Welcome to Candidly Cancer, a website dedicated to helping newly-diagnosed women with breast cancer at all stages navigate the excessively challenging process of understanding the disease.

This site is geared toward Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) cancer patients, i.e. individuals within the age range of 15–39 years old at time of diagnosis, but other women beyond this age range may also resonate with the content published here.

I discovered my tumor at 26 and was diagnosed on March 11, 2021, two weeks after I turned 27. Candidly Cancer is a resource meant to share personal, experience-based stories, inform patients about common expectations during the process, and answer any questions you’re not quite sure you even have yet.

As a content editor and writer by profession, I should note that I am not a medical professional and do not claim to be, so please take all suggestions, advice, and experiences as “this may happen to you,” not a guarantee, assertion of any sort, or recommendation of care. Always consult with your oncologist, radiologist, surgeon, and cancer team before making any major life changes or decisions after reading experience- and opinion-based content.

I do, however, hope that sharing my stories and answering questions along the way can help the next 20-something year old girl who gets slammed with the shitty news that she has cancer.

You always see resources about mothers and grandmothers who’ve battled and beaten cancer, and while that’s inspiring as hell, how does that help us, the not-yet-married / just-got-engaged / in-the-middle-of-school / climbing-the-corporate-ladder / no-children-yet group? It doesn’t. But this? This will. Or at least that’s my goal in creating this site.

So hop along for this wild ride, and let’s help each other beat the shit out of breast cancer.