Blog/instagram to raise awareness

Hi, 

I was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour at 20, and have recently been diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 23. I feel really passionate about raising awareness, and creating a space for younger people to speak and feel seen within the healthcare service as I know my experience and diagnosis journey has been quite turbulent throughout certain moments and a lot of this was due to my age and my symptoms presenting as 'anxiety' and being another 'hormonal girl'. I have created a blog called 'lessons I wish I hadn't learnt in my 20s' linked here and started an instagram called @lifelowgrade - both the blog and instagram page are here for people to check out/follow and create a community. I aim to vocalise the issues younger people with tumours and cancer diagnosis's face, but also just a space to openly talk about these diagnoses without fear of judgement or worry as I understand it is difficult to sometimes speak to people within your life. 

My dm's on the instagram page are always open, and I hope the instagram page is informative, and a place you are able to use to help you throughout your journey. I am open to suggestions for future blog posts, and would love to get other people involved. I want to make the most of my two situations and try to bring some good from two horrible diagnoses. 

All the best, 

Lucy x 

  • Hello Lucy 

    I'm sorry to hear about your diagnoses and the difficulties that you experienced. It can be incredibly frustrating when we don't feel seen or heard by others particularly when we have genuine concerns about our own wellbeing. 

    I wanted to thank you for sharing your blog with the community here. Hopefully it will be of help to someone in the future. I also wanted to give you the link to a charity called Shine Cancer Support which is an organisation that specifically supports young people. If you've not heard of them already it may be that you want to explore their support forums as well to connect with others who have similar diagnoses and experiences. 

    We wish you well in the future. 

    Best wishes, 
    Jenn
    Cancer Chat moderator