What Do You Wish You Had Known?


Most cancer survivors in the U.S. don’t have a cancer treatment plan, treatment summary, or follow-up survivorship care plan. So it’s no surprise, they and their doctors don’t always know what signs and symptoms of long-term and late-term effects to look for or how choices they made at the beginning of treatment might affect their well-being down the road.

What was your experience? Did you have to go back to your doctor again and again to demand a chest x-ray for a cough that was dismissed as allergies? Did your doctor tell you that you’d need bone density scans ahead of time to ward off chemo-related bone loss? Did you sail through treatment only to be hit by a wave of depression after the fact?

Please help us to collect stories from everyone – survivors, caregivers, and providers – across all 50 states, to illustrate what surviving cancer looks like today. Please share a short note about how knowing what to expect ahead of time – or not knowing at all – has affected your health and well-being.

First Name:
Last Name:
E-mail:
City:
State:
Diagnosis:
Year of Diagnosis:
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My Story:
(limit 200 words)
 

 

SURVIVOR PROFILES

Merv Williams, three-year prostate cancer survivor

Life has many challenges, but it’s our response to the toughest tests that proves our mettle. When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007, I knew I had no other choice but to survive first and then make the most of my experience.
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