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June 29, 2015Off with her hair!
When Julie Michaud learned she needed chemotherapy for a second time—and would lose her hair again—she knew exactly what to do. A young mom from Nova Scotia, Julie was first diagnosed with breast cancer at 29. After finding support and community through Young Adult Cancer Canada (YACC), she felt compelled to give back.
Now facing metastatic cancer while caring for a newborn and two young children, Julie turns to the friendships and understanding she’s found through YACC—people who truly “get it.” Wanting others to experience that same support, she decided to shave her head before treatment claimed her hair, raising funds so more young adults can attend YACC’s life-changing programs.
Her son chose to shave his head alongside her. On July 10, 2015, they planned to Shave for the Brave—for their family, for the YACC community, and for every young adult who has yet to face a diagnosis.
Julie’s message is simple: support, donate, shave, or share the word—because young adults get cancer too, and they need to know they’re not alone.
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June 26, 2015
Start building a legacy
“Knowing that you can do something good with your story—turning pain into something positive—is a good purpose to have.”
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June 24, 2015
Moral struggles of young adults with cancers
When something disruptive happens in life, the work of mourning our losses often involves building causal links around the disruption—it’s not an outright scientific endeavour, but it is often grounded in rich, personal experiences and observations.
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May 31, 2015A good news fertility story
“I did not expect my last round of IVF to work, and just wanted to get it over with, use up our last embryos, and move on with our life as a couple. I was shocked when I got the positive pregnancy test.”
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April 30, 20156 tips for dealing with survivor's guilt
“It is rare in our grown up lives that we get to experience new and unusual feelings, and at that moment at the age of 24, I was experiencing what I knew to be survivor’s guilt for the first time.”
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February 18, 2015
Four a.m.
“…when I peel back all the layers and complicated feelings, there is nothing wrong with how I feel. After all I have been through, this is how it should be. Life is complex and I believe beauty can be found in the cracks of darkness.”
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February 04, 2015
Time to hang up the cape
Corrina put on a brave face for her friends and family and did her best to make them comfortable with her diagnosis. Really, she was feeling pressure and anxiety.
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“Since everyone had interpreted this guise as true, they assumed I was fine and never asked how things really were. And so the loneliness cycle had begun. They did not know, and I did not tell them.” -
January 07, 2015Swinging your sword at the air
People would say things like “keep up the good fight” or “keep fighting” to motivate me to do — what? I’m not a doctor, surgeon, or oncologist. I do not have the tools, training, or knowledge to remove or kill the cancers cells in my body.
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December 24, 2014
Christmas with cancer
Christmas is still about watching an excited child opening presents on Christmas morning, it’s still being with family, it is still me having a turkey dinner with the in-laws (and then having another one with my parents!). We may have slowed down a little bit, but that’s ok.
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December 03, 2014Making memories count
“Christmas 2014 is going to be a beautiful time. I am going to soak in every moment, every smile, every laugh, and take time to taste the amazing food. I am going to teach my daughter to bake the recipes for the holidays passed down from Grandma…”
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November 27, 2014Living condensed and without limitation
I no longer talk about someday; I just “do” or I “don’t.” I hold family dance parties in my living room when I feel like it. I encourage my children to eat snow. We take trips we can’t really afford to places I’ve never been.
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November 19, 2014Time sharing with cancer
“No amount of fight in my wife will control the tumours coming back, nor will it control the damage the treatment does to the rest of her body. I also cannot express this emotion to someone who is just trying to lift my spirits.”
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