Age at diagnosis: 2 (with leukemia) and 9 (with lymphoma)
Current age: 26
Occupation: Cancer counselor, Long-Term Survivors Program at Duke University

Brett’s advice: Trust in God as hard as it may seem. Never give up, and keep a positive attitude.
Brett’s Cancer Journey
In 1974, when I was two years old, I was diagnosed with leukemia. I started chemotherapy and endured it for five years. I hardly remember much about this time because I was so young, but my mother tells me that I was very sick. My leukemia, however, did go into remission.After I beat leukemia, I went in for routine checkups. During one of the checkups seven years after my first diagnosis, my doctor said that I had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I just broke down crying and asked, “Why me?”

My treatment for lymphoma involved both chemotherapy and radiation. The worst part of it was laying on the cold table in the radiation room. I would look at the X and feel the heavy metal shield pressing against my chest. Sometimes I would become so bored that I would fall asleep. …read the rest of this entry»

Age at diagnosis: 17
Current age: 28
Occupation: Web designer

Dominic’s advice: Stay positive. Talk about how you are feeling.
Dominic’s Cancer Journey
In 1987, when I was 17, I developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. At the time, I had never heard of lymphoma and had no idea what it meant or how it could affect me.

To better understand my experience with lymphoma, it is necessary to know a bit about my medical history. I was born without abdominal muscles and with poor kidney function. My left kidney was removed when I was very young, and over the years my right kidney progressively deteriorated. When I was 13, I had a kidney transplant. My father donated one of his kidneys, which was a good match, and basically transformed my life.All transplant recipients are given immunosuppressive drugs after a transplant to help to prevent the transplanted organ from being rejected. The drawback of this is that it makes a person with a transplant more susceptible to other illnesses because it depresses the immune system. If the person does get an illness, it is harder to fight off. This is probably why I developed lymphoma. Although I wasn’t told about this at the time of my transplant, I later found out that lymphomas are quite common among transplant recipients who are taking immunosuppressants. …read the rest of this entry»

Age at diagnosis: 17
Current age: 27
Occupation: Nanny, student

Christine’s advice: When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.
Christine’s Cancer Journey
Sometimes, I wonder if it really happened to me. I remember thinking this before, when I was going through it. Now, I have the scars that are always there to remind me. When I look at them, I know it did happen.I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease when I was 17 years old and about to start my senior year of high school. At this point in my young life, I was convinced that life was a crock. I was miserable. I could never see past tomorrow. I was the epitome of angst-ridden youth. Emotionally, I felt like a goober, and physically, like a 70-year-old. Sure, I had some fun times, but deep inside I knew there was something wrong with me. I was always so cold and tired. I had this biology teacher who let me sit on the heater in his classroom. I would lean up against the window, as my butt was burning off, trying to maintain a look of interest so I would not anger the teacher and lose my position of warmth.

I can recall looking in the bathroom mirror before class, acknowledging this huge lump on my throat, and yet still shrugging it off. Nothing could have possibly been wrong with me. I was a teenager. I was more concerned with my hair. I was either cutting it off or growing it in. I believed that it didn’t matter what your face was like because your hair could redeem you. I was always so tired that I would stay in bed for an extra few minutes. Those minutes were heaven, but I always left time to fix my hair. As I have said, it had been the most important aspect of my shallow youth. …read the rest of this entry»

Age at diagnosis: 19
Current age: 38
Occupation: Teacher

Jim’s advice: Keep a positive attitude and have faith that the cancer will be cured. Cancer is no longer a death sentence. It is only a speed bump on the road of life.
Jim’s Cancer Journey
I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease on December 11, 1979 at the age of 19. My Hodgkin’s disease started as a big lump in my neck, on the right side. My doctor thought it was probably a cyst. I was not too concerned about it because I had lumps in my neck and on the back of my neck before, most of them caused by acne. This lump was the size of my fist. The doctor performed a biopsy and removed the lump on December 5, 1979. After it was determined that the lump was cancerous, I had several tests to determine the stage of my Hodgkin’s disease. The tests showed that I was in stage 4A. I did not need, or get, a splenectomy, which was rare 18 years ago, as the removal of the spleen was very common in the staging process. …read the rest of this entry»

