When Cancer Creates Distance: How to Find Your Way Back to Each Other
A friend is diagnosed with cancer. At first, messages fly back and forth. Then a text goes unanswered. A visit gets postponed. Days become weeks, and neither person knows how...
Reclaiming Her Story After Cancer: Erica Robinson’s Under the Pencil Project
Erica Robinson had spent 17 years behind a camera telling other people’s stories. Then she got diagnosed with cancer, and for the first time, she didn’t know how to tell...
Summer is full of invitations, vacations, and spontaneous plans. For many young adults with cancer, it can also be one of the most isolating times of the year. Not because...
Your First Oncology Appointment: What to Expect, What to Ask, and How to Show Up With Support
Your first oncology appointment can feel like a lot. New words. New faces. A conversation that suddenly carries more weight than anything you’ve had to navigate before. You might be...
Cancer, Grief, and Anxiety: The Emotional Reality No One Prepares You For
Doctors prepare you for treatment. Nobody prepares you for the emotional side. This is that conversation. Whether you’re feeling everything at once or nothing at all, you’re not alone in...
How to Support a Friend With Cancer: 6 Takeaways From Hernan Barangan for the AYA Community
When Hernan Barangan talks about cancer, he doesn’t start with a neat lesson or a polished message. He starts with disorientation. He was diagnosed with leukemia at 15, just before...
Who to Tell & How: Communicating Your Cancer Diagnosis
When You’re Figuring Out How to Share the News Receiving a cancer diagnosis as a young adult can feel surreal. You might still be replaying the words from the...
Practical Ways to Support a Young Adult With Cancer (and Avoid “Cancer Ghosting”)
The b-there Guide: How to Show Up for a Friend Facing Cancer When a Friend Tells You They Have Cancer You just found out your friend has cancer. And...
Support Languages: How to Support Someone in the Way They Need Most
Most of us have heard of love languages, the idea that people with different personalities give and receive love in different ways (The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman)....
Breaking the Silence: Understanding Stigma and Showing Up for Each Other Through Cancer
You’ve likely heard the word “stigma” tossed around when it comes to mental health, chronic illness, or social issues, but what does it really mean? At its core, stigma =...
Why Saying “Let Me Know if You Need Anything” Isn’t Enough
When someone we care about is diagnosed with cancer, it’s natural to feel unsure of what to do or say. We want to help, but we don’t want to overstep....
Pass the Presence: What to Write in a Card of Support for a Young Adult with Cancer
You pick a card and flip it open. The inside is blank, and your brain freezes. What do I write to someone my age who’s dealing with cancer? How real...
How to Support a Partner Through Cancer: A Young Couple’s Story of Staying
“I didn’t want to put this burden on her.” Matt met Lauren on St. Patrick’s Day in 2016. They were only a couple of months into dating when his entire...
The Obvious Things, The Hard Things: Showing Up for My Partner During Cancer
When your partner is diagnosed with cancer, there’s no handbook, no checklist, and no magic words. You’re thrown into an emotional hurricane where love, fear, guilt, and helplessness collide. Being...
Jenni’s October Pop Culture Picks of the Month: What to Watch, Read, & Listen to Right Now
Hello, friends! It’s Jenni here—your resident pop culture guide and unapologetic fan of all things movies, music, books, and beyond. Wow, it’s OCTOBER! Last month was a significant milestone, and...
The Power of Showing Up: Kyle & Jessica’s Story of Sibling Support Through Cancer
Cancer doesn’t just hit one person. It hits everyone who loves them. It crashes into families, friendships, and futures, flipping life upside down in an instant. For Kyle Javer, diagnosed...
The Room They Left Behind: A Parent’s Perspective on Grief and Healing
When I watched a recent CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley segment, “Portrait of a Person Who’s Not There,” I was struck by how familiar it felt. In it, Steve...
Inside the Mind of a Young Adult Caregiver with Vivian Nunez
Vivian Nuñez was 21, interning at Cosmo, finishing college, and making end-of-life decisions for her grandmother. Her grandmother was Vivian’s legal guardian, her only parent figure, and, at that moment,...
Turning Adversity Into Advocacy: Juanita’s Roadmap from Survivor to Changemaker
“I felt confused, heartbroken…like I was being punished,” recalls 2x childhood cancer survivor Juanita Parada, remembering the moment, at just 10 years old, when she first heard those harrowing words,...
Bonus Time: Marc Anthony Sepulveda’s Story of Cancer, Creativity, and Showing Up Anyway
At b-present, we believe in showing up—awkwardly, imperfectly, but with heart. That’s why we’re telling the story of Marc Anthony Sepulveda. He’s an actor, filmmaker, colon cancer survivor, and unapologetic...
