Information and Resources from the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center

Life, Interrupted

Facing cancer at the height of life

Fewer than 4 percent of newly diagnosed cancers are found in patients between the ages of 15 and 39, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Although cases of cancer in young people are relatively few, the issues these patients face are distinct-and many. They may linger for years after diagnosis as well.

VIEWPOINTS

ipod U-M Cancer Center Social Worker Jane Deering talks about why she started the U-M Young Adult Support Group and what she hopes patients get out of it.

Toni Spano-English, a former Hodgkin's Lymphoma survivor, Jason Zao, a brain cancer survivor and Valerie Delekta, nearing completion of her leukemia treatment, discuss how the U-M Young Adult Support Group helped -- and continues to help -- them. Learn more

To join an online community of young adults coping with cancer -- and all the issues it brings, including those raised here on this site -- visit PlanetCancer.org.

Thanks to Web sites like Planet Cancer and books like Crazy, Sexy Cancer Tips, young people are connecting, writing a new storyline for a different kind of cancer experience. Hear for yourself how young patients here at the U-M Cancer Center are working through the aftermath of diagnosis. We've assembled an array of podcasts as well as links to resources to help you find better ways to connect to other people coping with cancer early in life.

Read the full Thrive story.

The U-M Young Adult Support Group

Connecting with other young people with cancer is vital because older people with cancer don't view it the same way, and younger people without cancer don't get it. Eighteen years ago, Jane Deering, a Cancer Center social worker, started a support group for young adults after noticing some of her Hodgkin's disease patients were uncomfortable talking to friends their own age who hadn't had cancer. The group has been going strong ever since.

phone The Young Adult Support Group meets the first Tuesday of each month. For more information, call Jane Deering at 734-764-3115.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

return to the top of the page


Speak with a Cancer nurse: 1-800-865-1125

THRIVE PODCAST
podcast library
Just for Young Adults Podcasts

Small Text SizeMedium Text SizeLarge Text Size
Adjust text size

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
1500 East Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

© 2012 Regents of the University of Michigan / Developed & maintained by: Public Relations & Marketing Communications. Contact Us or UMHS. The information presented is not a tool for self diagnosis or a substitute for professional care.