After Facing Cancer, Two High School Friends Create an App to Help Patients and Caregivers

For Brynn Forlizzi and Teddy Aaron, cancer has been part of their lives for years, but from two different perspectives.

Forlizzi is a germ cell ovarian cancer survivor who was diagnosed during her freshman year of high school in December 2023. After four months of treatment, she entered remission before her cancer returned in September 2025.

Aaron has spent nearly a decade living alongside cancer as a caregiver to someone in his household.

The two first met through mutual friends in seventh grade, but their friendship grew closer when Forlizzi was diagnosed. Aaron regularly checked in on her, although she did not initially know that he also understood the challenges of cancer from a caregiver's perspective.

Those shared experiences eventually inspired them to create Soothe Note, an app designed to help people with cancer and their caregivers.

What Is Soothe Note?

Soothe Note is an app created by Forlizzi and Aaron to help patients and caregivers manage the day-to-day challenges of cancer. The platform brings information such as symptoms, medications, mood and other details into one place, allowing users to keep track of what they are experiencing between appointments.

The goal is to make it easier for patients and caregivers to communicate with their health care teams without having to remember or explain everything on their own. Soothe Note also includes tools such as medication and appointment reminders, with additional features in development to make tracking symptoms and daily well-being easier.

Seeing a Gap in Cancer Care

While supporting Forlizzi, Aaron noticed what he felt was a major gap in cancer care: what happens between appointments.

Important information — from symptoms to mood changes — can be difficult to remember and communicate during a doctor's visit. Aaron believed patients and caregivers needed a simple way to keep track of those details.

“There was a huge health gap in between the appointments,” Aaron said.

Forlizzi had experienced that gap firsthand.

During her second battle with cancer, she experienced severe symptoms during chemotherapy, including hallucinations and feeling extremely sick. When she later spoke with her oncologist, she struggled to explain just how serious the experience had been.

She believes having Soothe Note could have made that process much easier by allowing her to document her symptoms and create a summary for her medical team.

Building Soothe Note From Their Experiences

Aaron initially began developing Soothe Note in mid-2024, but the first attempt did not work out. A year later, he returned to the project determined to finish it.

He built the back end of the platform and used AI to help develop the front end and visual elements, with the goal of keeping the app simple and easy to use.

That simplicity remains central to how they develop Soothe Note.

When considering a new feature, the founders ask whether it would actually help someone on their hardest day. They also use the app themselves and gather feedback from others in the cancer community.

Forlizzi's own experience forgetting to take medication, for example, helped inspire medication reminders and other notifications.

Supporting Patients and Caregivers

Soothe Note was designed to support both patients and caregivers.

Aaron brought his experience as a caregiver, while Forlizzi brought the perspective of a young cancer survivor. Together, they have used those experiences to determine which features are most important.

The app is intended to bring information such as symptoms and other aspects of the cancer experience into one place, helping patients and caregivers better communicate with their health care teams.

The founders also recognize that cancer affects more than the person receiving treatment.

“Cancer doesn't just affect the patient. It affects the entire family,” Forlizzi said.

What's Next for Soothe Note?

Since launching in March, Soothe Note has received feedback from patients, caregivers and health care professionals. The founders have also built an advisory board that includes professionals connected to pediatric oncology, adolescent and young adult cancer programs and health care consulting.

Forlizzi and Aaron are continuing to refine the app based on feedback from the cancer community, including new features designed to make tracking how someone is feeling easier on difficult days.

Their long-term vision may extend beyond cancer.

As they have continued developing Soothe Note, the founders have discussed eventually expanding the platform to people living with other chronic illnesses, while keeping their initial focus on the cancer community that inspired the idea.

Soothe Note is currently available on the iOS App Store, with an Android version planned.

For Forlizzi, building Soothe Note has offered a way to turn her own difficult experiences into something that could help others.

“All the pain cancer has given me, I can put my feelings into something that's helping others,” she said.

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