Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Dear Cancer, I Might Miss You

Dear Cancer,

I have written this letter to you a thousand times in my head. Each time, I argued about how I felt about you. How could I be angry at something that takes such an impersonal form? You aren’t even real. You don’t have a soul.

Darkest Hours

A year away in California, a dream unfolding
Training, motivated, hungry for College
In the best shape of my life, smiling and at peace
Life crashes down, sickness strikes at twenty

Dear Future Cancer Patient

You may be thinking that this letter made its way to you late. I assure you it didn’t. What good would have been accomplished if I had warned you of the tragedy to befall you? Would you have wanted all of your present moments to be tainted with the anxiety of the arduous journey ahead? Worry will cost you twice if you let it, once in the present and again in the future.

You Can Drop the Act

You are enough for the world just as you are. There is no measure of worth, there’s no perfect cancer “survivor.” There’s no “weakness.” There’s no guidebook (although I’m sure there are some attempts out there) to tell us how to play the crappy card we’ve been dealt.

Cancer and the Definition of Health

Are we ever truly healthy after a cancer diagnosis or treatment, especially as young adults? Can we take this current definition of health and use it to be “healthy” as a cancer patient’s, survivors, thrivers, warriors? Can we use a disease state to classify a new health term?