Today, May 1, marks the start of Brain Tumour Awareness Month in Canada.

For 27 Canadians, it’s also the day they will hear the words, “You have a brain tumour.”

But what does ‘awareness’ mean?

For us at Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, it means shouting as loud as we can from any platform available that brain tumours are a serious and often deadly disease that demands more attention, more visibility, and more research to find a cause and cure.

It means reaching out to our community – all of whom have been affected by brain tumours directly or indirectly – and letting them know they are not alone. That we are fighting for them.

This is a remarkable year, as the global COVID-19 pandemic has caused unforeseen difficulties for so many people waiting for treatments and surgeries, and prevented others from visiting their loved ones. We wish to raise awareness of their struggles as well during this month, and offer what comfort we can.

Our #SupportAtHome program was born out of this difficult time. It is fitting that for May we have been able to bring many more support groups online, while providing concerts and activities for families in isolation, and offering direct, real-time access to our support and programming staff.

On the medical front, we want to bring your attention to two promising young researchers – Arunand Peter – who will hopefully advance our collective capability to #EndBrainTumours with our 2020 studentship grants.

And for those who have not yet been diagnosed, who may end up being one in 27 some day in the future, we are raising awareness of signs and symptoms of brain tumours from current and former patients, in their own words.

Check in with our Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram pages throughout May as we share stories, photos and videos from people across Canada whose lives have been touched by brain tumours.

Throughout May and June, we are also publishing storiesfrom brain tumour patients, survivors, caregivers, and others in the medical community leading up to our Virtual Brain Tumour Walk on June 27.

You can register your team here.

There are an estimated 55,000 Canadians currently living with a brain tumour.

We urge you to get to know their stories, and see the hope and resilience they exhibit that inspires us to come to work each day.

Visit our Brain Tumour Awareness Month page for ideas on how you can #TurnMayGrey.