Created By a Millennial Who’s Had Cancer

Hi I’m Amanda. I’m peak millennial. Born in 1989. Big Dashboard Confessional fan. Loves baggy jeans. Can still stomach tequila shots. Not sure the point of a Roth IRA. Etc etc etc

I was also diagnosed with cancer in 2019, one month after my 30th birthday.

It sucked, obviously. But the suckiest part was everything after my treatment plan was sorted.

I didn't know how to tell my friends. My boss. My fiancé.

I didn't know how to get refunds on unused plane tickets. File insurance claims after the fact. Apply for the right disability payment.

I didn't know what to say when people asked what I needed. What food wouldn't make me nauseous. What blanket, flowers, or lotion wouldn't bother my sensitive skin. What lip balm wouldn't dry out my lips.

I didn't want to waste my hard-earned money on clothes I'd never wear again. Expensive products branded for "cancer."

Every piece of advice was hard to come by. My parents and I scoured the internet and social media, had phone calls with friends-of-cousins-of-neighbors-of-coworkers who were a few months ahead of me, read whatever my doctors (even my old pediatrician) sent my way.

Most of it came from a cancer center or non-profit's website — accurate, but generalized. None of it was written for someone planning a wedding, decorating an apartment, trying to keep killing it at work — but now with cancer.

That's why I created Millennials with Cancer. Because too many of us have had it, have it, or will get it. And I want to help all of us — and the people who love us — do better.