Breast cancer doesn’t always look the same for everyone.
It doesn’t just look like someone’s grandma. It doesn’t just look like someone’s mom. It doesn’t just look like someone’s aunt. And it doesn’t just look like someone older.
Sometimes – 5% of the time, to be exact – breast cancer looks like your best friend, your sister, you.
While only 5% of all breast cancer occurs in women in their 20s and 30s, it’s too important of a number to ignore.
What is the YSC summit?
Over the past weekend, I had the privilege of attending the Young Survival Coalition’s national summit, a conference where young women (originally diagnosed before the age of 40) met up to take workshops, find community, and make connections with other young survivors and thrivers who are still in active treatment or who have metastatic (stage 4) breast cancer.
This year’s summit was held in Charlotte, North Carolina from February 17–19, 2023.
There were three days of jam-packed learnings, fun, and inspirational conversations on topics related to breast cancer, like living your best and healthiest life and navigating the difficulties of treatment and recovery, both physically and mentally. But the best part of the YSC summit was getting to be surrounded by other women who’ve gone through breast cancer when they were young.
Photos of AYA breast cancer survivors and thrivers at the 2023 YSC summit
Who attended the YSC summit?
The YSC serves to help young women diagnosed by or before the age of 40, although many attendees were diagnosed on the tail end of that window (or a few years past it) when primarily diagnosed, so there was still a lot of variance in ages at the summit. The youngest breast cancer survivor in attendance was 21 years old, and the oldest (that I spoke to) was in her late 60s.
At the time of writing, I’m a few days shy of turning 29; I found my breast lump when I was 26; and I was officially diagnosed two weeks after turning 27 years old in 2021.
As a note, the YSC is celebrating its 25th anniversary, so some women who were once an AYA (adolescent and young adult) cancer patient may have graduated beyond the AYA distinction since their initial diagnosis – a blessing we all hope to achieve in our lives – but they still qualify as someone who was diagnosed when they were young. For example, If a woman was diagnosed in 1998 and she was 39 years old at that time, she would now be 64 years old (and still eligible to attend the conference).
Attendees from all walks of life relating to breast cancer were welcome to come:
- Newly diagnosed (I.e. women currently undergoing active treatment)
- Short-term survivors
- Long-term survivors
- Women living with metastatic (Stage 4) breast cancer (i.e. “thrivers”)
- Co-survivors (e.g. spouses, parents, friends of survivors + thrivers)
- Medical professionals and researchers
A group photo comprised of women from the Chicagoland chapter of the YSC
What sessions were offered at the YSC summit?
The YSC summit was three days long and consisted of informational, fun, inspirational, physical, and emotional sessions meant to apply to a wide range of issues unique to the AYA community of breast cancer survivors and thrivers. Here’s a short gist of what was offered over the three-day period, but if you’re looking for more information, like names of sessions, presenters, or times, you can view the full schedule of events online.
Friday’s offerings
General:
- Registration, check-in, badge retrieval
- A gathering for first-time summit attendees
- Welcome session from CEO
- Exhibitor room with booths
Catered to a specific group:
- A half-day retreat for women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC)
- Meet-ups for specific communities (e.g. early diagnosis, later diagnosis, those with children, etc.)
- State and local leader meet-up
Specialty sessions:
- Genetic testing
- PTSD and growth after cancer
- Early menopause (medically-induced)
- Nutrition
- Co-survivors + survivorship navigation with your survivor
Fun evening activities:
- Game night
- Pajama party
Saturday’s offerings
General:
- Registration, check-in, badge retrieval
- Exhibitor room with booths
- Workout sessions
- Sex, love, and reproductive health panel
- The future of breast cancer panel
- Onsite counseling sessions
Catered to a specific group:
- Separate listening sessions for Latina, black, and LGBTQ survivors and thrivers
- Practical matters for MBC thrivers
- Medical updates for MBC thrivers
- Journaling for co-survivors
Specialty sessions:
- Sleep hygiene
- Breast cancer resources
- Anxiety reduction
- Side effect management
- Physical rehab
- Fertility after diagnosis
- Telling your authentic story
Fun evening activities:
- Co-survivor happy hour
- Dinner and dance party
Sunday’s offerings
General:
- Workout sessions
- Pet therapy
- “Never Have I Ever”
- Live podcast “Cancer for Breakfast”
Catered to a specific group:
- Coping with adversity for MBC thrivers
- Co-survivor support group
Specialty sessions:
- Long-term survivorship
- Parenting after breast cancer
- Yoga
- Lymphedema management
No evening sessions as the summit ended at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
What attending the YSC summit meant to me, a young survivor
While the initiation to such an exclusive club certainly does suck, it’s phenomenal to know an organization like YSC exists to serve an often overlooked population of women with breast cancer.
I joined the YSC as a member to find community among my peers who had breast cancer, too, and I’ve been able to find a wonderful group of women who know exactly what I went through and what I go through as a survivor. Since August of 2022, I’ve been a Face-to-Face Coordinator for the Chicago chapter of the YSC. I coordinate in-person events for our local chapter, and my goal is to try to host one event every other month (if not more frequently).
Having a community of peers who just get it is so important to me, and I know my fellow survivors and thrivers would say the same.
Until next year!
Some members of the Chicagoland chapter of the YSC
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