Record numbers of cancer survivors attended the recent Irish Cancer Society National Conference for Cancer Survivorship. To mark its 50th Anniversary, the Irish Cancer Society held a milestone conference entitled Living Well with Cancer, bringing together over 800 cancer survivors for the first time. Cancer Survivors from Mayo attended the conference alongside representatives from Mayo Cancer Support Association. The two-day event which took place in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, was the largest event of its kind by the society, and was kindly supported by Roche.
Olwyn Ryan, patient support services manager at the Irish Cancer Society said: “We were delighted to welcome such high numbers of cancer survivors to this empowering conference for cancer survivorship, including representatives from Mayo Cancer Support Association.
“The conference looked at the physical side effects of treatment which often last long after the cancer has been beaten and highlighted the many psychological and emotional challenges which cancer survivors face every day. While cancer survival rates are improving, we need to recognise the issues which cancer patients can be left with after the illness itself has gone.
The aim of the conference was to enable survivors to engage with each other as well as with Irish and international experts in the field of cancer who were attending, with a view to helping cancer survivors and their families learn new mechanisms of living after cancer.”
