About 820 cases of testicular cancer are diagnosed annually in Canada and it is the number one killer for men between the ages of 20 and 30. This past weekend a fundraiser was held called Nuts4ribs in Bedford, Nova Scotia.

The fundraiser featured cook offs, music and a nationally acclaimed one-man play by Daniel Schneiderman, titled Left Nut, a humorous look at a man with testicular cancer.

Michael Kydd, diagnosed with testicular cancer three years ago, is the man behind the event. Kydd said "What I'm trying to do is make sure men understand that by ignoring the warning signs, you're not doing yourself any good".

Micheal Kydd also added "Although we're not going to cure the disease, what we are going to do is help men understand the disease and make sure they know and communicate that with their family, and then live happily ever after".

Cancer's the type of disease that unless it affects your life somehow, chances are you probably don't know much about it. It ventures into the territory of the unknown -- and it's a scary concept that many feel is best left there. But lots of people are quite knowledgeable about cancer -- many because they had to learn the hard way by experiencing its devastating effect on themselves or a family member.

Here's how to find out where you fit between the two: Take this quiz to see if you're in the 'know' about cancer. Cancer is scary, but the first defense is arming yourself with information.

What did you score?

The seven cancer thoughts I present to you today are purely random. They are not linked by theme or category. There is no rhyme or reason for my choosing them. And they do not belong with one another for any other reason than this: they all come directly from my very own head and are somehow related to the disease that lingers in my thoughts for most minutes of most days. Here they are:

1. Vanity is merely a six-letter word. It's certainly not as important after cancer as it is before. I admit vanity played a role in my life prior to my breast cancer diagnosis and still, it's with me to some degree. But more important than vanity now is waking each morning and realizing I'm alive. I don't want to lose weight to look ultra thin. I choose to reach an ideal weight because I want to be healthy. I don't want a tan. I want skin that is free from damage. My clothes? I want them to fit and feel comfortable. That's it.

2. Normal is a thing of the past. It's funny how I worked so hard to look normal after cancer struck (note: here's vanity rearing its head). Prior to losing my hair to chemotherapy, I worked hard at matching my long, straight, blond hair to a wig that would become my disguise for five months. I found the perfect replica of what would eventually tumble from my scalp, and I wore it proudly. A neighbor who knew I was receiving chemotherapy once told my sister, "That's so great Jacki didn't lose her hair." I looked that much like normal, people didn't know anything had changed. Little did I know change was right around the corner. When my hair grew in, it was dark and curly. Not even close to normal.

A survey sponsored by CancerCare, a national non-profit cancer support organization, stated that a majority of women surveyed said they know a fair amount about breast cancer however, many remain unaware of the recent progresses made in treatment. Fewer than one in four women in the survey have heard of new therapies available for breast cancer, revealing a gap between awareness and information that women can use toward getting a better treatment plan for themselves.

Diane Blum, executive director for CancerCare, says "While great progress has been made in breast cancer awareness through public education and increased media coverage, women with breast cancer would benefit from more information about advances in treatments after surgery".

Key questions to ask your physicians when diagnosed with breast cancer:

• What kind of breast cancer do I have?
• Which treatments are available to me?
• What are the risks and benefits of those treatments?
• What is the risk my breast cancer will come back or spread to another part of my body?
• Where do I go for support when I need it?

For the full survey results visit CancerCare.

What can I do at Careplace?

At Careplace you can connect with others who's lives are like yours. Discuss treatments in online forums, create personal webpages, show support with virtual hugs, send private messages, create your own photo albums, groups and online journals.

• Join or start a group - Groups are places that people can organize to discuss common interests. If you take a certain medication and want to discuss your progress or side effects, you can share with other group members who take this medication. You can also create groups about fishing or baseball, anything goes!
• Join a discussion - Forums are where people come together to support one another, ask questions and share news or experiences.
• Send a private message - Sending private messages is a great way to get to know others better, share a friendly greeting or ask them for more information about something with which they have some experience.
• Send someone a hug - Sending hugs are an easy way to show someone you care and remind them they are not alone.

Careplace is a knowledge portal that isn't bogged down with medical jargon and words you don't understand. The pages have lists of personal experiences people have had with medications,treatments, doctors and hospitals.

There are about 150,000 women in the United States living with advanced breast cancer. Musa Mayer and Susan E Grober, consultants for the study called Silent Voices: Women with Advanced (Metastatic) Breast Cancer Share Their Needs and Preferences for Information, Support and Practical Resources, say that over the years many of the women living with metastatic disease have expressed that they feel isolated, marginalized and alone.

