Essays

Jessica Morris was blindsided by her brain cancer diagnosis after hiking with friends and having a full-blown seizure. Frustrated by the lack of treatment options for and the short life expectancy associated with glioblastoma, she created the nonprofit organization OurBrainBank. Read More ›

In 2015, Amanda Bruffy, RN, BSN, CNRN, OCN, was about to turn 30, newly single, and had a great job as an oncology nurse navigator when she couldn’t get over a nagging abdominal pain. “My role as an oncology nurse navigator has forever been changed after being on the receiving end of a cancer diagnosis,” she says. Read More ›

Christie Bevington shares her story of how immunotherapy was the only treatment that helped stop her cancer progression and relieve her back pain caused by lung cancer. Read More ›

Michael Morigi shares his very positive experience with immunotherapy in the treatment of his stage III bladder cancer. Read More ›

Kristen Foreman dealt with an ovarian cancer diagnosis at age 33. After removal of her ovaries, she completed chemotherapy, followed by 6 weeks of radiation, during a global pandemic. She now aspires to support others facing similar circumstances. Read More ›

George Valentine was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2002. He shares some of his hard-learned tips on how to deal with a cancer diagnosis and the high costs of treatment. Read More ›

Jennifer Reginald chronicles how nagging headaches turned into a brain tumor diagnosis, and how she had different tumors removed on the same day, twice, but 32 years apart. Read More ›

After spending many nights in pain, unable to breathe, Kayla Sanderson was told that the lump in her neck was “nothing” but a bad ear infection. Finally, she found out a tumor was blocking her airways. Read More ›

In May 2019, Kiana Wooten went for a routine check-up. Read about how that routine visit turned into a breast cancer diagnosis for the 34-year-old Kiana, who had to be hospitalized during COVID-19. Read More ›

Sabrina Steinback’s mom died from COVID-19 in 2020, and then Sabrina had a lumpectomy to remove breast cancer at the end of the year. Read More ›