Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s Young Advocate Program

LBBC Young Advocate Program

Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s Young Advocate Program provides the tools and training to help young women use their personal breast cancer experience to make a difference in their communities by raising awareness, further their understanding of the disease and advocate for others. This opportunity is geared toward women diagnosed with breast cancer before age 45 who live in the United States.

After the training, Young Advocates are tasked with connecting others to LBBC through grassroots outreach within their community and completing two advocacy related activities within 1 year. In the past, Young Advocates have spoken at events in their communities, participated in research review boards, raised awareness of young women affected by breast cancer through blog posts and social media outreach, shared LBBC materials with healthcare providers and more.

The next Young Advocate training will be held July 26-28 in Linthicum, MD (outside of Baltimore).  The deadline to apply is May 23, 2018.

Learn more and apply here!

Register To Bike With First Descents In Detroit!

first descents

We’ve got a great program announcement for you today through a friend of ours, First Descents!

First Descents provides life-changing outdoor adventures for young adults (ages 18-39) impacted by cancer. Through outdoor adventures, skills development, and local adventure communities FD improves the long-term survivorship of young adults living with cancer. Their participants experience free outdoor adventure programs that empower them to climb, paddle, and surf beyond their diagnosis, reclaim their lives, and connect with others doing the same.

When: 2pm to 5pm, Saturday, June 9th

What: Corktown Bike Tour via Wheelhouse Detroit. It is a 10-mile bike ride through Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. The route will take you through historic Victorian homes, churches, and urban gardens and farms. Light appetizers at Atwater Brewery will follow the tour!

Who: FD alumni or any local young adult (ages 18-39) living with cancer (Sorry, no +1’s at this time).

Where: Meet at Wheelhouse Detroit to get outfitted, 1340 Atwater St Detroit, MI 48207

Cost: FREE! FD will provide your rental bike, helmet, tour guide, and the first round of appetizers at Atwater Brewery

Registration: Click here to register!

Financial Assistance For Young Adult Cancer Survivors

financial assistance to young adults after cancer

If you haven’t heard about them already, we’re here to tell you about a wonderful organization we are proud to call a friend, The Samfund.  They offer “financial assistance to young adults as they regain momentum in their lives after cancer.”  We’re talking today specifically about the great work done over at The Samfund because their Winter 2018 Grant application is now open!  The deadline is Thursday, February 8th at 5 pm EST to submit your application, so go do that now!

Learn here and submit your application here!

Register Today For The National Conference On Work And Cancer

cancer and careers national conference

Lacuna Loft is pleased to partner with Cancer and Careers on the 7th Annual National Conference on Work & Cancer, on Friday, June 23, 2017, in New York City!

This FREE event will explore the complexities working people face as they try to balance their cancer treatment and recovery with employment. Topics will include job search, legal issues, health insurance, working during treatment and more. CEUs will be offered for oncology nurses and social workers. Travel scholarships are available until April 14th!

For more details or to register, please visit www.cancerandcareers.org/conference.

Cancer and Careers, founded in 2001, is a national nonprofit organization that empowers and educates people with cancer to thrive in their workplace, by providing expert advice, interactive tools and educational events. Cancer and Careers reaches more than 325,000 people per year online, in print, and in person with services that include a comprehensive website, free publications in English and Spanish, legal and insurance information, career coaching, resume review, and national events and speaking engagements for employees with cancer and their healthcare providers, employers and coworkers. For access to Cancer and Careers’ wide range of free national services, please visit www.cancerandcareers.org.

Get Back To Work After Cancer With The Manager’s Kit

back to work after cancer

Young adult cancer changes a lot.  We talk about that over and over and over and over here at Lacuna Loft.  Getting back to “normal” life after cancer is challenging.  Are you a young adult cancer survivor looking to get back to work after cancer?  Cancer and Careers, a wonderful organization based in New York, created a kit just for you.  The Manager’s Kit is “designed for you to give to your boss to help start or smooth the conversation.”

The Manager’s Kit includes an explanation on how to use the kit, a “dear supervisor” letter to offer your employer from Cancer and Careers, a list of “need-to-know” laws and privacy laws, work strategies, and so much more.

If you’re going back to work after your diagnosis and feel that sharing your cancer history will help, this Manager’s Kit offers all of the resources you’ll need to get back to work while figuring out your “new normal” (and helping your employer figure it out too!).

Request your own Manager’s Kit here.

images via Cancer and Careers

Mission Control

Mission Control

Looking for a place where all of the young adult cancer resources can be found?  Lacuna Loft has our resource page but if you want the list in an organized database, divided up by geographic location and type of resource, check out Mission Control brought to you by Critical Mass.

By typing in your zip code, and then choosing the type of resource you are looking for, you arrive at a list of young adult cancer specific resources that are perfect for your specifications.

types of resources

 

Lacuna Loft is a part of Mission Control because we believe in the impact that Critical Mass: The Young Adult Cancer Alliance can have on the young adult cancer community.

Have you used Mission Control to find resources before?  Check it out!

Have You Checked Out The Scar Stories Book?

