Family Members

Dr. Gwamna lost her younger sister to breast cancer and a friend to ovarian cancer that spread to her stomach, so when she discovered a lump on her breast she was frozen in fear.

While writing about her experience grieving for her husband, Joyce Karney notes the lasting impact of memories, quoting the poet Robert Frost: “In 3 words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on.”

Christine Tabery digs deep into the emotional landscape of dealing with cancer as a caregiver to her husband, who has metastatic melanoma, feeling everything he feels just as if it were happening to her.

Yasmina Rebani-Lee lost her dad after a 3-year battle with metastatic colon cancer. She describes how his battle affected her and her family’s anxiety and general well-being.

Adriana Santiago had to learn how to be a support system for her mom during the COVID-19 pandemic, after her mom was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in November 2020, and why quality of life is key.

Sometimes we have to deal with the impossible. Vicki Bunke’s daughter, Grace, died from osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, a day before her 15th birthday. This is a heartbreaking story of how Vicki honored her daughter’s life.

Shanea Irierose Drown shares her personal story of overcoming expectations, rising to the challenge, and seeing people for who they really are, not what their dubious reputations may lead us to believe.

Douglas Herman, who lives with stage IV prostate cancer, highlights the strength that love provides, noting that giving and receiving love are both powerful in their own way.

Mark DeLong’s son Peter was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, at age 14, and died when he was just 16. Mark uses advocacy to raise funds for cancer research in Peter’s memory.