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“Too young for cancer”
Hi everyone ! my name is Mackenzie but I go by Kenzie. I was first diagnosed at age 23 with a grade 2 astrocytoma and underwent surgery. After over 7 years of no new growth, I found out I was no longer stable so I just had my 2nd surgery this past November. I am now here in AZ receiving chemo and radiation treatment at the Mayo. I have craved a space with people my age to feel seen and heard for so long. I have found support pages on social media but it’s not the same. I feel so isolated even at the clinic just because of my age and how often I hear “you are so young”. I understand the sentiment but today it finally got to me and hit me wrong when someone mentioned my upcoming birthday (I’ll be 31 in a few weeks) and again stated “Aw so young!” All I want to shout back is “growing old is a privilege!!” I feel like my 20s and now the start of my 30s have been stolen by cancer. Do these words also hit anyone just wrong way? Also looking to connect with like minded folks. Aside from cancer, I am a huge dog lover, live in colorado and typically (when healthy) enjoy skiing, hiking, camping, true crime, reading and live music!
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I was diagnosed with the brain cancer when I was 22 years old. I know what you mean, all we can do is keep moving forward.
I have ATT a couple pictures of what is important to me, hopefully this will help.
Then and Now (Then-and-Now-1.pdf)
I have a family member (25) that was just diagnosed with astrocytoma grade 4.
I'd like to ask you a few things if you don't mind.
bonjour a tous mon fils a 28 ans et depuis 5 ans est soigne suite a un irm pour maux de tete reccurent un oligodendrogliome bas grade 2 j etais aneanti et lui une force incroyable. non operable .mal place a droite ca augmente chimio puis sous radiotherapie puis denouveau sous chimio ca se maintient puis ca reaugmente ca se modifie et toujours dans l essai clinic puis plus rien puis les cachets toujours mais on a l impression qu ils ne savent pas comment faire ca nous donne un coup a chaque fois heureusement qu il a pu avoir une fille pour lui donner le sourire quand les maux de tetes l audition d un cote diminue a cause de la radiotherapie et la fatigue reguliere j aimerai tant lui prendre cette foutue maladie .
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Im sorry you are going through this. I'll be praying for you. Much love your way
@kenzog33 My wife is currently 28 and I am looking for a strong support group for her. I want to support her however I possibly can. Thank you for sharing.
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1 ReactionI’m a 25 year old with the same diagnosis, and I hear this all the time, “you’re too young to be sick” almost as if I’m not allowed. Instead, some empathy would be preferable. Or no comment at all. I’ve undergone two craniotomy’s within the past year and I have every right to be here getting treatment like anyone elderly would be too. I never know how to respond to those types of comments.
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3 ReactionsI went in for a stomach bug in November of 2022. I was later told that day that I needed to call my family to pack a bag for me. I was so scared and just wanted to see my dogs. All of a sudden I went from having a bad stomach bug to having cancer at the age of 16. I wasn't able to leave the ER nor did I have any say in where I was going to be treated. We live in a small town and all of a sudden I was being driven to a big city waiting for a bed to open up. It was so scary and I had no clue what was going on. I was so fatigued and wasn't able to eat because I had lots of upcoming surgeries. I was almost delusional while they were making me make all of these decisions that would change my life for years to come. They also pushed trials on me and made me feel so bad for wanting to say no. Finally I found out about mayo and herd so many good things. We plan on switching me over to mayo the second I turn 18.
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2 ReactionsI think until you mourn the “new reality” a step toward the future is not possible. At least for me. I think grieving what we’ve never had or mourning a loss of something we hoped for takes a lot of time.
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2 ReactionsYes, absolutely. I understand this 💔
@xdd, reality sucks. How do you move towards acceptance of a future unlike you planned for? Are there things in your control, like writing a letter for your neice and nephew or making a video? What plans are you able to make and look forward to? Am I out of line?