Survivorship

Cancer Connections

I have been diagnosed with cancer twice in the space of 8 years. Both times I have felt a real need to find others who have been through the same type of cancer to me.

Connection After Cancer

My relationships with other people have definitely changed over time. I isolated myself during my chemo and radiation treatments over the years. Whilst this may not have been the choice of mine, I felt completely lost.

Ask Me About My Sleeve

“Why do you have a sleeve on one arm?”

It’s a fair question, I suppose. Not many people wear one sleeve at a time. And yet, one look and I can feel the distance between us.

Too Much, Too Soon

I used to think the hardest part of dating after cancer would be finding someone willing to. I didn’t think anyone would want me anymore—I was changed, insecure, and utterly, profoundly afraid. I was twenty-five and already my body had failed me; already I’d had my head sheared, my body drilled into and scarred.

How My Experience with Thyroid Cancer Affects Relationships

I think sometimes after we have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer it means that it doesn’t directly affect connecting with others who had a similar thyroid cancer who are in the AYA Community.

Survivorship and Connection After Cancer

“But you’re so young! You’re so healthy!”

These were the words I’d hear most often not long after my cancer diagnosis at the age of twenty-five.

Everything Doesn’t Happen for a Reason

It may be common to tell someone struggling with a cancer diagnosis that “everything happens for a reason,” but I don’t agree and think it is a rather rude thing to say, at least for my type of cancer.

He Laughed

He laughed. How could he laugh? I just divulged my most kept secret and he laughed. When someone tells you they have cancer, laughing should not be your first response. Well, I guess this isn’t going anywhere…

Two Hospital Rooms

One welcomes a baby,
filled with soft cries and loud joy.
The other says goodbye to her breasts,
stitched in silence, wrapped in loss.

Survivorship After Having the “Good Cancer”

Patrick. Cait. Casey. Kevin. Jim. Chris. Mike. Alden. Vinnie. Adam. Those are the people I think of most throughout every day I remain cancer-free. Since I have been in my survivorship journey, those ten people have died, all undeserving of what this disease took from them and their loved ones.