Para Ganged Up On Me Oma! (Paraganglioma)
Reading Time: 3 minutesBy: Julianne Melvin, 38, Paraganglioma I woke up in a hospital room, the air thick with the smell of antiseptic and the rhythmic, mechanical hum of monitors. I tried to
Tag: Chronic disease
After the Second Time
Reading Time: 3 minutesBy: Tracy Steffek, 41, Breast cancer, Tongue cancer Cancer didn’t make me brave. It made me tired of pretending. The second time I had cancer, something broke. It wasn’t fear
Hope After CML
By: Jeffrey Mello, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia I grew up in Massachusetts. It was a normal start, but I always wanted something bigger. That drive took me to New York City,
My Invisible Illness
Reading Time: 3 minutesBy: Kristen Stewart, 34, Brain Tumor While it’s been 6 years since my emergency brain surgery and discovery of my rare brain tumor, whenever I unexpectedly hear the word cancer
Cancer Diagnosis: Deja’ Vu
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIt was a day I’ll never forget, marking the one-year anniversary of my diagnosis with Polycythemia Vera, a day that seemed cursed with cruel symmetry. Pulmonary hypertension. The words hit
CancerCon 2022
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhat a joy it was to be able to experience CancerCon. I won a Hotel Scholarship to experience it and I probably wouldn’t have been able to if not, at
CancerCon 22
Reading Time: 2 minutesMy first in-person CancerCon experience went well. I was nervous thinking about the trip. I do not travel much but I thought, “Why not try it out?”. I am happy
Cancer Again?!?
Reading Time: 4 minutesWhen I was 26, on December 1st, 2017, I was first diagnosed with a rare form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. To say that my body didn’t react to treatment well is
Stupid Cancer, Stupid Thyroid
Reading Time: 2 minutesI first got involved with Stupid Cancer through my work as an oncology social worker. I support a lot of young adults newly diagnosed and trying to navigate their cancer
Frank Sinatra & My Vagina
Reading Time: 6 minutesMost people think they have a basic understanding of what radiation therapy is, but until you become a cancer patient, you don’t really know the half of it. The extent