Survivorship

The stories and experiences are written by people after cancer treatments. These stories are written for those learning how to get back to work, college or just trying to be themselves again. Just getting past treatments isn’t enough, it is surviving and thriving that is key to being you again.

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How My Experience With Thyroid Cancer Affects My Emotions

by Justine Martin June 22, 2026

I think there are mixed emotions when you have experienced thyroid cancer. After I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid carcinoma 5 years ago, it really surprised me.

Dear Body, You’re Doing Okay

by Amy Lippert Hoffmann

I am a marathoner. I had been a marathoner. I was marathon training. Being a runner had and has been such a big part of my identity since 2014.

Our eyes met in the waiting room, hers younger and bright and a smile that was small but ever present. I don’t recall who spoke first, but that August date in 2024 soon became a fast best friendship of two women battling breast cancer with genetic mutations as well.

My Radiation Tattoos

by Michelle Mullet June 8, 2026

There was a random Tuesday in May of 2025 where I had to drive to this Brutalist structure in suburban Massachusetts and get some tattoos. Not the fun kind, but three small blue-green dots that would align with precision inside a proton blasting, life saving robotic machine.

Stolen Glances

by Neil Stackhouse June 1, 2026

Back in November, I attended one of the events Elephants and Tea hosted through the James Cancer Center’s “Care for Life” program. That was where I received my cancer treatments, but truth be told, it took me many years before I actually wanted to attend any kind of support group.

Dear Cancer, Stop Whispering To Me

by Tove Schneider

Dear Cancer, You need to stop whispering to me when I am happy — when the sun is shining and rainbows are reflecting through prisms.

Dear Cancer, Three Years Have Gone By

by Julia Alessandrine May 18, 2026

Three years have gone by and I still have a radiation mask sitting in my closet that once bolted me down to a cold and tall table. Three years have gone by and I have a box in my bedroom filled with every card, every hospital band, every single tangible item anyone gave to me sitting in my “cancer box” because I can’t seem to get rid of anything.

Survivorship: More Than Just Survival

by Shanise Pearce

What does survivorship mean to me? It’s a question I’ve wrestled with since the day I rang the bell, signaling the end of chemotherapy. People cheered, my family cried, and I smiled—but inside, I was holding my breath.

Dear Cancer, I Still Hate You

by Riley Ferris May 11, 2026

It has been a while since the last time I talked directly to you. After some time needed away after the procedure was done to rip you back out of my life at the same speed it took you to take it over, I am finally ready to address the elephant in the room.