Dear Cancer
Each year we ask the AYA cancer community to submit letters to cancer to express their feelings about how cancer has changed their lives. People explore an array of emotions in these letters, including anger, sadness, gratitude, and hope.
Want to submit an article or write your own letter to cancer? Click Here.
Dear Cancer, Isn’t It Ironic?
Dear Cancer,
Read those two words again, isn’t it ironic? “Dear cancer.” Two words that should never be side by side, but here they are placed together so carelessly and yet also intentionally.
Read More...Dear Cancer, You Came Into My Life…
You came into my life as a nagging change—a slight pull to the left and a dimple on my breast. “It’s nothing. I am too young for it to be something.” I took you with me to visit my doctor.
Read More...I Walked A Thousand Miles
I walked a thousand miles away from home—
IV stands and frozen steps
Dicarbozene and overcast skies
With you, the uninvited.
Dear Cancer: You Lost
Dear Cancer,
Hi, it’s me again. We haven’t talked in a while, but honestly, I didn’t know what to say to you. You failed to drag me down and I rang that wonderful bronze bell in spite of you. There was a celebration when you finally moved out. Of course, you took a bit of my femur with you, but I don’t mind. I got a really cool scar in return.
Read More...Uninvited Intruder, Unyielding Survivor
Dear Cancer,
If you had a face, a form, or a name, what would it be? Would it be a grotesque monster lurking in the shadows or a subtle, insidious force weaving its way through the fabric of life?
Read More...Dear Cancer, You Became My Silver Lining
Dear Cancer,
May 19, 2015, the day I discovered you were living within me. At just 26 years old, I was gearing up for a rollercoaster ride that, little did I know, I would never get off. I thought there would be an end to you, a day where my life would go back to what it was, and I could act as if you had never happened.
Read More...The Devastated Loved One
Dear Cancer,
It’s hard to even want to talk to you right now. Throughout life, I’ve seen what you are capable of, the pain you cause. You destroy lives. We try to be positive. Community and family rally around those you take hold of, but you don’t care about that.
Read More...The Impossibilities of Life in the Mind of Someone Healthy
Dear Cancer,
What do I want to say to you at our ten year anniversary? Like many patients, I still remember when we were introduced in 2014 like I had selective hyperthymesia for that day. At the time I received brain tumor diagnoses of grades I, II, III, and IV, with no member of my medical team able or willing to tell me anything about my prognosis.
Read More...Dear Cancer: The Chaotic Voyage
Dear cancer,
You made life messy. I expected it to be clean, linear, and perfect. But it’s none of these. Rarely does life sail along without at least a few waves crashing into my fragile vessel. Why do I expect perfection from a world that’s flawed?
Read More...Dear Cancer, I am Sick of You
Dear Cancer,
Here we go again, Cancer. To be honest, I am sick of talking about you. I am exhausted by my unwanted lifetime membership in the “Cancer Club.” Nearly six years into this, it feels like my whole life has been intertwined with your presence.
Read More...