Age at diagnosis: 15
Current age: 25
Occupation: Working on a career in aviation

Adam’s advice: Aside from all of the standard advice such as “Never give up” and “Don’t let it get you down,” I suggest keeping a diary of everything you went through or are going through. I didn’t, but wish I had. Cancer isn’t something you want to have, but it’s something you’ll never want to forget. Really. No joke.
Adam’s Cancer Journey
I remember walking through a mall with my dad in mid-August of 1989. I was 15. My dad put his hand around my neck and felt a lump. Thinking it was nothing, but just to be sure, we told my mom and she set up an appointment with my doctor.The doctor felt the lump and gave me antibiotics. He said it was probably just a swollen gland, a condition common in teenagers. That also was my first memory of getting a blood test. I hated it. I never wanted to have another one. So much for that wish.I took the medicine, and after I had finished it, my mom and I went back to see the doctor. He felt the lump again, and the look on his face said it all. The lump hadn’t shrunk but rather grew. He called the surgeon on his car phone and told us to meet him in the emergency room of the hospital. …read the rest of this entry»

Age at diagnosis: 16
Current age: 23
Occupation: Nurse

Barbara’s advice: Take your days one at a time. Be involved in your care by asking questions and making decisions. Most of all, remember to be a teenager and live your life.
Barbara’s Cancer Journey
I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease when I was 16. I had found a lump on my chest and ignored it for about a week, thinking it was just that, a lump. When the bump didn’t go away, I showed it to my mom. We then went to see my pediatrician about it.I got an x-ray, which showed a mass. At that moment, I knew it was a tumor. I was extremely frightened and nervous because my pediatrician was talking to my mom and not to me. The pediatrician sent us to an oncologist who was honest from the beginning and did not sugar-coat what was happening. He immediately sent me for blood work and a computerized tomography (CT) scan. I was admitted to the hospital two days later for a biopsy, which confirmed a diagnosis of Hodgkin’s disease. …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»

Participant introductions

My name is Bonnie, and in 1983 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was thirty-three at the time and I remember how hard it was to tell my mother that I had cancer. In the next few minutes, you will hear seven cancer survivors talk about communicating with others and dealing with relationships. They’ll discuss how they told and talked with their kids, how they communicated with their partners, how teenagers can talk to parents and friends. But most of all they’ll talk about how important listening and communicating are, and the fact that each person is different and has their own way or style of communication.

Medical broadcaster Andrew Schorr, our discussion leader, was diagnosed two years ago with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Michelle is from New York. In 1992, when she was twenty-four, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. Sandra, in Ohio, was in her thirties when she was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1991. Carolyn is from Pennsylvania. She had two toddlers when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a bone marrow transplant. Wendy lives in Texas. She was thrity-six and a practicing physician when she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Sara, in Missouri, was diagnosed five years ago with osteosarcoma. She was fourteen years old. Wanda also is from Missouri. She is eighty-five and was diagnosed with cancer thirty-four years ago. …read the rest of this entry»

Glenda Durham:
Hello, and welcome to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Survivors Network. I’m Glenda Durham, your host. Today I will be talking with three women about being a cancer survivor and dating. As a cancer survivor myself, I am pleased to be your host today for this conversation in which we will discuss dealing with the negative effect cancer can have on relationships; the difficulties of dating during treatment; deciding if and when to talk about your cancer experience with someone you are dating; and along the same lines, we’ll discuss finding ways to bring up the topic of your cancer with someone you are dating. We will talk about dealing with rejection and the dating issues that arise when you’ve had a mastectomy or when you have lost your fertility.

Our first guest is Cari. Cari is a 28-year-old cancer survivor, who is single and living in Illinois. Welcome to the program, Cari.

Cari:
Thanks.

Glenda Durham:
In 1994 you were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Cari:
Right.

Glenda Durham:
You had food poisoning that year, and while being tested the doctors discovered the lymphoma?

Cari:
Exactly. [laughs]

Glenda Durham:
Wow.

Cari:
It was quite a surprise, and I really had no symptoms other than the food poisoning.

Glenda Durham:
Wow. Well your treatment consisted of watchful waiting for seven months followed by alternative medications and then chemotherapy for another six months.

Cari:
Mm-hmm.

Glenda Durham:
You were given Rituxan?

Cari:
Yes. That followed the chemotherapy.

Glenda Durham:
And that was a clinical trial? …read the rest of this entry»