Comment: Joint effort to hit cancer in state with a CAPOW!
Published 1:30 am Saturday, August 31, 2024
By Robin Sparks / For The Herald
I was diagnosed two years ago with an incurable form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It was shocking to hear and learn about, but I decided to become my own best advocate and have now learned and grown enough to also be an advocate for others.
There will be roughly 44,470 Washingtonians diagnosed with cancer this year and 13,640 will die. The numbers are staggering and we can do more to drive them lower and hopefully end all cancers for everyone.
It starts with a good quality of life, which comes with lifestyle changes. Reducing cancer incidence rates translates to increased healthy living through physical activity, cessation of tobacco products and reduced alcohol use. As a certified cancer patient navigator, I have also advocated for expanded access to biomarker testing at the state level and traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for expanded funding for cancer research.
The work I do is personal, but I also want to let others know there is hope. There is always hope.
My latest endeavor is as a member of a group affectionately known as CAPOW! — Cancer Action Plan of Washington — where we are creating a five-year cancer plan designed to bring hope to all Washingtonians who are fighting cancer. Led by the Washington state Department of Health, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, the American Cancer Society, Andy Hill Fund, South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency, and community organizations, this statewide partnership will focus on ending cancer as we know it for all Washingtonians.
Remarkable things happen when organizations work together toward a shared goal and greater purpose. In October, CAPOW! will meet at Highline College in Des Moines and at hubs throughout the state and will announce a five-year cancer action plan, creating a roadmap to reduce the burden of cancer for all Washingtonians.
Prevention measures, screening, early detection, cancer survivorship, and health disparities that affect our cancer community are a priority for the coalition. CAPOW! will educate Washingtonians about what they can do to prevent the five most deadly cancers, with the highest incidence rates, that plague Washington state: lung and bronchus, breast, colorectal, prostate, melanoma of the skin, and HPV-related cancers.
Nationally, these cancers account for more than half of the new cancer diagnoses. Washington has one of the highest rates of melanoma of the skin in the country. The coalition will include genetic testing and genetic counseling for cancer patients and those who may be at risk for or have hereditary cancer. The plan’s overall objective is to reduce morbidity and mortality rates of cancer in the state.
The coalition’s goals for each cancer type are built into the program targets they develop to alleviate the toll cancer takes on each part of our lives. The objectives of CAPOW! are to reduce the overall rate of new cancer cases, reduce the overall cancer death rate, and increase the number of cancer survivors who have survived at least five years after diagnosis. The coalition wants to inspire hope and give comfort to parents whose children are fighting pediatric cancers, the most under-researched type of cancer.
Most of my clients are currently in treatment for the top five cancers this coalition will address. When I share this plan with my clients and the organizations committed to reducing cancers and increasing their quality of life, they are in awe. Cancer is personal, and the work of CAPOW! touches them deeply.
They look at me with hope in their hearts, nodding, and tell me, “Yes, it’s a great day to fight cancer.”
Robin Sparks, a Marysville resident, is the founder of the C-Suite Center for Hope in Marysville, which supports cancer patients through treatment. She was profiled in The Herald in August 2023 and in July of this year.
