By Kathy LaTour

Ever since my breast cancer diagnosis in 1986‚ I have written and spoken about my journey and the changes that cancer has made in my life. Like many other travelers‚ I embraced the disease and turned my attention to using my journalistic skills to write a book about breast cancer that would incorporate many voices on many issues (The Breast Cancer Companion‚ William Morrow‚ 1993; Avon‚ 1994).

I also joined organizations working for cancer survivors and helped found a group in Dallas that provides diagnosis and treatment to uninsured women with breast cancer. I have served on the board of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship‚ and today I sit on the board of Gilda's Club North Texas‚ one of 14 affiliates of the original New York City Clubhouse named for comedian Gilda Radner. Gilda’s Club was created to provide education‚ support‚ and networking to those with cancer and their families and friends.

I have often said that cancer did not take my life; I have given it willingly‚ hoping that I might ease the journey for those who come after me. It follows the saying on my favorite card that I got in the hospital: “Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.”

So when the opportunity arose to assist with the creation of a new magazine that would further empower people with cancer and their caregivers‚ I jumped at the chance.

No one can be prepared for the words you have cancer‚ but from that moment on‚ there is much you can do to become a partner in your care with your physicians. Informing yourself about your disease and the treatment options available is critical—and more complicated than ever as the technologies and drugs become more targeted. What we want to do at CURE is to make it easier for you to understand these complexities and to help guide you in your search for the latest in clinical trials and the most promising drugs. We’ve brought you this information through the true experts of cancer—those who live with it.

When I was diagnosed in 1986‚ the options for all cancers were limited to a handful of drugs. Today there are hundreds. This does not include changes in surgical and radiation therapy techniques.

Learning what you can do to build your own support network and staying healthy are also very important‚ because by making decisions and becoming an active participant in your own journey‚ you take back some of the control you lost when you heard those life-changing words. You stop feeling like a leaf that is blown wherever the wind wills‚ and you bring the power of your life to the events around you‚ including the power to be an active voice in your treatment and care.

Cancer is a life-changing event that brings with it a new language. We have tried to give you a magazine that will help you decipher that language. But this is your magazine‚ and we want to know what you want. Send us your questions for the doctors and your ideas for the stories. Tell us what helped and what didn’t.

It has now been 15 years since I heard the words‚ “You have cancer.” I know that each of us has a unique cancer journey. And yet‚ there are threads of commonality running through each experience‚ and we hope to weave those threads into a usable guide and a voice of hope with CURE. I am honored to have been the midwife for this newest addition to cancer literature.

Now it’s up to you. This page is yours. Send me your essays about the cancer journey in your life. It can be your journey as a survivor‚ a loved one‚ or a caregiver. Keep it to 700-800 words. Published submissions will receive $100 and the thanks of all those who read this magazine.

Send your essays on cancer to mweber@curetoday.com.