The Elephant in the Room is Cancer. Tea is the Relief Conversation Provides.

Posts by Urska Kosir

Survivor

I am a PhD student in Experimental Psychology at Oxford University. My doctoral work focuses on the psychological adaptation of young cancer patients and survivors. I am exploring the mechanisms of psychopathology and resilience in young survivors to answer questions such as why some survivors do better than others in survivorship. I employ mixed methods, from longitudinal data set analyses to qualitative examination of young survivors’ experiences. I hope to develop a theoretical model of psychopathology and resilience in young cancer survivors and that my results will lead to novel screening approaches as well as preventative measures in Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) oncology settings.

Studying Resilience Among AYAs

by Urska Kosir June 5, 2020

Mental health matters. Mental health impact of cancer can be bigger than the physical aspect of it. Mental health aspect of cancer needs to stop being a taboo.

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5 Phases of Grieving for the Loss of My Early Twenties

by Urska Kosir September 12, 2019

Hello! Ciao! My name is Urska Kosir and I come from Slovenia, like the US First Lady 🙂 At the age of 22, I received a diagnosis: Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, late stage. Just like Hazel from The Fault in our Stars would say, “I lit up like the Christmas tree,” a well-decorated one. In this essay, […]

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Delayed Graduation

by Urska Kosir May 20, 2019

This past week I was supposed to graduate from college. My graduation was delayed. Editor’s Note: Urska pulls out this latest post from her archives as she discussed her challenge with graduating on time as a college student while being treated for her cancer. Last September, when I entered the senior year I envisioned this […]

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It is OK to Allow Yourself to Feel

by Urska Kosir May 10, 2019

As soon as I was diagnosed, I took on a parent role for myself. I was somewhat removed from the situation. It felt almost like I wasn’t experiencing it myself. I didn’t get angry and I didn’t cry. I felt emotionally shut down, blunted.

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Life Just seemed Too Hard for a 22-Year Old

by Urska Kosir May 2, 2019

I have always liked writing. But despite countless written pages I seldom shared any of my written work with public. Well, other than my cat who yawned at the sound of my wannabe witty puns. Nevertheless, in 2015, I finally decided to start my blog.

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