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

Patients

The stories and experiences in this category are written by people currently going through treatments for cancer. Read these stories to find inspiration and know that you are not alone in your experience with cancer.

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Treat Us Gently

by Rebekah Palmer May 17, 2023

I wish people knew that once cancer has attacked your body and the treatment ravages your immune system, there is no going back to before, nor do you never think about the cancer again—if it goes into remission.

Every year when flu seasons are at their highest, it’s more significant because now the flu isn’t just time off from other people and life’s routine—the flu could now seriously deplete your body for several more days and weeks. Preventative health is a giant measure in seasons of communal illness. Especially now that flu seasons have doubled up with pandemic precautions since 2020.

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Finding Friends Who Understand

by Ally Nolan April 26, 2023

When I was first diagnosed, I didn’t want cancer friends. At the time I was still processing my diagnosis and trying to wrap my head around the fact that in a few weeks, I would be having awake brain surgery, chemo, and radiation. My brain tumor was an incidental find from a car accident, meaning I didn’t feel sick at all.

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Cancer Mandates NOW

by Mica April 13, 2023

I shot out of college like a rocket, a Summa Cum Laude feminist hellbent on shattering the glass ceiling. A la Sheryl Sandberg, I “Leaned In” so hard I mistakenly buried my altruism until cancer forced my eyes wide open. I had set my sight on becoming a tax partner at a prestigious accounting firm and somehow using those skills to improve the community

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Dual Diagnosis: Cancer Patient and Survivor

by Michelle Lawrence March 6, 2023

I consider a challenge to be a surprise; it sounds more fun. What I was concerned about at the beginning of my cancer journey are things I don’t even think about now. For example, managing the side effects of medication; I have that down to a science. I am a chronic cancer patient, and the unseen challenges/ surprises of survivorship might be slightly different than you think.

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The Battle I Choose Not to Lose

by Cindy Bernard February 27, 2023

With no history of breast cancer in my family, it was something I wouldn’t think would happen to me. It was out of the ordinary to feel the sharp pain. I shrugged it off at first until I felt something in my breast. I was confident it was an abscess because I’d had one before.

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To Be Alive

by James Mitchell January 19, 2023

Much has happened since 2019, some good and some bad. In many ways, we live in a different world. Who in 2019 could have imagined that we would live through a dystopian novel in the years to follow? But, in my own life, the most notable event came during the summer of that year—the day I received a call that confirmed that I had, in a phrase taken from Susan Sontag, “entered the realm of the sick.”

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What Do You Want to Do With This Time?

by Sheena Harris-Williams November 15, 2022

“You have to think about how you can make the best use of these next few months. Think of what your purpose will be.” My therapist said to me.

We were discussing positive ways I could refocus my energy and use this time. I was struggling with constantly looking back at the burning rubble of what used to be my life.

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Stage IV: My MBC Journey

by Tameka Johnson November 14, 2022

It had been a long day of work and coaching my cheer team when I finally got home. The day had been extremely draining and I was in a lot of pain. This pain had been a constant throbbing in my left shoulder, but this day was different because I could barely move my arm. I was truly concerned because this was something that I had never experienced before, especially for this long.

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Finding Clarity in Mortality

by Jenna Lyons November 7, 2022

Before this last week, I thought I knew exactly what I was going to be talking about when it comes to my life as a young woman with Metastatic Breast Cancer. I thought I would be keeping it super positive and speaking on the perspective changes I’ve been blessed with since October 2021, but I am exhausted.

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Who He Was

by Jillian Locke October 2, 2022

There is a drawing of a small bird that is nestled in my dresser drawer amongst my most treasured memories. I take it out occasionally, sometimes on a particular date and sometimes when a memory whispers for my attention. I never know when the thoughts will come, and years ago, I thought they would eventually fade away; but survivor’s guilt doesn’t choose to be graceful and exit quietly to stage left.

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