The study found that nearly one-third of the women living with advanced breast cancer do not know where to access programs or medical treatments and emerging research. This study's finding is among several that could impact healthcare professionals and advocates who serve women living with Stage 4 disease.

Women in the study said that many of the support and information networks for breast cancer focus mostly on early-stage disease. The information on metastatic disease is often hard to find. There is not one website dedicated to bringing together the existing resources on advanced breast cancer.

A survey was given to the women in the study. Here are some of the findings:

• 75 percent of the women look for information about advanced breast cancer either daily or weekly.
• 69 percent said they find it helpful to listen or read about the experiences of other women living with advanced disease.
• 44 percent prefer online support groups while 38 percent prefer in-person groups.
• 57 percent of women with the lowest level of knowledge about their advanced breast cancer report feelings of anxiety, whereas only 19 percent of those with the highest level of knowledge report anxiety.

Since 1988, Wendy Chioji has been a reporter and anchorwoman for WESH 2 News in Orlando, Florida. She has covered news ranging from the pope's visit to Cuba in 1998 to the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002. She continuously covered last year's hurricanes, and she has an Emmy award under her belt for a special news report on heroin use.

Wendy is a top notch athlete. She has run five marathons and competed in several triathlons and half-ironman races. She has ridden in parts of several stages of the Tour de France, and traveled across the country with Lance Armstrong in 2003 -- covering 550 miles -- with the Tour of Hope event to raise awareness for cancer research. Wendy has also made a tour with stage II breast cancer. Since 2001, she has been surviving this disease.

I ran on my treadmill today while listening to a song by the band Green Day. I have always liked the song -- Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) -- but I like it more at this moment in my life than ever before because it speaks about looking back on the past in light of unexpected journeys -- and because my unexpected journey with breast cancer makes me look at everything differently. And when I look back at my life one day, I want to say that I had the time of my life. And that's why I like this song. And that's why I share it here today. Because I hope that in the end, we all can look back with the crystal clear knowledge that we had the time of our lives.

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer almost two years ago, my greatest fear was losing my hair. The fear was consuming, painful, over-the-top. That was long ago -- and I survived. I can look back now and realize that the panic about losing my hair was such a small-scale fear -- compared to what I fear now. Now I fear a recurrence of cancer. And it's a whole lot more disabling than a little worry about being bald.

I have a few techniques for settling my fears when they get out of control. Sometimes I take deep breaths. Sometimes I distract myself and occupy my mind with something more pleasant than anxiety -- like writing, exercising, playing with my little boys. And sometimes I read about others who have come before me and have handled the same distress I sometimes feel about cancer taking up residence in my body again. Mostly I learn from stories of other women who have survived breast cancer. And I learn that I can handle the fear, that I can handle cancer if it does come back. And the women I find most inspiring are those who have had a recurrence -- or two or three -- and who still manage to happily tackle the life they have in front of them. They give me hope that if a recurrence comes my way, I too can conquer it. And here are seven snippets of hope from the book Hope Lives! The After Breast Cancer Treatment Survival Handbook -- from women who keep on surviving breast cancer.

My friend called me last night as she was having a miscarriage. She had been to the doctor, heard no heartbeat, and learned via ultrasound that her baby had stopped thriving weeks ago. Her doctors told her what to expect -- bleeding and cramping and contractions and possibly a D & C -- and she was experiencing some of these inevitable symptoms as we spoke on the phone. My friend called me because the same thing happened to me six years ago -- and when she remembered this, she dialed the phone from a state thousands of miles away. And despite our distance, our connection was close enough for comfort.

weSPARK - an acronym for support, prevention, acceptance, recovery, knowledge -- was the cancer support center Wendie Jo Sperber wished she could have visited when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. A place more like home than a hospital. Sperber, a single mother, felt that the emotional challenges of cancer were more difficult than the physical ones. Four years after her breast cancer diagnosis, she opened the doors to a community-based recovery center that offered free holistic services designed to heal the mind, body and soul.

Sperber, an actress who starred in the television series Bosom Buddies, lost her life to breast cancer in 2004. In July, a second weSPARK center will open offering support groups for patient, family and friends, grief workshops, art classes, yoga, drum circles, teen drama groups and meditation. The dream of Wendie Jo Sperber in creating a place of warmth and comfort for others struggling to survive cancer continues.