 pm ET – Creative Art Workshop (a very cool, cactus paper mosaic)
Week 3:  Tuesday, May 4 @ 4:30 pm PT / 6:30 pm CT / 7:30 pm ET – Journaling Workshop
Week 5:  Tuesday, May 18 @ 4:30 pm PT / 6:30 pm CT / 7:30 pm ET – Game Night

Join The Next Creative Writing Workshop

journal on desk with coffee and pen

The next Writing Workshop is now forming!  Sign up on the form below!

The next session will start on Thursday, April 8th, meeting each Thursday at 4:30 pm PT / 6:30 pm CT / 7:30 pm ET for 2 hours via video chat.

Our online, Unspoken Ink: Creative Writing Workshop is designed to take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer survivor peers. Each 8-week Writing Workshop consists of a weekly writing night attended via online video chat. We will get to know one another in an intimate, 18 person setting and address issues that transport us from initial diagnosis into the new normal and survivorship.  To learn more about the method we use, go here!

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset and a webcam.

Who: Young adult cancer survivors and caregivers.

When: The writing group meets for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks. A commitment to attend each week is important to group continuity and in creating a safe space. Please be on time 🙂

Comment On Research Results!

computer on bed with water

The Behavioural Sciences Unit, a research group in Sydney, Australia is looking for cancer survivor consumer representatives aged 15-39 to provide feedback on some brand new study results from the AYA Global Accord international research study. Some of you may have provided input on this study in 2018 when it was first applying for funding. This global study is being led by Dr. Ursula Sansom-Daly, a psychologist and researcher whose work focuses on AYA cancer, and she is working with a team of international experts from Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, and the UK.

The study involved AYA healthcare professionals completing an online survey. This survey aimed to find out what an international group of healthcare professionals thought ideal end-of-life communication with adolescents and young adults with cancer should look like, and what type of training they wanted to improve their skills in this area.

The first thing we’d be seeking your help with would be commenting on the results from this survey based on your experience, via an online survey format.

Later on, there will also be an opportunity to join a teleconference with other young cancer survivors and the research team to discuss your perspectives on the research findings some more. Consumers will also have the opportunity to contribute to a publication (an academic journal article) about consumers’ views.

If you’re interested, fill out the form below and Lacuna Loft will forward your information along to the research group!

Beginning Again

rose budding

March is a time which includes celebrating women, the vernal equinox, springing an hour ahead and wearing green on the 17th. Some may moan at the time change, and I encourage us to welcome the longer light. Depending on where you live, you may already be seeing evidence of spring with new blossoms surfacing. Daffodils were the first to wave at me followed now by Redbuds. New life. Rebirth. Beginning. Again.

These latter signs point to opportunity. To fling open the windows and let in fresh air – literally and within your being. To breathe deeply as the earth shows off in its seasonal glory. To rise from hibernation and start down the mountain as the splendid Mary Oliver’s bear is described in Spring (“this dazzling darkness”). To take chances, risk as some of the characters do in the movie Begin Again.

How might it feel to rise, to stretch, to move down the mountain, to sniff the air, to listen to the sounds around you, to taste, to touch, to feel – as if a brand new experience?

Absorb this idea and write for five minutes. Stay curious.

Let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear from you!

Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.
–Laura Ingalls Wilder

Support Lacuna Loft At A Canvas + Cocktails Evening!

painting of tree with flowers at night

Join Lacuna Loft for a night of fun and crafting, painting, and cocktails led by our Chief Program Officer, Aerial Donovan, and a lovely artist, Kent.  When you can’t join a paint and sip in person, we’ll bring the fun directly to you!  Grab a friend (near or far, we’ll be on Zoom!) and join Lacuna Loft online for an opportunity to directly support our programs for young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers while also creating a beautiful canvas acrylic painting and learning a fun cocktail!

After making your contribution toward the event we’ll send you everything you need for the event in the mail!

Join us on Thursday, April 22nd at 5 pm PT / 7 pm CT / 8 pm ET for a 90-minute Crafting Night.

Psst, having a hard time with the price tag?  We totally get it!  We’ll keep hosting free creative art workshops for our community of young adults facing cancer but this event might be perfect for a friend or family member of yours!

