Charlie Blotner

war-rior (n) : a person who fights in battles and is known for having courage and skill “They are fearsome warriors.”

Name: Charlie Blotner

Age: 21

Connection to Stupid Cancer: I downloaded Matthew Zachary’s Scribblings on my phone and now he won’t stop emailing me.

Guilty Pleasure: Making breakfast tacos

Super Hero Name & Power: I’m probably a Thin Mint, convincing people to buy delicious cookies and support female empowerment + entrepreneurial spirit. I may or may not be eating Thin Mints as you read this.

Favorite Quote/Saying: “For every one of us that succeeds, it’s because there’s somebody there to show you the way out” — Oprah

It’s about breaking isolation through community; reaching across the divide, whatever that may be, and finding strength in shared stories and understanding. For Charlie, creating a bridge with others in the young adult cancer community, specifically those diagnosed with brain tumors, grew into a social media movement.

“…reaching across the divide, whatever that may be, and finding strength in shared stories and understanding.”

“One of the biggest self-reported difficulties in the AYA [Adolescent and Young Adult] cancer community is isolation, and being able to help reduce that is huge.”

Diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2007, Charlie said they “only met or heard about people who were diagnosed and subsequently died from a brain tumor” when the patient was much older.

There weren’t stories of people who were living with brain tumors as AYAs, let alone support groups or online communities. So, in 2013, Charlie teamed up with Liz Salmi and decided to start the #BTSM (Brain Tumor Social Media) Twitter Chat.

“I wanted to make sure that there weren’t going to be any more patients who had questions but didn’t know who to ask for the answers.”

“Community outreach funding had been, and still is, cut from all nationally sponsored brain tumor organizations,” Charlie said. “I saw this gap in the health care system, and I wanted to find a way to close it. I wanted to make sure that there weren’t going to be any more patients who had questions but didn’t know who to ask for the answers.”

Whether you’re five years into survivorship, in the middle of treatment, or caring for a young adult who has cancer, it’s important that community is accessible. Charlie spoke to this when they said, “I gave it some thought, and realized…attending a support group isn’t always an option. Logging onto Twitter via a phone or laptop is, though.”

“Patients are told to go home and live our lives after treatment, but that doesn’t account for the psychosocial challenges we come up against when returning to school, work, forming relationships, traveling, exercising, eating, etc.”

“Patients are told to go home and live our lives after treatment, but that doesn’t account for the psychosocial challenges we come up against.”

But, meeting people where they are is so much more than physical access or empowering people to define what living means to them. Meeting people where they are also means fostering the communities that exist within the larger young adult cancer community and creating a safe space to simply be exactly who you are.

“When I attended OMG in 2014, I didn’t know what to expect,” Charlie said. Hearing that in previous years men and women were split into separate groups to discuss sexual health post treatment, Charlie said they wondered about inclusivity.

Meeting people where they are also means fostering the communities within the young adult cancer community and creating a space to simply be who you are.

“My questions were answered when there was a separate breakout session for LGBTQIA+ health that Sage Bolte facilitated, which allowed for survivors to cover topics that wouldn’t have otherwise been addressed in these large groups.”

A freedom can be created when you are seen by your community for exactly who you are and feel an unconditional support by the people around you. This sense of support can change the way a diagnosis feels.

“The most rewarding thing about #BTSM by far is the impact that it has had on community members.” Charlie continued, “People who have participated in [the] chats have shared…that the sense of community found through the chats has changed how they see their diagnosis.”

This sense of support can change the way a diagnosis feels.

Thank you, Charlie, for raising your voice for the young adult cancer community and for creating a platform that empowers people in this community to raise their own voice.

#WarriorWednesday