National Cancer Survivors Day

Patient Advocates Matter

My cervical cancer story began when I was 24 years old. I had graduated from a local dental assisting program and worked in the field for only a couple of years when I was diagnosed on World Cancer Day 2015. I was completely devastated that cancer was happening to me! I mean, I knew I had a cervix but I was naive to the fact that I could get cancer “there.” And wasn’t it most common for older people, not younger people, to get sick? That’s when I realized how gravely wrong I was. Didn’t I just witness a high school friend succumb to cancer just a year before? She passed away at the young age of 27 and I truly thought that was going to be my destiny. I didn’t know anyone else my age that was going through it.

All throughout my treatment, I placed blame on myself for getting cancer, and even though I felt that deeply, I knew I wanted to do something more to help others. I wanted them to know about cervical cancer and how Planned Parenthood saved my life with their preventive screening services. I wasn’t sure how to start advocating or sharing my story, so I started spreading awareness by handing out little ribbons I made. (Some of my friends still wear them to this day).

If you would have told me back then I would become an award-winning patient advocate, I never would have believed you. You see, I’ve suffered from social anxiety throughout my entire childhood and adult life. It wasn’t until I was finished with cancer treatment that I found out about Cervivor, signed up for Cervivor School, and grew into the patient advocate I am now.

I have been involved with the organization since 2017 and have been presented with some pretty incredible opportunities – including employment by the organization. I started in 2021 when everything had been pretty virtual but this year, in-person events have started happening more frequently. Team Cervivor, consisting of Cervivor Founder, Tamika Felder, and myself, made the decision to attend the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (aka ASCO). As a first-time attendee, I can say I was completely blown away! This event was massive and full of oncology’s leading cancer researchers, clinicians, thought leaders, industry partners, advocates, and so much more!

We kicked off the week-long conference with a breakfast meeting in which we were able to connect with so many people – putting names to faces that we’ve been working with via Zoom meetings and emails for the last few years. We had a constant line of people waiting to talk with us about our work and hear our stories. It could have been the lack of caffeine but it really didn’t hit me until midway through that breakfast – the impact of our work as patient advocates is crucial in the oncology world. This made me even more proud to be working for the organization that gave me my voice.

Dr. Martina Murphy was one of these people who expressed just how important our work is including our Comfort Care & Compassion Program. She says, “Cervical cancer is a disease where we need so much more attention and work. The impact of this group is powerful.”

We continued to attend meeting after meeting and heard a consistent message across the board: we are dedicated to putting equitable patient care as our priority. We heard how patient advocate voices have a seat at the table and how we are leading engagement for some important topics across social media platforms. The realization hit me once again: We make a difference every day. Patient advocates matter.

Now, we made sure to celebrate a little while we were in Chicago too. The Sunday of the conference was a day recognized as National Cancer Survivors Day and we had A LOT to celebrate: Tamika was 21 years cancer free and was given the most exceptional gift and I was just days from officially being 6 years cancer free. We made sure to spend time with some friends and partners – both new and old, to eat incredible food, and to take time to unwind.

It has truly been eye-opening and so rewarding to see the kind of impact my story has had in the last several years. It’s been a lot of hard work and it’s taken time to see the results. But I know it’s not just my story in this. It’s the collective of our stories pushing for the same mission: to end cervical cancer once and for all.

Morgan Newman, MSW, Outside of her Community Engagement Liaison position at Cervivor, you can find Morgan nurturing her relationships with local community partner organizations like the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACSCAN), the Iowa Cancer Consortium, and serving as a board member for Above and Beyond Cancer. Learn more about Morgan at Cervivor.org.

Surviving Through Music

Our world is feeling great pain and uncertainty right now. Cervivor created a music video to show hope, love and strength within our cancer community but it reaches far beyond cancer — the message is truly universal.

The song that inspired this video, The Will to BE, was written by my caregiver and husband Pete. I love being married to a musician because our house is always filled with great music. Pete says that creating music from his heart for the world to hear, makes him feel like in some small way, he’s creating happiness.

During my cervical cancer diagnosis, multiple treatments and surgeries and three reoccurrences, Pete’s music truly lifted me up and gave me the spark I needed. His music was always on my ‘Chemo Playlist’ and I’d listen to it when I just needed to calm my mind and body.

Cervivor created a music video to show hope, love and strength within our cancer community but it reaches far beyond cancer — the message is truly universal.

Pete also knows all the women of Cervivor through their stories. These stories are the fabric of this song, weaving through emotions we carry as cancer patients, survivors and thrivers.

In 2017, California was experiencing literal storms and relentless rainfall. