AYA Cancer

No Guarantee of the Future

Cancer means fighting for your life with no guarantee of the future
Fostering means loving the children in your care with no guarantee of the future.

To you baba, I live

When my father was diagnosed with lung cancer, I knew I would also fall sick, very soon. Six months later, I started feeling a growing lump but thought that maybe it’s some sort of hormonal change.

Finding Me Again

They said they found something in my mammogram
I said I know, it’s my first one, it’s just dense breasts
no, come back in right away for more tests

Dear Younger Self

Younger Brooke,

Hi love, it’s you… future you. I wanted you to know that on October 26th, 2024– you will get a phone call that wakes you up.

Breathe

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Inhale, exhale. Breathing is something we take for granted. It’s a given. It’s something you don’t even have to think about, But the minute you do start thinking about it, It becomes as if you have never taken a breath before. Like it is something […]

Another Christmas Season

Another Christmas season is speedily passing by. And with it, the weight of reminder of twelve years ago and relapse.

Invisible Seizures and Other Normal Twenty-Something Experiences

The feeling creeps in slowly, then all at once. I sit at a large conference table, surrounded by my classmates.

Misconceptions, Hard Parts, and What Others Ought To Know

One of the largest misconceptions about facing cancer as an AYA is the idea that life goes back to “normal” after treatment is over.

a common misconception

there’s a sense of shame casted over us, as if we aren’t back to living up to society’s expectations…

Redefining the Best Years of My Life

“College was the best four years of my life.” This sentiment has been drilled into my brain since birth.