On Saturday, December 5th I had the amazing honor of not only being around amazing people, but I got to do it all proudly representing AnCan as well! I attended the Pushing Past Cancer: Stronger Together Virtual AYA Summit presented by UCLA Health AYA Cancer Program, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Stupid Cancer.
AYA stands for Adolescent and Young Adult in the cancer community, and I hope the terminology will extend in all of medicine. The age range is typically around 15-39, but up to 45 is being more widely accepted now. Our population has a lot of specific issues that pediatric and adult sides of oncology can’t fully reach. Dating, fertility, sexual health, work, college, and mental health are big concerns in our community.
I really enjoyed the conference tackling these issues in a way that’s comfortable for us. My favorite webinar was “Mental Health After Treatment” with Dr. Valentina Ogaryan (Licensed Clinical Psychologist at UCLA Simms Mann Center for Integrative Oncology). She talked about how important support is at any part of a cancer diagnosis. A neat term she used was “the support squad” (which is a great shout out to millennials!), and explained what yours could look like.
One of the closing panels about “What I’d Wish I’d Known…” was just incredible. To hear my peers voice the same feelings I had, and continue to have, was affirming and encouraging. No matter what the diagnosis, we still share similar anxieties and experiences.
An awesome highlight of the day was my team (The Orange Blossoms, because we all had a connection to the color orange, mine is my hair color!) won second place at the trivia after party. Fun fact: a lot of us here at AnCan love trivia games, and I had a lively conversation with Rick and Kim Stroeh about it. An AnCan trivia night would certainly be filled with stiff competition.
We currently have peer support groups for many of the AYA cancer’s present at the conference, Blood Cancer, Ovarian Cancer, Thyroid Cancer, Renal Medullary Carcinoma, Men’s Breast Cancer, and the additional support groups for Caregivers and Men Speaking Freely, we’re always expanding until we hit our mission of providing barrier-free support, no matter where you are!
Stay tuned, because we will be offering even more support for AYA’s in the upcoming year. We have lots of great things in the works, and I can’t wait to share them with you. We’d love to be a member of your support squad.