When the doctors first come to the door of your hospital room and call your parents into the hallway, even when you’re young, you know that they’re not bringing good news.  The look on your parent’s faces and the sight of your mother’s tears flowing on your father’s shoulder is evidence enough that you’re […]

  There were few things in life that I was focused on more than my grades and cheerleading.  I wanted to be valedictorian of my class; I wanted to cheer every Friday night and practice the rest of the time, I have been called strong-willed and dedicated: I knew what I needed to redirect my […]

  I thought it was going to be just a regular day at school, but I came home with a lump in my throat. Our guidance counselor came in to my class to tell us that a fellow sixth grader was very sick; he had been diagnosed with cancer. Our friend would be absent from […]

Essay| Kori Hines As a seventeen-year-old cancer survivor, I have learned a lot about the difficulties life often presents, but I have faced every obstacle in my life with determination and courage. On January 6, 2011, at the age of 13, I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. And on October 6, I became a […]

  I am a cancer survivor. To be specific, I survived neuroblastoma, and at that time, I was told I had a ten percent survival rate. But, through the restoration and healing of God, the expert team at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia and the love of my family and friends, I am better than ever. […]

  Sometimes the role of an advocate is to give their platform to those they champion. At Faith Hope and Love Jesus we award an annual college scholarship. Although, this young woman did not win, her essay was so moving that I wanted to share it here. Thank you for reading it and looking into […]

  At first, I thought the best way to write this post would be to share my perspective as a caregiver. One who is the core of the support system for a childhood cancer survivor, but then it hit me to save that for another time. Instead, I need to focus on the elements that […]

  As promised, I will discuss a few of the most common late effects after the treatments are completed. The common ones come from some of the same chemotherapy agents used in a variety of illnesses such as Adriamycin, Vincristine, and intrathecal Methatrexate. The intrathecal means it is delivered directly to the CNS or central […]

  In my last post we talked about the psychological impact of treatment on survivorship. There are two words that inevitably drive the conversation. Those two words are late effects or residual side effects experienced by the individual that has received a diagnosis of a blood disorder or cancer. I am going to review the […]

  Thanks for reading this. I want to tackle this topic in a very in-depth way. I really don’t have a particular strategy on how to do this. The rationale for this mindset is probably because this is such a personal issue for me. And in a huge way, I am still processing the ramifications […]