Grab your ticket today!

Grief to Gratitude: A Young Adult Cancer Yoga + Mindfulness Workshop

woman on yoga mat

This 6-week program will normalize grief and help you tune-in and connect to your body, mind, and soul through yoga, breathwork, meditation, and other contemplative practices.  We will join together as a community to discuss, process, and move through grief to find our inner GPS and sense of self.  Together we will focus on life as it is now in the present moment, after a cancer diagnosis, compared to the life once imagined.

This workshop will have a 15 young adult cancer patient, survivor, and caregiver capacity, and will meet for 2 hours starting on Monday, March 22nd starting at 4:30 pm PT / 6:30 pm CT / 7:30 pm ET!  This is a 6-week program and a commitment to each week is important for a safe space and cohesiveness of the course.

Who: 15 young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.

When: Mondays, 6 weeks, starting Monday, March 22nd @ 4:30-6:30 pm PT / 6:30-8:30 pm CT / 7:30-9:30 pm ET via video chat.* (*US time zones…please confirm what time this means for where you live).

How does it work? Lacuna Loft will send you an email about a week before the workshop with information on how to join the video chat. ***You’ll need the link that we’ll provide you, a headset with a microphone, and a webcam.***

Join The Cross Stitch Creative Art Workshop

cross stitch example

Join us for a cross stitch workshop where our fabulous volunteer, Brandie, will show you the ins and outs of cross stitching! She’ll go over basic stitches and how to follow a pattern, then after practicing, we’ll work on a neat “Adventure Awaits” cross stitch! We’ll send you everything you need! This program has a 20 person capacity.

Who: 20 young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.

When: Wednesday, March 24th @ 4:30-6:30 pm PT / 6:30-8:30 pm CT / 7:30-9:30 pm ET via video chat.* (*US time zones…please confirm what time this means for where you live).

How does it work? We’ll send you all of the materials you need to participate! Lacuna Loft will send you an email about a week before the workshop with information on how to join the video chat. ***You’ll need the link that we’ll provide you, a headset with a microphone, and a webcam.***

Please note: Due to the global pandemic and ever-increasing customs and delivery times, we have stopped shipping outside of the United States. If you are interested in joining, please fill out the form and we will send you a list of supplies needed to participate, so you can still join us! Thank you for your understanding! If you have any questions, you can contact aerial@lacunaloft.org.

Have You Heard Of Mend Together?

Lacuna Loft loves sharing resources we find valuable with you and today is no different. Few people probably know that Lacuna Loft started out as a sole proprietorship where we sold ‘cancer care packages’ for loved ones to buy a patient or survivor in their life. It had all of those great products that we as patients and survivors know are super helpful when you’re going through cancer treatment and entering survivorship. Out of that grew Lacuna Loft as you know it today, a nonprofit where we host psychosocial and support programs for young adults facing cancer, but it’s always been important to me to figure out how to get what’s needed most into the hands of young adults with cancer.

With that in mind, have you heard of Mend Together? They are a platform where you can organize what you need with your family and friends into a gift + cash registry. Think the knot or amazon wish lists but even better because Mend Together is specifically designed for cancer patients and survivors.

It’s so hard sometimes to respond when well-meaning family and friends ask, “How can I help?” Especially when sometimes you just really need a specific kind of toothpaste to help with dry mouth, a pair of cozy socks for the infusion room, or maybe just Tuesday night dinner. Mend Together is a free platform that helps organize exactly what you need. You pick the items you need and add them to the registry. They even have tools on the platform that help others learn what to say and do for someone facing cancer! Mend Together includes a gift + cash registry, community journal, and volunteer calendar.

If you’re interested in setting up a registry, use the code LACUNA100. That will get you a free Cancer Support Kit that includes free gifts, resources, and a $100 in-site credit to use on Mend Together’s products and services. Mend Together will also donate $20 to Lacuna Loft to help support our mission and programs.

How does it work?

Patients/Survivors of a friend/family member can create a free registry and add over 300 products, services, and cash funds to it as well as send updates to loved ones. Friends and family can then choose a gift to send, contribute funds for financial assistance, send encouraging words, or donate time.

Learn more about how to help people rally around you when you need them most using Mend Together.