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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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Coming to Terms with the Side Effects of Treatment
As a boy, I used to race the sun: I would start in the forest as the sun set, at the bottom of a hill, and try to climb as the darkness nipped at my feet. My body would throb with the blood rushing to my limbs before it collapsed with exhaustion. Now, sitting at the river’s edge, I am at that point again; I cannot go any further without rest.
Read More...A Year of Cancer: Somehow, It’s Still Me
Who am I after Cancer? I think I’m still figuring it out. It hasn’t even been a year.
Read More...The Scars Are Not Only on My Body but in My Mind
The scars cancer left behind are not only ones that are on the surface but go much deeper. The scars that cancer left can’t always be seen. Yes, you can look at my body and see on my chest and neck where a port once was placed. You can look even closer at my body […]
Read More...When Does It Get Better?
Cancer didn’t just change my body; it reshaped my soul. My husband joked that I was “Chelsey 2.0” after my first cancer treatment ended—a newer, better version of myself.
Read More...Moles and Monsters
I had to have a mole removed recently. Not so much a mole mole as a splotch, a flat, discolored smudge about the size of a nickel, borderless and nearly inconspicuous among the follicles.
Read More...Cancer and Domestic Abuse: My Story
I thought I knew who I was, what my purpose was, what love was, and what trust was. Turns out, sadly, I had no idea all along.
Read More...My Identity After Cancer
After being diagnosed with cancer and overcoming it, a new label was added to my identity: cancer survivor. While this label carries a positive connotation, it also brings a sense of uncertainty.
Read More...I May Not Know Who I Am, But I Know What I Want
In popular lore, there is the cliche that before you die, your life flashes before your eyes. When I was 24, I was told I had stage III cancer, and what flashed before my eyes was all the life I should have lived: the wedding I would never have, the kids I would never raise, the dreams I was working toward—everything I thought I had time for could vanish in an instant.
Read More...Cancer is Not My Identity
Life after cancer isn’t what I, or many, expect it to be like. Like a lot of others, it’s believed that once your treatment is over and you are disease-free, your life will go back to how it once was.
Read More...I Wish Someone Told Me to Try to Go with the Flow
When I was diagnosed the first time around, back in 2017, I had a pretty idealistic view of how I would navigate chemotherapy. I was convinced I would successfully use the cold cap and keep all of my hair.
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