Young cancer survivors take note

Since I am now 63, I have to keep reminding myself I am a "young" cancer survivor, meaning I was diagnosed under the age of 40. And I wish I had had Matthew Zachary and Stupid Cancer when I was diagnosed. Zachary was in his senior year of college when he heard the call of the C word, learning he had a brain tumor. One of those survivors who took the diagnosis and decided to do something with it, he became a one-stop shop for the needs of young adult survivors with his OMG! annual meeting and the weekly Stupidcancer radio show on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET at stupidcancershow.org. Zachary is committed to making the journey a little easier for the young adult population, who have a huge set of issues unlike those of their adult survivor counterparts. Think about it. What would cancer have done to you in your mid-20s. Reading some of the discussion lists on the Stupid Cancer site make me shudder at how isolating and difficult it is for this age group, who often have to move home with parents and seldom have insurance. I did the Stupidcancer show this week, which Zachary does with Annie Goodman, another young survivor. I was on at the invite of Karen Shayne, who has put together the National Women's Survivor Convention in Nashville this August that promises to be a remarkable gathering of speakers and events. Shayne, also a young survivor who, like me is far enough out to be experiencing some of the gift that keeps on giving, talked about her own late effects on the show and her desire to empower women with this event. Whether you are a young survivor or not, you might want to check out the stupidcancer show or go back to listen to some of the other shows on archive, including the one from last night (you can listen here).