AYA Cancer Archives - Elephants and Tea

Pack Over Lone Wolf: Community, Words, and Miles Through Cancer

by Bill Thach May 25, 2026

When I was diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoma at 33, I thought “getting through” meant surviving treatment cycles and scan days. I imagined a finish line: make it through this surgery, this chemo, this radiation, this clinical trial, and then life would return to something like normal.

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.

In Defense of Messy Emotions

by Colleen Mulhern

I look out at a hundred faces of AYA patients, survivors, and their loved ones quietly sipping their coffee, tea, and water. Everyone here has taken time out of their Saturday to hear a panel of people like me explain how we’ve “made meaning” out of having cancer as a young adult.

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.

Beyond Your Grip

by Kayla DeSonier

You showed up like a thief, but worse, a thief takes what they want and leaves. You moved in, uninvited, rewriting my story in ink I never chose.

A Simple Twist of Fate

by Kelly Curtin-Hallinan

I’ve always despised the trope of the patient who pulls through against all odds, despite all evidence to the contrary. Yes, diagnoses can shift and treatment plans evolve, but the ultimate trajectory rarely strays far from the original suspicion.

The Give and Take of Cancer

by Vikki Ramdass-Husain May 4, 2026

People often ask, “are you okay now?” But how should I really answer that question? I am so scared all the time, I can’t even think straight. I wish life was simple but it’s not. It’s complicated, hard, and crazy at times but I try to make the most out of it.

9th Life

by Riese

2 years 4 walls and it’s all that I know, Never thought, I’d find myself here living back home, Feels like I’m losing myself hearing get well soons

Dear Cancer, You’re the Queen of Giving and Taking Away

by Amanda Tucker

You’re the queen of giving and taking away. I look back now at how much I thought my life was ruined the day I opened a mychart notification with the word carcinoma in it.