Woman who lost her stomach to cancer illuminates 35 monuments to raise awareness. Image by Daniel Paquette (with permission).
Teresa Tiano led a relatively normal life until she lost her stomach to cancer a decade ago. Eager to promote stomach cancer awareness, Tiano created a stomach cancer foundation called “My Gut Feeling”.
On November 30, 2022, the Canadian woman lights 35 monuments and town halls in Canada, the United States and several European countries with periwinkle blue to raise awareness about stomach cancer. This date is the day that convinced Health Canada to officially name it the annual Stomach Cancer Awareness Day.
Historic monuments to be bathed in blue include the Leaning Tower of Pisa and five other Italian monuments; plus Las Vegas City Hall, Niagara Falls (from both sides), CN Tower, Montreal Olympic Park Tower, Ottawa Sign, Calgary Tower, Parliament of Victory
This is accompanied by a social media campaign under the banner of “The Power of Periwinkle”. The aim is to encourage ‘ambassadors’ to take photos of places and share them on their platforms.
Describing the lighting of key buildings around the world and the reason behind it, Tiano says (in a statement to Digital Journal): “One of the things we focus on is hope and seeing the light until and all in the darkest moments. We have the star’s stomach cancer fundraiser.”
She adds: “For years, I’ve seen sites light up for Breast Cancer Awareness Month (I used to work for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation) and other human and health causes. We wanted to raise awareness, because, honestly , few people know or have even heard of stomach cancer.”
By selecting periwinkle blue, Tiano hopes people will ask “why?” and ‘what’s going on?’, which in turn will raise awareness and spark debate about stomach cancer.
The power of periwinkle (c) Teresa Tiano
As part of his campaign to raise awareness about stomach cancer, Tiano also does outreach work, suggesting tips for a healthier stomach. He encourages people to talk to their doctor about symptoms and family history of cancer.
Tiano believes that this form of health promotion is particularly important, as more young people suffer from stomach cancer in their teens and 20s.
Before the illuminations, on Saturday, November 26, his foundation is organizing a conference in Canada. The goal is to bring together oncologists, patients, dietitians, psychiatrists, gynecologists and survivors to chat about new treatments, research and cures. This is Tiano’s sixth year running the event.
In addition to attendees, the conference is available as a free live stream for anyone interested.