Critical Mass: The Young Adult Cancer Alliance

A Mother’s Story

By Jackie Ogg

In the two years since getting involved with Critical Mass, I am repeatedly inspired and…

The Fragmentation Monster Under My Bed: A Researcher’s Worst Nightmare

In honor of National Young Adult Cancer Awareness Week, I’ve invited the Director of Community Initiatives for Critical Mass, Dr. Rebecca Block, to guest blog today. In my last blog here, I touched on the…

“You’re Cancer Free!” (So Why Do You Feel So Conflicted?)

National Young Adult Cancer Awareness Week is an annual, community-driven opportunity to highlight the needs, issues and challenges of young adults diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 15–39 and to spread the word about the…

The Invisible Cancer Population

“Mom, it’s just the flu. I’m positive.”

Two weeks later I had a port in my chest and was at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland starting an intense chemotherapy regime for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Not only was it not the flu, I was a…

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s Proposal to Let Cancer Patients Defer on Public Student Loans Included in Minibus

A proposal backed by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., to allow cancer patients to defer public student loan payments was included as part of the…

Give Blood. Save Lives. It’s That Simple.

In high school I won an award for running one of the most successful blood drive programs in our region. Of course, when you give away free T-shirts and pizza to a bunch of high school seniors plus a pass to let them skip fifth period, it wasn’t a huge lift.

The Evolution of Young Adult Cancer Awareness

I should have been excited and proud. Instead, I was royally pissed off.

It was November 2012 at the annual meeting of Critical Mass: The Young Adult Cancer Alliance. I had just listened to the beautiful and formidable…