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

Cancer

What Makes a Friend

by Allie Lampe March 13, 2024

What makes a friend?

It’s a question you’ve probably been asked before in some hypothetical or philosophical type of way. Have you ever really had to answer the question, “What makes a friend,” though?

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How Church Supported Me During My Diagnosis

by Ashley Oettinger March 12, 2024

I have always been involved in the Christian Community—I went to Christian school my whole life and I’ve been attending my church for over five years now. I didn’t tell many people at Church about my diagnosis until things got really bad.

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You’re On Your Own, Kid

by Quinn Fitzgerald March 7, 2024

Taylor Swift really got it right when she said, “You’re on your own, kid, you always have been.”

Nobody prepares you for what it feels like to be a cancer survivor.

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The Rocky Road of a Cancer Survivor

by Colleen Crinion

I never know what to say when people tell me how strong I am for beating cancer. For one, I do not feel at all strong. Nor do I feel like I’ve “beaten cancer.” From my perspective, all I’ve done since being diagnosed in 2019 is not die.

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My Body, My Bestie

by Marloe Esch RN, BSN, OCN March 6, 2024

Where are you right now? On the couch? Lounging in bed? Lunch break? Cancer clinic waiting room?

No matter where you are or where you’re going, who’s there with you?

Oh yeah, your body.

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Coping in the Present

by Karrah Teruya March 5, 2024

As a young adult, you have your entire life ahead of you until a cancer diagnosis forces you to consider the harsh reality of your mortality. Like most AYA cancer patients, my first diagnosis was shocking, and my entire world stopped.

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“It’s Not You, It’s Your Cancer”

by Chelsey Gomez February 28, 2024

Did you know that some people will stop being your friend simply because you got sick? I didn’t know this was a “thing” until I myself was diagnosed with cancer. If you are reading this as someone outside the cancer community, you’re probably shocked or think I’m mistaken. I’m not.

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Surviving Survivorship: The Big C

by Michelle Lawrence

The big C. The big C represents cancer, but change should be considered (I see the word change and sing “cha cha changes” in my head every single time). Change is a spectrum and is inevitable. Change can be good or bad, or something in between. It can impact you a smidge or profoundly, or something borderline. Cancer changes almost everything, especially perspectives.

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The Many Unseen Challenges of Survivorship

by Lenae Walters

I don’t think any AYA would agree with the definition of survivorship, at least in the traditional sense. Through media and life in general, the AYA community is largely forgotten. I think the traditional definition of survivorship only applies to much older generations who have outrageous amounts of money in their retirement accounts.

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The Sympathetic Magic of Dolls

by Mara Karapetian February 27, 2024

There are many cultures where dolls are considered a magical item. Animism attributes a soul to the inanimate: plants, objects, and natural phenomena. I remember the first time I read about the Shinto belief that there is a spiritual essence, or kami, in all things.

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