Scar Stories book

A really great Aussie organization, Scar Stories, has just added a United States shipping option to their online shop!  What started as one photo of Jasmine, the founder of Scar Stories, and her cancer scar has grown into a young adult cancer advocacy organization.  Through their initiatives, Scar Stories shows that physical scars can be seen in a new and empowering light.  The book funds the many awesome programs that Scar Stories has, including Rock Scars (where rock stars pose in photo shoots with young adult cancer survivors), Creative Programs (an art program allowing young adult cancer patients and survivors to access free art, music, and photography classes and workshops), ScarreDecks (helping young people with gnarly scars feel empowered by their bodies), and more.

This is the new face of young adult cancer advocacy.  Scar Stories truly embodies the need to show all sides of cancer while empowering and enlivening survivors along the way.  Jasmine was the first young adult cancer survivor whom I ever spoke with.  Her Aussie accent made me feel instantly comfortable and the amount of things that we had in common, even from across the world, were innumerable.  Speaking with her made me realize how much I needed to have other young adult cancer survivors in my life, how much I needed to know their stories and their lives, and how similar our external and internal scars are.

A little bit about the book…

Jasmine Gailer, founder of Scar Stories, and Kylie Cobb, Marketing and Design Director, have worked tirelessly to design a ‘coffee table’-style book that shows the incredible talent of the photographers who have been involved, and the true beauty of the cancer patients and survivors who have courageously made their scars and stories public.

Some of the images may shock you. Some may bring you to tears. Hopefully, ultimately you will be inspired by the tenacity and courage of these young (and young at heart) people. …they have fought for their lives and by sharing their scars through photographs and stories, have gained a new perspective on life and their journey, seeing their scars in a new light – one that is empowering and beautiful.

“We believe this book will change some people’s lives, perspectives, or at the very least raise some public awareness about what it means to be scarred,” said Jasmine.

Looking for a cool coffee table book that is honest and raw in its betrayal of young adult cancer survivors and their scars?  Look no further!  Check out Scar Stories’s online shop today and grab yourself a copy of their inaugural Scar Stories book!

Fine Print:  Lacuna Loft receives no commission on sales of the Scar Stories book.  Young Adult Cancer advocacy organizations stick together!

Heading Back To Work After Young Adult Cancer

Heading back to work after young adult cancer can be complicated, exhausting, frustrating, wonderful, exhilarating…or all of these things, all at once!  While I definitely had trouble with an un-compassionate working environment, some people reintegrate into their past working environment with no hiccups at all.

Did you know though, that there is a great organization with the mission of helping people going back to work after cancer?  They are called Cancer and Careers!  The head of the organization is a soft spoken, lovely woman named Kate.  She has helped build an awesome organization, offering so many resources for working people with cancer.

They have a section of their website dedicated to when you’re looking for work.  Cancer and Careers will review your resume, help you with the job hunt, and even help you through mock interviews.  If you’re at work during cancer, Cancer and Careers helps you create an action plan, offers tips on sharing the news with coworkers, manage symptoms, and more.  If you’re a coworker with someone with cancer, there are resources on the site for you too!  So many resources in one place!

Heading back to work after young adult cancer can definitely be a daunting prospect, but Cancer and Careers is there to help!

Have you heard of Cancer and Careers?  Are you thinking of heading back to work after young adult cancer or are you working with cancer now?  What was your experience like?

A Radio Show for Young Adult Cancer Survivors

stupid cancer show

The Stupid Cancer Show is labeled by Matthew Zachary, CEO of Stupid Cancer, as the official voice of young adult cancer.  The radio show’s topics range from fertility, to Pinktober, to finances, retreats, and more with appearances by young adult cancer survivors, heads of non-profits, healthcare providers and doctors, celebrities, and many more.  Regardless of the topic of the show that you listen to, the largest take away that I have found is that you are not alone.  Listening to others tell their story, in a fun, podcast atmosphere helps unveil the heavy topics that often shroud young adult cancer survivors.  We are here, with age specific joys and concerns, questions and answers.  No need for whispering…we are here with gusto!

Check it out and let us know which episodes are your favorite!  Just follow this link to listen to all of the episodes of the Stupid Cancer Show!

image via

Coping With Cancer As A Young Adult

[spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom=”no” pb_border_bottom=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has a young adult specific program that helps young adults cope with their very specific emotional and physical needs encountered during a cancer diagnosis.  In July, they hosted a live broadcast of young adults all talking about their experiences with cancer as young adults.  Coping with cancer as a young adult is different than coping with cancer as a child or as an older adult.  While not minimizing the impact that cancer has on anyone, at any stage of their lives, each of these age groups require different resources and Dana-Farber’s young adult program is taking steps to address these needs.

Each of the young adults in the broadcast were wonderfully candid and honest during the discussion.  I experienced strong feelings of isolation during my cancer treatments and into my survivorship.  Knowing that other young adults are out there dealing with cancer diagnoses too…and dealing with so many of the things that I have dealt with or are currently struggling with, has been a supremely powerful experience.

Over and over, young adult cancer survivors are showing the world their strength and courage.  Over and over, young adult cancer survivors are proving that we need age-approriate care and resources.  And we need them now.

Watch the video and let us know what you think!  Many of the young adults in the program are also active on twitter so feel free to connect with them!  (we did!)  Connect with other survivors out there!  We are here for one another because no one should go through this alone.

[/spb_text_block] [spb_video link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0UINaV4J2k” full_width=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]