Essays

Shaquita Estes explains how she and her husband handled “the talk” with their kids after her diagnosis, which inspired a children’s book No Hair, Don’t Care! she created with her young daughter, Lexie. Read More ›

After being diagnosed with stage IV (metastatic) breast cancer, Andrea Peden had to readjust her and her husband’s dreams of having kids, biologically or via adoption. This is a story of perseverance. Read More ›

Fay Jones shares her story of a breast cancer diagnosis full of uncertainty, how she dealt with hair loss, and then finally being cancer free. Read More ›

Nicole Davis went for her first mammogram a few weeks after turning 40 and suddenly her worst nightmare was a reality. Read More ›

Chattiness can be contagious, which was the case in the infusion room when Mary Trouba struck a conversation with a woman called Cheryl; it turned the room into a safe space for all to share experiences. Sadly, Mary died before this article was published. Read More ›

Amanda Rice was 37 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time. She describes her decision to freeze her eggs after her diagnosis, which led her to launch the nonprofit organization The Chick Mission to educate women on the impact of cancer treatment on becoming mothers. Read More ›

Sheryl Gundersen, who worked as a software sales professional for 35 years, became an expert in interpreting her customers’ body language. In this article, she describes how she used these skills in her personal journey with breast cancer while facing people wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More ›

Nobody told Donna Avery that esophageal cancer is often fatal when diagnosed at a late stage. Now 7 years after her diagnosis, she chronicles her experience with radiation and dealing with this rare cancer, which accounts for only 1% of all new cancer diagnoses in the United States. Read More ›

When she was 34 with a 6-year-old daughter, Sara Olsher was told she had breast cancer. What followed was a year and a half of treatment and connecting with her daughter in unique ways. Read More ›

Kelly Rodenberg, author of There’s Something Going on Upstairs, offers her insights from being a caregiver to her husband Bob to dealing with her own glioblastoma diagnosis. Read More ›