Wine Racks and the Mystery of Survival

Posted September 16th, 2022

I think I got the racks as a Christmas present in 2000. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma the day after Thanksgiving that year, then started chemotherapy soon after (I think three to four days a week). When I put them together, I didn’t know what to think. Will I not live long enough to […]

Survivor Story: Erin

Posted June 4th, 2021

June is National Cancer Survivors Month! To honor survivors, we will be sharing stories from folks with cancer and their caregivers. Today we hear from Erin. 37-Year-Old Cancer Survivor and Mom of Four Shares Her Survival Story to Help Others An advanced Stage III colon cancer diagnosis was the last thing I expected to receive […]

The OncoLife Survivorship Care Plan: An Educational Tool For Survivors That Has Educated Us

Posted March 4th, 2021

In April of 2007, OncoLink launched the OncoLife Survivorship Care Plan, a tool to create care plans for people who have survived cancer. As that tool reaches the milestone of 100,000 care plans created, OncoLink’s Editor in Chief Christine Hill-Kayser, MD, explains that we have also learned a lot from the users of the care […]

Rodney Warner

Do Black Lives Matter Less Than Those of Cancer Survivors?

Posted June 18th, 2020

With every action there is a reaction. Yet another Black American is killed in police custody, but this time it’s different. Protests break out across the US, in major cities and small towns. Many of them dominated by suburban White folk like myself. But the backlash against the protest is just winding up. I’m a […]

You Don’t Know the New Me

Posted June 25th, 2019

The new me came into existence almost four years ago.  The me after cancer.  The warrior.  The survivor. People I have met since THAT DAY got the new version of me.  The me that is grateful for every day of this life, and gives back.  The me that wants life more than ever, and relishes […]

Fear: The Unwanted Passenger

Posted June 18th, 2019

Author’s note: I wrote this piece a few years back but, of course, it still speaks to me. Probably always will. You might feel the same.  I visited my dermatologist the other day. “Fifteen years!” she said. So long ago, yet sometimes so close.  The thing is, once you have had a diagnosis of cancer […]

Rodney Warner

I Don’t Mean to Frighten You, But…

Posted June 6th, 2019

Editor’s note: Rodney originally wrote this piece in 2014 – it remains a favorite. Not favorite as in oh that’s uplifting or funny. But in a that’s reality – a look into the mind of a survivor and one most other survivors can relate to all too well. Thanks to Rodney for being vulnerable – it reminds […]

Writing a Life

Posted November 21st, 2018

Here’s a conundrum: it took me two seconds to decide in my heart that writing for a cancer blog was the BEST IDEA EVER. But it took me a little longer (okay, seven months to be exact but stop judging me, we just met) to put pen to paper. Why? Part of the answer lies […]

At the Junction of Bitter and Sweet

Posted November 14th, 2018

I suppose when I look back on it, it was kind of silly and dangerous that I didn’t tell anyone I wasn’t feeling so well. I had started taking swimming lessons and then the pains in my left leg began. I didn’t think it would be a big deal- just muscle pains from swimming. I […]

Karen Arnold-Korzeniowski, BSN, RN

Surviving – It Is Personal

Posted June 5th, 2018

There are many different ways of thinking about cancer survivorship. These beliefs and your personal definition is just that, personal. It is unique to each individual and can change over time. When I first started taking care of patients I believed that you survived cancer when your cancer was gone. As I matured in my […]