Welcome to the comments and discussion of Chapter 10: The Fix of the book, Everything Changes: The Insider’s Guide to Cancer in Your 20s and 30s!  Catch up on Chapter 1: Ramenonmics, Chapter 2: When G-d Things Happen to Sick People, Chapter 3: Single, Chapter 4: Human Spectacles, Chapter 5: Malignant and Indignant, Chapter 6: Something in the Air, Chapter 7: Mortality Bites, Chapter 8: The Myth of Eternal Optimism, and Chapter 9: It Girl.
Let’s get started!  Chapter 10!
The moral of this chapter is you are your own best advocate. Â Know what procedures, treatments, surgeries, etc. are being used to cure your cancer and why. Â If you don’t understand the side effects of something, ask. Â Get a second opinion, always. Â You are the boss or your own body.
I remember my own appointment with my second opinion oncologist, who I ended up receiving care from. Â She spent a good 10 minutes reading out loud through a pamphlet she gave me detailing the side effects of each of the chemo drugs they would give me. Â I finally had to stop her and ask, “what will happen if we do nothing?” Â Without skipping a beat she replied, “oh, the cancer will kill you.” Â It may seem like an odd question to you, but with all of the info she was giving me, the alternative of not getting treatment was never discussed…I wanted to know so I asked. Â I’m sure glad I did.
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Thanks for joining us for our Chapter 10: The Fix of Everything Changes: The Insider’s Guide to Cancer in Your 20s and 30s!  Join in next Monday for Chapter 11: Off the Map.
If you’re just joining us, here are some logistics:
We will talk about a chapter each Monday until the book is done.  Then, we’ll use one more Monday to talk about general feelings from the book and anything else you’d like to discuss.  Join in, in the comments every week!  Also, there will probably be spoilers.  Read along with us!
How are you enjoying our young adult cancer book club?
