Many cancer patients can rattle off the names of their treatment and maintenance medications without a second thought. But the road from drug development to patient use is long – and many of us never give a second thought to how these treatments are invented, tested, and implemented.
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I found myself having variations on the same conversation this week. Each person I talked to seemed to ask, “is it just me, or is today off?” Others would trip over their words, and then apologize, saying, “sorry, it’s been a DAY.” As 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon put it, “What a week, huh?” To which Alec Baldwin’s character responded, “Lemon, it’s Wednesday.” This week’s Christina’s Corner is about ways to comfort ourselves when it’s Wednesday and you’re wondering if it’s Friday yet.
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I had a pretty rough go of it this week. I’m willing to bet you know the type. Here are three ways I took care of myself this week.
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Politics in the United States are changing every day. One of the policies under scrutiny is the Affordable Care Act, also known as the ACA and as Obamacare. The ACA made many strides towards helping cancer patients and survivors obtain and maintain their health insurance coverage. There is fear that changes made to the ACA (or the repeal of it entirely) will dramatically impede the young adult cancer community in having quality and affordable health insurance. You have the power to let your voice be heard. Are you only covered because of the ACA? Before the ACA removed lifetime caps in coverage, would you have run out of coverage due to cancer treatments? Were you able to change jobs or take time off of work because of the flexibility the ACA finally allowed people with pre-existing conditions…*cough* cancer *cough.*
Tell your members of congress that you need your healthcare! The NCCS has a tip sheet and a sample script to make it SUPER easy! Make a call, send a postcard, tell your story.
Your story matters. Make it heard.
Today is our last day of 2016 posting in the Young Adult Voices blog. 2016 has been a very exciting year for Lacuna Loft. We launched a number of programs, we grew our participant base significantly, we spoke with a number of healthcare providers about the age-appropriate needs of young adult cancer survivors and caregivers, we had 2 different book clubs and 2 sessions of the unspoken ink: young adult cancer creative writing group and 2 creative workshops, many new contributors, and so much more.
2017 holds so much in store. We’ll have a new creative workshop announced in January and the Young Adult Cancer Hangouts are starting. We’re growing our programs, growing our support base, and growing our reach. We are really excited for what is to come. We’re excited to learn more of your stories, excited to meet more of you in our online programs, and excited to expand Lacuna Loft’s support programs to meet the needs of more and more young adult cancer survivors and caregivers.
From all of us, here at Lacuna Loft, have a very happy holidays. Stay warm and dry and safe. Remember that you are valued and that we will miss you until we’re back in January.
We had another post scheduled for today…and then it occurred to all of us, here at Lacuna Loft, that we should just tell you to GO VOTE!
If you’re in the US today, go and vote. Vote for healthcare, vote for peace, vote for radical inclusion of all people into our society, just go VOTE!
We’ll be here when you get back 😉
As we start nearing the end of 2016, Lacuna Loft would like to thank you for participating in our programs.
We hope you loved your experience!
Lacuna Loft exists to make programs and support available to you, wherever you are, whenever you want. To make these programs available to every young adult cancer survivor and caregiver we need your help. Use the hashtag, #JustLikeMe, to tell your communities what Lacuna Loft means to you.
Let your community know that you deserve age-appropriate support and connection to other young adult cancer survivors and caregivers who understand! Encourage your community to join our Lacuna Loft Flight Crew, the amazing community of donors who directly supports young adults facing cancer, just like you!
You know, better than anyone, the consequences when one young adult is diagnosed with cancer every eight minutes. Your future is changed in an instant. Lacuna Loft offers connection to other young adult cancer survivors, access to emotional support that addresses your age-specific needs, and encouragement from other young adults who understand, all wrapped conveniently in a website, accessible 24/7, with all of our programs offered free of charge.
This is why we need your help.
Lacuna Loft is a community funded charity and financial support keeps our programs running. Can you tell your community what Lacuna Loft means to you? Partner with us, as we grow, making sure that no young adult cancer survivor or caregiver faces cancer alone. Using the hashtag, #JustLikeMe, we emphasize how alike we all are, as young adult cancer survivors and caregivers.
