AYA

Three days after Emily’s 19th birthday, she received the devastating news that she had stage 3 malignant melanoma, one of the most serious forms of skin cancer. She was given less than a 59 percent chance of surviving the next five years. In a state of shock, she felt her only options were fight or flight – to face her diagnosis head-on or to live in fear – and she chose to fight.

When a co-worker reveals that they are battling cancer, it can be difficult to know what to say or how to act.

There is a lack of expectation that young adults get cancer, yet it is the number one cause of disease-related death in this age group.
During your teenage years, physical changes are a part of normal development. You may notice a difference in the way your body looks, feels and performs. But for teen cancer survivors, these changes are especially difficult.

I was diagnosed with cancer in the middle of my college career. Since then, I have relapsed three times. After treatment, it’s always really difficult to return to a normal routine.

Prior to treatment, all patients will have access to in-house fertility counseling thanks to a new oncofertility program established by Roswell Park’s AYA Department, Buffalo IVF and the University at Buffalo.

Music heals in a variety of important ways.

Each year, nearly 72,000 adolescents and young adults (AYA) between the ages of 15 – 39 are diagnosed with cancer in the United States. Unlike pediatric and elderly patients, this age group has not seen much progress in survival rates in the past 30 years.

The words cancer and fun seldom share space in a sentence. But cancer support groups – especially for young adult patients – are increasingly geared towards fun and entertainment in activity-based settings.

One of the best things about the holiday season is celebrating with friends and family while enjoying a smorgasbord of festive treats. But for cancer patients, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is critically important.

Sharing a good book at bedtime is a common tradition for parents and their little ones. It’s a cozy, magical time that builds a strong family bond. When a cancer diagnosis and hospital stay interrupts the fun, Roswell Park can help bridge the distance.

Video games get a bad rap for enabling a couch-potato mentality. But for adolescent and young adult cancer patients, gaming could be just what the doctor ordered.