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Share Your Story

Share Your Story Submissions

There are so many questions that come with a cancer diagnosis — questions about treatment, side effects, caregiving, survivorship and more.
Your stories help us achieve our mission of combining science and humanity to make cancer understandable.
To share your story, submit it via a Word document to editor@curetoday.com for your chance to have your story highlighted here, and please be sure to include "Share Your Story" in the subject line.
CURE® accepts submissions of personal essays from readers relating to their own cancer experience. Submission of your work to CURE® does not guarantee publication. CURE® does not offer compensation for general submissions.
Submissions shall:

  • Consist of 500-800 words.
  • Be submitted to editor@curetoday.com as an attachment in a Word document.
  • Consist of original work created entirely by you and of which all rights belong to you. The work should not have been published elsewhere or currently submitted elsewhere.
  • Not violate any person or entity’s copyright, trademark, or right of privacy or any other right.

Check out the prompts below and choose the question that resonates most with you.

  • What unexpected lesson(s) did cancer teach you?
  • What is one thing you wish friends and family knew about your cancer diagnosis?
  • Share the story of your diagnosis — how does what you feel then differ from how you feel now?

CURE® reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity, content, and length and in accordance with CURE®’s style guide and standards. By submitting your work to CURE®, you acknowledge that the ownership of the copyright rights in any edited version belong to CURE® as an original creation of a derivative work. You also acknowledge that if you submit work elsewhere, you will not have the right to use CURE®’s edited version without CURE®’s prior written permission.

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Brain Cancer Interrupted My Life at the Peak of My Career

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My Story: In Defense of Grief

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Mesothelioma has been categorized as an “older persons” disease, writes a 14-year survivor. Which is why, she writes, her and her family were completely caught off-guard when she was diagnosed at 21.

Reading Has Helped Me Navigate ‘Cancerland’

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A patient recently diagnosed with cancer writes how with the help of the people she loves, as well as the wisdom, humor and empathy of books, she has continued to navigate her new country: “Cancerland”.

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A “thriver” of triple-negative breast cancer shares a poem to mark the 10th anniversary of her survivorship.

A Letter to My Doctors: You Don’t Know Me

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A four-time cancer survivor writes a personal letter to her future doctors. She urges doctors to see her and not her diagnosis.

While Cancer is Not Fun, There is Hope Every Day

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An ovarian cancer survivor shares that although she’s been frustrated and mad about a recent recurrence in her lymph nodes, she still celebrates the life that she’s been blessed with.

When It Comes to Cancer, See the Person and Not the Disease

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An oncology nurse offers people tips on how to find the courage and be better advocates to their loved ones who may be receiving treatment for cancer.

If I Can Face Cancer, I Can Face Anything

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Within a short period of time, Darlene Benson lost her dog, brother-in-law, and some of her best friends. But, at the same time, she conquered cancer. She says that if she can face that, she can face anything.

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A patient with cancer recalls how the love her care team showed her during her treatment made such a difference in her journey to recovery. Her hope: That more patients with cancer around the world can find doctors who treat them as a person, and not just a case.

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Moment by moment, we move toward life. We feel what needs to be felt. We can even feel through the numb parts—the broken pieces. Instead of looking somewhere else, we look straight on— at ourselves and others. We see what’s really there. Who is there for us? Who is not? We choose to be with those we love, and those who love us back—like the person in the mirror, the new friend.

Your Life Is Not Over Because of Cancer

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At the moment it may be hard to realize, but your life is not over because of cancer.

Image Visualization Helped Complement My Cancer Treatment

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