Cancer is a swift thief. It can steal a friend, a family member or even a beloved pet. Cancer’s thievery even blights a loved one’s loved one.
Cancer is Bonnie as well as Clyde.
It also steals the vital essence of time with nothing but a slight nod to the damage it has done, leaving its diagnosis with the patient and his or her family to cope.
Rarely do most people see cancer stealing time from them. Rarely do people see themselves dealing with the aftermath of their own cancer diagnosis, especially not as an adolescent or even a young adult.
It is safe to say the members of the University’s Young Adult Cancer Survivor Group have been to hell and back.
Yet, despite the obstacles each member overcame, they don’t want to be seen as inspirational characters like the media often portrays cancer survivors.
Instead, they just want to be recognized as people and not defined by their previous or current diseases.
Emily Saunders, a University master’s student, spearheaded the group. When Saunders noticed there was no group specifically for young adult cancer survivors, she got in contact with Disability Services through the University. Saunders then pitched the idea to Disability Services Director Hilary Gerdes.
Gerdes contacted Audrey Medina, a University doctoral student and graduate teaching fellow for Disability Services, to see if she was interested in being a facilitator for the potential group. Medina gladly accepted the position.
Marianne Hales also tried to start her own cancer survivor group for young adults, since she also noticed the lack of a group in the Eugene community. When Hales did not have much luck finding participants, Katie Burk, Hales’ doctor’s medical assistant, suggested Saunders’ support group.
Hales, Burk and Saunders are among the participants of the Young Adult Cancer Survivor Group.
The group meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month. Young adults throughout the community, ages 18-40, who are battling or have previously battled cancer are welcome to join at anytime.
The rules are clear: What is shared in the room stays in the room.
The confidentiality allows the members to share very personal experiences, trusting that the information will never be repeated. As Saunders put it, “We are comrades in the same war.” This creates a support and trust network in the group.
It is estimated in the United States alone there are 72,000 adolescent and young adults (ages 15 to 39) diagnosed with cancer each year. But for the most part, the young adult cancer world still remains relatively small and under most people’s radar.
This is mostly because most people don’t associate cancer with young adults in the prime of their lives.
Some young adults find it difficult to find people to talk to about the experiences they are facing. But that is exactly why the Young Adult Cancer Survivor Group was created.
Yet, young adults experience cancer in a different context. Words such as infertile become a greater loss to someone who still is in the general age to have children. For example, Burk experienced going through menopause at age 23 — far too young for her body to be experiencing those types of physical changes.
These are testing trials in which many young adult cancer patients fall in limbo. They are still young enough to be worried about things such as dating, finding a job or raising young children, but they also must experience predicaments that involve preparing for the worst, such as writing a will.
The entire Young Adult Cancer Survivor Group concurs that time becomes much more precious.
Because cancer in young adults isn’t near as common as it is in older adults, many place judgments on the patient for bad diet or poor health choices. Some assume it is the young adult’s fault for having a poor lifestyle, which, Saunders says, isn’t usually the case.
In all honesty, cancer is something that can happen to anyone despite family history or lifestyle choices.
Unfortunately, the likelihood of recurrence rates is also higher in younger adults. So, as the media portray survivors as the champions valiantly breaking the finish line, many still prepare for a potential battle in the near future.
Young adult cancer survivors want to be seen for what they really are: mothers, fathers, students, workers.
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O’Brien: Cancer shouldn’t define its survivors
Daily Emerald
March 13, 2011
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