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Young Adult Cancer Patients Need a Break!

Did you know that every year almost 70,000 young adults between the ages of 15 and 40 are diagnosed with cancer?

Did you also know that the survival rate for this age group has remained the same over the past three decades?

Fortunately the Livestrong Young Adult Alliance is working on these problems, striving to boosting cancer survival rates and improving the quality of life for young adults with cancer.  They have brought together a coalition of organizations, like the I’m Too Young for This! Cancer Foundation and together they are going to make a difference.

They know that things like delays in diagnosis, lack of health insurance coverage, overlooked early warning signs of cancer and lack of participation in cancer clinical trials are contributing to lower survival rates.  They also want to help young adult cancer patients face their own unique challenges, like: long-term effects from cancer treatments that need to be addressed over their lifetime, obstacles in reentering school or the workforce after treatment, access to health insurance and problems with pre-existing conditions clauses and infertility resulting from cancer treatments.

As your Leukemia and Life After Cancer writer, I know first hand about these issues!  That’s why this Friday I am going to Break Cancer.

Break Cancer is a young adult cancer awareness project sponsored by the Livestrong Young Adult Alliance.  Break Cancer is a partnership with URDB World Records. Break Cancer challenges all us to set a record and then break that record to raise awareness of the obstacles facing young adult cancer patients.  So this Friday, April 22, 2011 I am setting out to break a record for the “Most Comments Received on a Cancer-Related Blog Posts in 24 Hours” on my blog Oh My Aches and Pains! (OMA&P!) In that post, I will be writing about how I came to be diagnosed with cancer at the age of 22.

I can’t do this without your help.

Between 12 midnight and 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time on Friday I need as many people as possible to come by OMA&P! and leave me a comment on my post Break Cancer: My Young Adult Cancer Experience. In return, you’ll get the satisfaction of knowing that YOU are helping to raise awareness of the issues facing young adults diagnosed with cancer.

I don’t want you to feel intimidated by the thought of leaving a comment. I’m just asking you to share a few words like: “Good luck setting the record.” or “Way to go.” or “Break Cancer!” Since I have anonymous commenting enabled on my blog, you don’t need to share any of your personal information to leave a comment.

So, this Friday please help me Break Cancer.  And thank you for supporting young adults diagnosed with cancer.

This article is intended to convey general educational information and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.

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