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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You Give Strangers a Reason to be Friends
Dear Cancer, Sometimes I imagine you as an animated character, like the chef in the Little Mermaid, the one that chases Sebastian the crab everywhere, wanting to boil him alive. You’re unrelenting, like that chef, and you keep coming and coming. It’s not fair. And what’s more, you keep wanting to boil CHILDREN, not crabs. […]
Read More...Today I Say Thank You
I assume you get a lot of hate mail, I know I don’t often hear your praises, but today I’m here to thank you. I know it must feel like I haven’t noticed all you’ve done for me, like a parent who is seldom thanked for all they do, your existence in my life is so second nature I’ve not stopped long enough to acknowledge you much.
Read More...#SorryNotSorry
It’s been a year. Fuck you. (x a billion). You took over my life. I’m trapped. I can’t do anything I used to do. I hate feeling so tired. You make me walk like a 70-year-old woman. Everyone walks miles ahead of me.
Read More...Not Today Cancer
Dear Cancer, I hate you. I hate everything about you. You latched yourself onto my breast and created a fast-growing invasive tumor that decided to travel to other essential parts of my body. You do not care who I am. You do not care about my family, my heart, or my mind. You only care […]
Read More...Eyes Wide Open
I know we got off to a rocky start in our relationship, I guess that is something that could have been expected, considering our relationship was unlike most. I was busy trying to kill you, while you were busy trying to kill me… it’s a bit hard to get to know someone or something under those circumstances.
Read More...Living My Life
Although you may always be a part of my body you are no longer allowed to be a part of my life. I was diagnosed at a younger than usual age with you. I was only 30 and was told I had lung cancer.
Read More...The Freedom to Live My Life
Dear Cancer, Since my diagnosis I have lost two AYAs to you. However, I have gained a new support system. And a new family that I didn’t want but one that I desperately needed. I have lost two years of my life worrying about you. But in those two years I have made amazing memories […]
Read More...You Knocked Me Down But I Got Back Up
Dear Cancer, Ever since I was a small child and had to be brought back to life following a severe asthma attack, I have known that I possess the instincts of a fighter. With that said, I never imagined that, at the age of 32, I would dealing with you. You see, I worked for […]
Read More...How Dare You? Did You Not Know?
Dear Cancer, There are so many things I want to say to you. My mind is swirling right now as I try to put my thoughts to paper. Well, laptop, but I don’t think that’s a saying yet. I mean, should I keep it optimistic and politically correct by speaking only of the good? Dare […]
Read More...I Ran Away to an Island Far Away
Until I ran away. I ran away from my new life because you still haunted me. In a desperate quest to learn who I was without you, I ran away to an island far away. I left my job, family, and responsibilities behind. I had to fight this battle alone. Or so I thought.
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