Cancer Student, Yearbook Feature
Nora McMahon
Breast Cancer Student- Carolina

“I have used social media to tell my friends instead of having to call them. I think this is because I really thought that since I tested negative for the BRCA1&2 genes and had checkups since I was 30 because of my mom’s own breast cancer history I was in the clear. “

Breast Cancer Student- Carolina
Cancer Student, Yearbook Feature
Nora McMahon
Tenured Breast Cancer Student- Emily

“I knew very little, especially about metastatic breast cancer. I never considered myself at risk, and certainly didn’t know the statistics, like that 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetimes, and 30% of those diagnoses will metastasize, and that metastatic disease only receives 7% of funding for research but still has a life expectancy under 4 years and kills 114 people each day.”

Tenured Breast Cancer Student- Emily
Cancer Student, Yearbook Feature
Nora McMahon
Tenured Breast Cancer Student- Jeanine

“I had never, ever, in my deepest of life’s depression, considered suicide. My very first chemo dose in 2017, the steroids hit me so bad, I was refusing to go back. I was able to look my (at the time) four year old right in the eye and think she was better off without me. I’d never been in that spot before, or even remotely considered it, and it was educational. I went back and immediately talked about how it felt and we cut the steroids. Everything after that. . . . was kind of bearable. I learned to accept how I cope with things, that showing off and feeling awful are ok, and so long as I get up the next day, I might as well do it again. What else am I doing, anyway?”

Tenured Breast Cancer Student- Jeanine
Cancer Student, Yearbook Feature
Nora McMahon
Tenured Breast Cancer Student- Noelle

"I don’t like the term 'fighter' or 'war' or 'she lost her battle'. I have cancer. It is part of me. To say it’s a war implies I am at war with myself. And I am not.Cancer is like a passenger in a car. Sometimes it sits quietly in the back, sometimes it back seat drives, sometimes it the passenger, and sometimes it’s the driver. No matter what, I feel like I’m driving on flat tires, but at least I’m moving forward.
Cancer might kill me some day- But NOT TODAY!”

Tenured Breast Cancer Student- Noelle
Cancer Student, Yearbook Feature
Nora McMahon
Ovarian Cancer Student- Kristen

“When I was first diagnosed with Stage 3c Ovarian Cancer, I had an incredibly tough time throughout treatment, however I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I ended up becoming NED (No Evidence of Disease), even though there was a high chance of recurrence, I could rationalize that maybe, just maybe, I’d had bad luck in getting this disease, but it was just a one off and I’d miraculously “beat it”. However once it recurred, it became clear that it would just keep coming back. I had to adjust my mindset to cope with the fact that I would always be living WITH cancer.”

Ovarian Cancer Student- Kristen

BRCA

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Ovarian Cancer Student- Samantha

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Ovarian Cancer Student- Samantha

"When I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it came out that I had an aunt (my dad's sister) who died of ovarian cancer, but they kept calling it "stomach cancer". If you have anyone in your family who talks about "stomach cancer", you may want to ask more questions, because it could really be a gynecological cancer that they are covering up.

Also, my uncle died of lung cancer, which really ended up being lymphoma that went into his lymph nodes. When it comes to family history, depending on your family's culture, there can be "taboo" issues. It’s so important to get past those taboo topics to get the information that you need for your health."

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