Blogs

The process of scheduling and receiving scans to monitor your disease can be emotionally triggering and traumatic as a patient with cancer, one woman explains.

A woman explains how pushing her anxiety aside to care for her sister with cancer was not good for her own health. “I wondered about all the other caregivers out there. I wondered if they, too, were suffering in silence because they did not want to draw focus away from the person they were caring for,” she writes.

A mother and cancer caregiver expresses her frustration over the lack of breast cancer screening in young women and explains how catching cancer early saved her daughter’s life.

A melanoma survivor and former caregiver analyzes the way society’s labels shape our behaviors and identities.

A cancer survivor explains that similar to combat veterans who experience post-traumatic stress after war, cancer survivors live with the impacts of their journey even after being in remission.

A cancer survivor describes how survivors can help face their fears by connecting with each other.

A woman with metastatic breast cancer describes a fulfilling experience of meeting another survivor who has lived a similar cancer journey, and the unique lasting connection it can create.

After enduring cancer, how does one celebrate completing treatments? A woman writes about celebrating all of her sister's successes, no matter how big or small.

An ovarian cancer survivor shares what it was like to be her late husband’s caregiver when he had prostate cancer, years before her own diagnosis.

A male breast cancer survivor asks, “How far are we willing to go for our cause?” He describes the advocacy work of two women who lost loved ones to male breast cancer.

A previvor analyzes the similarities and overlaps between living with Lynch syndrome and a BRCA mutation.

A cancer survivor expresses the frustration of constantly worrying about protecting her health in a dangerous world.

A caregiver discusses the grueling experience of not knowing whether cancer could strike one of her children or family members again at any given moment.

A woman with breast cancer writes about how patient advocates are pushing for better research into optimal treatment in metastatic breast cancer.

Women with hereditary cancer syndromes must make difficult decisions about whether to keep their reproductive parts and risk dying young, or to remove them but potentially open themselves up to health issues. “Pick your hard,” writes one woman.

A woman writes about the difficulty of her sister’s cancer diagnosis and how it impacted her personal life.

Cancer survivors share a unique connection. In this post, a survivor writes about meeting a stranger with stage 4 cancer who had an incredible impact on him.

A cancer survivor describes the agony of experiencing side effects that never go away and how she lives with them.

A patient with pancreatic cancer discusses how far words of kindness can go to individuals dealing with pain and suffering.

“I like to think the people of Bodie counted every day and made every day count, as hard as their lives were, reminding me to do the same,” writes a woman with metastatic breast cancer about her visit to Bodie State Historic Park.

A caregiver discusses her wishes for a woman who was recently diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. “Most of all I wish that time will stand still for her, so that she can crawl into bed with her children and hold them as long as she wants to, feeling their bodies curl into hers as they sleep,” she writes.

Fitting at least one relaxing, positive moment into your schedule each day has the potential to improve your overall well-being, explains one cancer survivor.

A survivor describes the small joys in life and how she avoids letting cancer get in the way.

“When I walk into the doctor’s office and the question is asked ‘What are you coming in for today?’ My answer is ‘survivorship,’” writes a four-time cancer survivor about the difficulties of living with a history of complex health issues.

There’s been joy in the journey, along with the drugs, the endless waiting in chilly waiting rooms, the lab work, shaving my head twice, the CT scans every three months and the steady hum of anxiety in my brain. The time with my husband, kids and grandkids has made it worth every minute of cancer treatment. Bring it on, cancer.

How is the COVID-19 pandemic similar to cancer? A survivor of pancreatic cancer shares his viewpoint.

After her sister's cancer recurrence, a woman explains her choice not to assume the caregiver role this time around. "While my sister battles cancer this time, I will be her sister," she writes.

A cancer survivor describes the mixed emotions she feels while in remission.