I was really ill for about three years, constantly advocating for my health, when I was finally diagnosed with stage 3b Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at Christmas in 2013. I began treatments right away. I was living in Lethbridge, AB at the time, and they had a small cancer clinic where I could have chemo, but I had to go to Calgary for other specialist appointments, scans, biopsies, and radiation treatments.
I had never met another AYA with my diagnosis before I heard about YACC. About a year after my diagnosis, I was at a workshop in Calgary and mentioned that I was a cancer survivor. It was a wonderful, huge coincidence that a guy in my group had the same diagnosis and had recently finished treatment, too! He told me about YACC and invited me out to a Localife event.
To me, being a YACCtivist is helping others learn about all of the much-needed resources that YACC provides to AYAs living with cancer at diagnosis, during treatment, and as survivors and thrivers. Twenty-two AYAs are diagnosed with cancer every day in Canada. only one will find YACC. We need to find the other 21 and let them know that they are not alone. A huge group of wonderful people are waiting for them, and we hold each other up.
Diagnosis: Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Age at diagnosis: 36
Province: BC
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