Age at diagnosis: 16
Current age: 26
Occupation: Teacher at a daycare

Dianne’s advice: Believe in yourself and trust that God will pull you through. Dianne’s Cancer Journey

I had dysgerminoma or, in nonmedical terms, ovarian cancer. I had an easier time with my treatment because I was 16 and wanted children later in life. My doctors tried to do as little as possible. I chose to have surgery and then have my doctors watch me closely.

I had three different doctors in a week and a half, blood tests every day, and a bunch of other tests. In surgery, they removed my ovary and fallopian tube on the left side. I was so scared to go into surgery. I was eight when I had my first operation; I tore my liver in a car accident. This time, I was all alone and far from home. I was living in California at the time and visiting my aunt in Washington. I spent a week in the hospital all alone. My parents came to visit, but they could only stay a few hours, and they took my sister back with them. …read the rest of this entry»

Age at diagnosis:17
Current age:20
Occupation:Student

Troy’s advice: Don’t keep your emotions bottled up. Share how you are feeling with friends and family because it will help you feel better.

Troy’s Cancer Journey
I was diagnosed with a brain tumor in May 1996. My family and I were shocked. Just one year prior to my cancer diagnosis, I was told that I had a digestive disorder called Crohn’s disease. …read the rest of this entry»

Age at diagnosis: 12
Current age: 14
Occupation: Student

Bethany’s advice: Believe in yourself, and you will make it.

Bethany’s Cancer Journey
It all started when the health nurses came to vaccinate the kids at my school with the hepatitis B vaccine. After I had the vaccination, I always seemed to have sinus colds. I didn’t go to the doctor because I thought, “Well, it’s winter, and lots of people have colds.”

March break came, and I went to my aunt’s house with my brother to stay for a couple of nights. When I came home, I was really stuffed up, and every time I blew my nose, there was blood. I thought it was because my aunt’s house is really dry and she smokes. Then one day, my mom took me to the doctor because my skin looked yellow. My doctor said I had blood in my nose because I was constantly blowing it and that I was yellow from blowing so much. The doctor also said I had a sinus cold and put me on antibiotics. They seemed to help, but once I was off of the antibiotics, the sinus cold came back. …read the rest of this entry»

Everyone has a factory inside his or her bones that makes blood. Blood has red cells, white cells, and platelets. Red blood cells carry oxygen to all parts of our body. White blood cells fight germs, and platelets plug up cuts so that they stop bleeding.

The process of producing blood is called hematopoiesis. Blood starts out as a stem cell–the parent cell of all types of blood cells. It then becomes either a lymphoid stem cell or a myeloid stem cell. Lymphoid stem cells become either T cells or B cells. Myeloid stem cells can become red blood cells, platelets, or a type of white cell. Each cell has specific duties. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the tissues of the body, and platelets help blood to clot when a blood vessel is cut. White cells come in several types and have a variety of responsibilities. …read the rest of this entry»

Age at diagnosis:14
Current age:16
Occupation:Student

Marshall’s advice: Do everything in your power to keep your mind off the chemo while you get it—that includes not looking at it (especially doxorubicin, the red stuff!).

Marshall’s Cancer Journey
Cancer. The forbidden word. At least that’s what most people tend to make of it. But yet, it’s all around us. Nearly every day, you hear about it in one way or another. And naturally, everyone takes his or her good health for granted, until a loved one develops cancer, or, the most horrifying of all: you develop it.

I can remember when I was a kid, my brother used to play with all of his toy cars. Every so often, he would play with his toy ambulance, pretending there was some type of emergency. He would say something like, “Oh no! He has cancer.” I never thought much of that until recently. …read the rest of this entry»

Age at diagnosis:7
Current age:29
Occupation:Massage therapist

Jane’s advice:The main thing is to ask questions about your disease, the treatment, and side effects. There is no such thing as a silly or embarrassing question when it concerns you or your body. Laugh and cry a lot.

Jane’s Cancer Journey
My first remembrance that something was wrong was at the end of a school day. It seemed like suddenly, my stomach began to feel like it was twisting around. I really wanted to see the nurse, but my second-grade teacher wouldn’t let me because we were about to be dismissed for the day. I’d have to wait until I got home. It was only about an eight-block walk home, but at the time, it seemed to go on forever. I cried all the way home, holding my belly because it hurt so much. When I finally reached my doorstep, I can remember flinging my books on the floor and dropping and rolling around on the floor crying. …read the rest of this entry»

Hi kids! My name is Oliver and I’ll be your guide to cancer-centre.com. I know a lot about it, because I have a friend with cancer, too. Her name is Sara and she has leukemia. Sara and I used to play all the time together. …read the rest of this entry»

Christina Richmond’s Story

Christina Richmond loved to dance. By the time she was 11, she was spending nearly 25 hours a week at the dance studio. After one recital, Christina began to complain about back and rib pain. Within three weeks, she was diagnosed with cancer.

Cynthia Richmond, Christina’s mother, remembers, “The minute I heard ‘cancer,’ my gut feeling was that she was going to die. Originally they thought she had lymphoma and her prognosis was good. We found out maybe three days later that it was rhabdomyosarcoma, and the prognosis was definitely different.” …read the rest of this entry»

An individual who has inherited an allele, which plays a role in disease, but who also has a normal allele which is a dominant allele. In most cases, carriers suffer no ill-effects from the disease-related allele, however they may pass the allele on to their children.

Dr. Harpham:
Hi, and welcome to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Survivors Network. I’m Dr. Wendy Harpham, your host. Today I will be talking with three women from across the country who were treated for lymphoma or leukemia in their teens. As a long-term lymphoma survivor myself, I am pleased to be your host for today’s conversation as we talk about: advocating for yourself in the medical system when you are a teen with cancer; dealing with residual health problems related to your cancer and treatment; dealing with the risks of recurrence and secondary cancers; finding support for the mental and emotional problems after treatment; staying healthy after surviving cancer as a young woman; and getting back to normal life after cancer.

Before we open up the discussion, I’d like to briefly introduce our guests. Our first guest is Vicki, a 32-year-old survivor of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Vicki is married, has two children ages 7 and 10, and lives in New Hampshire. Welcome, Vicki.

Vicki:
Thank you.

Dr. Harpham:
Now I understand that in the winter of 1987–you were 18 years old–you had unusually frequent colds and bouts of strep throat and flu.

Vicki:
Yes.

Dr. Harpham:
Then that following spring you noticed a lump on your neck. …read the rest of this entry»