Michelle Higgins

Supporting cancer care in Atlantic Canada. Learn More.

I’m facing the fight against cancer!

Nova Scotia has the highest cancer rates in all of Canada. 1 in 3 patients will not survive. To help combat these alarming stats, our BMO Ride for Cancer community is rallying like never before to introduce liquid biopsy technology that will help determine if a patient’s cancer is cured, if it has returned, and, if so, how best to treat it.

On Saturday, September 28, 2024, I’m riding alongside a community with one common goal: transforming local cancer care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.  

Faster diagnosis saves lives, which is why BMO Ride for Cancer is on a mission to bring rapid cancer detection and monitoring to patients who have already undergone treatment. With a simple blood test that can happen anywhere in the province, QEII experts will use this revolutionary technology to uncover whether patients are cancer-free after surgery and the earliest signs if their cancer has returned.

This technology will be a game-changer. Life-changing benefits include:

  • improving survival rates and provide potential cures with earlier detection and personalized treatment options;
  • unlocking access to more clinical trials;
  • sparing patients from unnecessary treatments and harmful side effects;
  • keeping care closer to home and ensuring equitable access, as patients can undergo a simple blood test in any community in Nova Scotia;
  • reducing the number of visits required to the QEII, which ultimately impacts wait times;
  • providing critical answers about a patient’s cancer sooner, helping to relieve anxiety and worry; and much more.

By supporting my ride today, you are joining a community dedicated to moving the needle in cancer care for Nova Scotians. Your support will pave the way for a future of hope for all of us.

Are you ready to save lives?

To learn more about liquid biopsy technology and the impact your critical donation will have, click here.

My Achievements

Completed Profile Page

Shared Personal Page

Made a personal donation

Reached my fundraising goal!

My Updates

Long Weekend Kick-off

HI

 As we get ready to enjoy a long weekend, I’m getting ready to launch my training and fundraising for the 2024 BMO Ride for Cancer.  This will be my third official year as a participant.  As many of you know, my inaugural participation in 2021 was sidelined when I was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in my right lung. I was lucky on so many fronts—I listened to my body and knew something was off, I had a doctor that listened, care and advocated to find the why, and I had access to state of the art technology and a skilled surgeon who cut that cancer (and most of my right lung) away.  It was a difficult time and I’m glad that it is behind me, but I’d be lying to myself and you if I didn’t say that I get more than a little nervous around the time of my follow up scans and/or when I get a new pain/ailment in my abdomen or even a lung cough.  The worry of “will it come back?” is real for any cancer survivor.

Each year the BMO Ride for Cancer uses its proceeds (over $10million so far)  for a specific cause/technology at the QE Health Sciences Centre.  This year it is a liquid biopsy technology. With a simple blood test that can happen anywhere in the province, QEII experts will use a patient’s genetics to uncover whether they’re cancer-free after surgery and the earliest signs if their cancer has returned. While I don’t understand the how, I completely understand the importance. Faster diagnosis saves lives.  Unfortunately, Nova Scotia has the highest rate of cancer in all of Canada. This technology has so many positive impacts- a non-invasive way to test if cancer has been cured, decreasing unnecessary treatments, keeping people in their communities, earlier detections, improving survival rates.  It really is a game changer.

 If you are able to financially contribute to bringing this technology to Nova Scotia, please consider sponsoring my BMO Ride on my personal webpage.  If you’re not able to, please considering, sharing more information about this new technology with your friends, families, and colleagues. The odds are that you or someone you know is going to get this awful diagnosis,  so let’s do all we can now to find treatments and cures.

Thank you to my Supporters

$104

Florence Macdonald

$150

Tina Drapeau

So proud of your recovery!

$104

Murna Mackinnon

Giver!

$52

Wayne Higgins

Very proud of you sister! Good luck!

$250

David Landrigan

$104

Walter Mackinnon

$52

Heather Kennedy

$104

Hugh Wright

$104

Jon Johannsson

$26

Wilena Wood

Good luck Michelle ❤️

$52

Tina Hall

Giv'er!

$104

Sandra Falkenham

Thanks for sharing your story - good reminder to listen to our bodies and be proactive!

$104

Susan Murray

Go girl!

$156

Bob Mackinnon

$10.40

Cody Carta-bomersine

$52

Lori Payne

$104

Christine Tabbert

$50

Kristen Tynes Maceachern

$52

Joan Tompkins

It’s a pleasure to support you in your ride for Cancer!

$50

Cathy Macisaax

$31.20

Lindsay Silliker

Go Michelle!

$104

Chris Collett

$100

Annette M. Boucher

Thanks so much for doing this!

$31.20

Anonymous

Hi Michelle, Bill and I wish you a fun and successful ride. All the best.

$52

David & Laurie Blades

Have a great ride Michelle!!

$52

Karen Gardiner

$25

Soula Mirtchev

$26

Rachel Jones

Great job Michelle! Inspirational.

$104

Sean Foreman

Thanks for all you are doing, such an important cause. Cheers!

$52

Traci Snook

$1.02k

Gordon Stirrett Wealth Management

$100

Gina & Trevor

Go Michelle! Enjoy your ride.

$52

Norman Hill

$104

Caroline Martin

$52

Sherri-lynn Richardson

$104

Ryan Brothers

Way to go, Michelle.

$104

Jeannine Bakeeff

$52

Jacqui Wilcox

A great cause, thank you Michelle and everyone involved with the ride! Embrace the hills :)

$200

Jennifer Gray

Go lady go! So proud of you! ❤️

$104

Debbie Brown

Good luck, Michelle!

$100

Karen Hudson

Thank you for your courage and your commitment .

$104

Arlene Williams

Go get it!!

$26

Logan Macgillivray

$25

Erin Nauss

Go Michelle!

$104

Stephen Mcgrath

$52

Dawn A Stegen

$52

Nicole Arsenault

$200

Hayley Clarke

You are amazing, my friend! xx

$400

Michelle Higgins

$104

Michelle Higgins

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