The following piece was written by Alli in 2006.

Too young for a mortgage but not for cancer!

The life of the young cancer patient

It is hard to explain the feeling of being thrown into a tornado of emotion and change upon hearing three words. “You have cancer.” At that moment and forever on, nothing else is more important. Cancer happens spontaneously, without permission or notice. But life must go on; so now that is it here, what can be done about it?

Living with the disease is the heaviest weight one can burden. No matter how many braveries you embark upon to try and sink it, it remains buoyant, forever reminding you that you are sick. From diagnosis to doctor runaround, final action plan and confusion, fear and anger sets in without any venue for release. The truth is we are sick, we are different and no matter how we mask our sickness, society’s rose coloured glasses are constantly dyed dark red.

Society must adjust its eyesight to see that young people living with cancer are not living apart from the rest, but searching for ways to be normal and be treated as such. It is hard to live your life when you are not sure what the next CT result will bring; it is even harder when you are reminded of the fact that you have cancer whenever someone looks at you. Youth battling cancer must bereft themselves of the constant reminder that they are sick; that is a fact they do not forget anyways.

In addition, young adults soldiering through cancer have different needs then older groups who struggle alongside. Furthermore, young adults are one of the largest segments being diagnosed and still, few outlets exist for help and guidance. The Healthcare system must take a look at what support is needed and adjust their lens to fully accommodate young adults on their journey to defeat cancer.

Cancer affects everyone, not just the patient. Still, not every patient and their family gets all the help needed to beat the disease. Why is that? How do we bring upon change?

Alli’s Journey will pose all of these questions, problems and needs to help young adults fight and most importantly, beat cancer.