Kyle Smith

At 5 years old, Kyle lost his grandpa to kidney cancer. He didn’t know what cancer was then, nor could he foresee the impact it would have on his life. 19 years later Kyle’s father would be diagnosed with prostate cancer and in another 3 years the same doctor who performed his dad’s life saving surgery would also remove Kyle’s cancerous right testicle.

While Kyle may have lost his ability to become a professional juggler (it’s not very impressive to juggle with only one ball) what he gained is a new mission in life. Utilizing his Directing degree from Columbia College Chicago & now thirteen years of art department experience in LA, Kyle founded CHECK 15: The Monthly Cancer Awareness Day. From December 2012 through June 2019, he achieved 68 straight months of new cancer awareness PSAs, fighting cancer through early detection & lowering risk – all delivered with a healthy dose of humor.

Over the past two years, Kyle has been on the Leadership Team for the Los Angeles Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society & has produced the video content for their annual fundraising event. He also continues to work in the entertainment industry & stays creative at home with art & carpentry projects – including creating a backyard cinema so he & his friends can safely enjoy a big screen experience during the pandemic.

Claire Greco

Hi everyone! My name is Claire Greco, I live in Indianapolis Indiana, and I’m an Aries. Growing up, my favorite book was the Harry Potter series, but as an adult graduate school killed my love for reading for fun. I am a mental health therapist and I now read a lot of books related to mental health and therapy for work.

I don’t have one specific hero that I love, but related to superheroes Captain America is my favorite. Otherwise, real life people I admire include Emma Watson, Bernie Sanders, AOC, the guys from Queer Eye, Kris Jenner (a wide variety I know). If I could choose one superpower it would be to control all the elements (yes, like Avatar).

The hardest challenge I have ever done is being a full time student while in active treatment/recovering from. I probably should have taken some time off, but wanted to push forward. My proudest moment is when I received my Master’s Degree in Social Work. Since then my new challenge is studying for and taking my clinical licensing exam while balancing a client case load.

My guilty pleasures are desserts and watching the Kardashians, just gotta keep up. My personal mantra is there is always room for dessert.

The best piece of advice I ever received is to let the small things be small, and the big things be big. How I stay mentally healthy is to set firm and appropriate boundaries with my work and home life, and spend plenty of time with my wonderful Husband and Dog, Teddy.

My favorite Cactus Cancer Society Program is the game nights and my favorite part of being part of Cactus Cancer Society is the community. I was so isolated during my treatment, and I wish I’d had this community back then!

Brandie Langer

Brandie is a 10-year breast cancer survivor. She lives in the Chicagoland area with her husband and three children. She loves to hang out with the family, knit, and read. She is currently living the flat life, after her implants caused too many issues. Thanks to her cancer treatment, Brandie deals with chronic pain. Some days are easier than others, but she still manages to smile a lot! However, she is quite forgetful and blames chemobrain on that!

Marnie Norris

Marnie has been a Cactus Cancer Society program participant and volunteer since 2016 and a member of the Young Adult Cancer Survivor (YACS) Board since 2018. She spent time in the United States Army as a linguist and analyst and is a graduate of the Defense Language Institute. After the Army, Marnie worked in various roles in the computer software and hardware industry and now works as a business analyst for a health and science university. In 2012 and again in 2015, Marnie was diagnosed with cancer and has also been a cancer caregiver. From these experiences, she discovered a passion for helping others navigate through cancer and advocate for their own wellness. She hopes to use that passion and her skill set to help guide Cactus Cancer Society in their continued mission to provide support and connection for young adult cancer survivors. When not reading, writing, or binge watching sci-fi TV shows, Marnie enjoys spending time with her family and friends and her dog Mabel. She also likes to do yoga and travel, is a jigsaw puzzle enthusiast, and is on a continuous quest for the perfect gluten free waffle.

Christian Bullock

Christian Bullock has a professional digital marketing background despite exploring history and journalism as focuses during college. Having gone through his own cancer diagnosis, Christian communicates with other cancer patients and survivors in an empathic and understanding way because he has been there (and is there). He has a particular interest in astronomy and likes to read whenever he can.

Nick Ross

Nick P Ross is a video producer and storyteller. He’s worked in New York, Los Angeles, and now, Denver, telling meaningful stories to inspire change and unlock pathways to empathy. His autobiographical web series, Highly Evolved Human, tells the story of his experience with cancer as a young adult (airs on SoulPancake). He’s a host of the Moth Storyslam series in Denver, and as a longtime alum of New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, he teaches improv, sketch, and storytelling at Denver’s Chaos Bloom Theatre.

Deltra Kroemer

Deltra is a Connecticut based home-educating mama of 5 amazing girls who she strives to raise with cultural and health awareness. 

She’s a chain tea drinker, wig hoarder, and lover of singing loudly and dancing unabashedly. 

Since being diagnosed with Triple Negative MBC de novo in 2019, she has focused on thriving through education, advocacy, connecting and radical self-care. She is passionate about mental and emotional wellness, creative expression as a means of coping, community building and connecting BIPOC women with people and spaces that can care for our whole selves. She is a member of Cactus Cancer Society’s YACS Advisory Board, the inaugural class of For the Breast of Us Baddie Ambassadors, and Program Coordinator for Project Life MBC.

Mary Clare Bietila

Mary Clare is a speaker, writer & educator based in Chicago. She was diagnosed with AML Leukemia in 2014 and again in 2017 after a stem cell transplant.

She is a proud member of the WomanLab Advisory Board at The University of Chicago and serves as an adviser to the Cancer Support Community on the AML patient experience.

Mary Clare is passionate about advocating for young adults with cancer. Her areas of interest include: sex + cancer, parenting with cancer, clinical trial access, humor as a disruptor and the patient as artist.

Yolanda J. Murphy

Yolanda J. Murphy was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.  At a young age, she understood the value of education and the importance of excelling. In 1997, she graduated from Trinity Christian School and went on to obtain her BS in Business Management from Carlow University in 2008. For several years, Yolanda has worked for a healthcare company and until 2016 was living a normal simple life.  At the age of 36, things drastically changed.  Yolanda was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) of the left breast. She underwent four rounds of chemotherapy and thirty radiation treatments.  As a young African American woman, she thought this could never happen to her and more frightening was the inability to find the necessary resources to help her navigate her now new normal.  While she is thankful for the organizations that did help her fight for life, she is passionate about advocating and providing resources for young women suffering with breast cancer.  She understands how important it is for women to know being “too young to get cancer” is a myth. Equally important, she wants women to know they have the inner strength and mental tenacity to conquer anything they are going through, including difficult physical challenges.

Yolanda serves as a Pennsylvania State Leader for Young Survivor Coalition (YCS), an advisory board member for Lacuna Loft, 2017-2018 Young Advocate for Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) and an active member of Young Adult Cancer Support (YACS) of Pittsburgh. She has shared her story with a variety of audiences and organizations and in January 2018, she created a blog to share her story with the world, thisexceptionaljourney.com. She is also in the process of writing her first book.

Yolanda is now cancer-free and encourages all she meets by declaring: “I am a miracle! Despite what it looks like, you can make it. Find what gives you hope.”

Follow Yolanda J Murphy, @thisexceptionaljourney, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For speaking engagements, sessions or just to be in touch, she can be reached at yjm@yolandamurphy.com. You can also write to PO Box 261, Turtle Creek, PA 15145.