Share on your social channels, let your community know that Lacuna Loft’s programs are important to young adult cancer survivors and caregivers!
Encourage them to donate to Lacuna Loft!
You can use some of our Shareable language!
Looking to donate to charity this holiday season? @LacunaLoft offers programs for #yacancer survivors, #JustLikeMe https://cactuscancer.wpengine.com/donateYour donation provides a community for #yacancer survivors, 24/7 @LacunaLoft #JustLikeMe https://cactuscancer.wpengine.com/donate
Your donation provides a community for #yacancer survivors, 24/7 @LacunaLoft #JustLikeMe https://cactuscancer.wpengine.com/donate
P.S. Looking for some easy, shareable images? Email info@lacunaloft.org and we can send you some!
Without *you* there is no Lacuna Loft.
Today is all about *you*! Today we spend thanking *you*! Below, we share some of the impact numbers on the young adult cancer community that *you* made happen. Lacuna Loft’s first year as a nonprofit has been amazing…all thanks to *you*!
*You* made Lacuna Loft’s impact possible through your donations, your contributions, and your participation. *You* are making the lives of young adult cancer survivors and caregivers better, more manageable, and less lonely. *You* are connecting these young adult survivors and caregivers to one another when they really need someone who understands. *You* are sharing stories, ending isolation, and forming a community where a community has been deeply needed. *You* are all of the lively and peppy and bold and courageous and loving adjectives that we share each week.
*You* are a rockstar! Thank *you*!
Our full annual report will go up on our website soon. We’ll point you to it as soon as it’s there. Some changes will also be happening on the site so that *your* impact on the young adult cancer world is always available, front and center, for ALL to see.
*Together* we are making this a better world for young adult cancer survivors and caregivers. Lacuna Loft Impact is *your* impact.
Welcome to the comments and discussion of Chapter 2: Civilization Stops at the Waterline of the book, Rising Strong by Brené Brown! Catch up on Chapter 1: The Physics of Vulnerability.
Let’s get started! Chapter 2!
This chapter focused on the mess in the middle…that part in every story when the internal battles are happening, the solution forms itself, and the really hard work happens. I can relate to this in so many ways. My personal struggles with cancer, caregiving, and survivorship, as well as my professional life, have had many a messy middle. This middle part is where “the protagonist looks for every comfortable way to solve the problem. By the climax, he learns what it’s really going to take to solve the problem. This act includes the “lowest of the low.”
This middle is where the second guessing happens, where we internally debate the “right” and “wrong” ways to handle something (or to ignore something). Brené relates this story process with the process of Rising Strong. In the Rising Strong process, the middle part is the Rumble. The part where honesty is a must, where growth is inevitable, and where we learn just a little bit more about this journey of being human.
Stories can be big and small. They can be the process of our morning, a big change at work, a move across the country. Big or small, being honest with ourselves and allowing the middle part to happen, not glossing over it hoping for an easy fix or a quick ending, is essential to learning how to Rise Strong.
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Thanks for joining us for our Chapter 2: Civilization Stops at the Waterline of Rising Strong! Join in next Monday for Chapter 3: Owning Our Stories and in the meantime, learn more about the book club commentators!
If you’re just joining us, here are some logistics:
We will talk about a chapter each Monday until the book is done. Then, we’ll use one more Monday to talk about general feelings from the book and anything else you’d like to discuss. Join in, in the comments every week! At the end, we’ll have a book club discussion via video chat! Also, there will probably be spoilers. Read along with us!
How are you enjoying our young adult cancer book club?
This month is super busy at the Lacuna Loft offices. How is your Fall starting off?
Here are some peppy weekend links from around the interwebs…
[list type=”like”]
[list_item]make your own Marauder’s Map![/list_item]
[list_item]caring about caring[/list_item]
[list_item]let’s talk about sex[/list_item]
[list_item]a great, cheap kickstarter game[/list_item]
[list_item]learn how Lacuna Loft is unique[/list_item]
[list_item]volunteer with Lacuna Loft![/list_item]
[list_item]interested in teaching a creative workshop at Lacuna Loft? Email us! info@lacunaloft.org[/list_item]
[/list]
Have a peppy weekend Lacuna Lofties!
