Stupid Cancer
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Cancer, Musical Theatre & Other Chronic Illnesses
Reading Time: 2 minutesI am currently in my 12th year of sole survivorship from a rare Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. From where my brain space landed in that time, I tend to look at cancer very differently than I did
A Diagnosis That Changed My Life Forever
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhen I was 19 years old, I was diagnosed with Type 2/Stage 2 Hodgkin Lymphoma on June 3, 2016. My life and health was about to take a 360 turn. I honestly never thought I
Battling Cancer
Reading Time: 3 minutesNo chance I was expecting the words, “Nitya, these lesions in your abdomen seem like cancer masses,” when I went to the doctor for a stomach ache. Though I was sick on and off for
Surviving Cancer During the Time of Corona
Reading Time: 3 minutes2020 was by far the worst and scariest year of my life. We were all affected by it in some shape or form. While I understand that COVID put our lives on hold, it was
Two Years Cancer Free
Reading Time: 3 minutesThis weekend is another milestone in my breast cancer journey. I’ll be cancer free for two years. Queue the celebration music and gifs. These milestones always give me a reason to pause and reflect. I’d
It was Never the End
Reading Time: 2 minutesI always thought I wouldn’t make it to 18, wouldn’t make it to see myself graduate, never go to college or have a family of my own. An enemy was coming for me ready to
Helping AYAs Leading Healthier Lives
Reading Time: 4 minutesMy name is Erin Coffman, and I am a sixth-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health. My career in cancer prevention
Believe
Reading Time: 4 minutesI was 35 when my first symptom showed up. I was 36 when I was diagnosed, and 37 by the time I did my very last treatment. It all happened over the course of 18
My CancerCon Live Story
Reading Time: 2 minutesThis past August I attended my first ever Cancer Con event in Atlanta. I have always wanted to attend one of their events and have always wanted to visit Atlanta so it was meant to
Who Are My Angels?
Reading Time: 5 minutes(Written August 25th, 2022.) This was the day I woke up from a colonoscopy to find out that my issue was not hemorrhoids like I went to the doctor for, it was worse. Much worse.
Tiffany
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTiffany shares her story at our November 2023 Digital Storytelling Open Mic. She shares how she pursues her dreams despite her life setbacks.
Laura
Reading Time: < 1 minuteLaura shares her story at our November 2023 Digital Storytelling Open Mic. She explains the story of her diagnosis day.
Victor
Reading Time: < 1 minute Victor shares his story at our November 2023 Digital Storytelling Open Mic and how his mom was his biggest supporter through it all.
Madeleine
Reading Time: < 1 minuteContent Warming – Fertility Madeleine shares her story at our November 2023 Digital Storytelling Open Mic. She explains her story about her reflections about cancer, fertility, and life.
Ashley
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ashley shares a poem titled “Not Cancer” at our November 2023 Digital Storytelling Open Mic. She tells her story of right before getting her diagnosis.
Callie
Reading Time: < 1 minute Listen to Callie as she tell’s her survivorship story at our November 2023 Digital Storytelling Open Mic and how findinig a community of those who “get it” can open up a world of understanding.
Cancer Takes A Village
Reading Time: 3 minutesMy name is Elena Del Carmen and I am a mesenchymal chondrosarcoma survivor. At the age of 25, in October 2020, between my son’s fourth birthday party and my daughter’s sixth, I ended up in
Resilience and Courage
Reading Time: 3 minutesI am a childhood leukemia survivor, having been diagnosed at the age of 11. I’ve thankfully been cancer-free since 2007 but I currently suffer from a number of late effects from my treatment, ranging from
Now I Know My IBC
Reading Time: 6 minutesTrigger warning: Suicidal Ideation “I’m sorry but this looks like stage III, Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC).” Those were the words that sprung out of my doctor’s lips that ordinary November afternoon. November 15, 2019 was
A Board Member’s Story of CancerCon 2023
Reading Time: 7 minutesI kissed the wife and kids goodbye and headed to the airport. Next stop, CancerCon 2023. I got into the Omni Atlanta at about 11pm, checked in, thanked the staff for hosting us and called
One In a Million
Reading Time: 3 minutesIt started with a small, hard bump under my hair. I found it when I was around eight years old. I showed my mom, who immediately took me to the pediatrician to get it looked
Every Moment
Reading Time: 2 minutesWow. My cancer story… I was the girl that was always just a bit sick growing up. I graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, but that summer I just kept feeling
Am I Struggling Enough?
Reading Time: 2 minutesI’m scared to share, because I don’t struggle enough…but maybe there are others who feel like an imposter as well. Back in 2019, I was finishing up college, waiting tables, and slinging weights at CrossFit.
Empathy to Expertise: My AYA Journey from Patient to Researcher
Reading Time: 4 minutesIn August 2017, my life took an unexpected turn when I was diagnosed with breast cancer during my final year of undergraduate studies. At the beginning of the summer, I discovered a lump in my
What I Wish I Would Have Known
Reading Time: 2 minutesI was just 29 years old when I was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, Stage 2, hormone positive with a BRCA2 genetic mutation after finding a lump on a self-breast exam. This was just 3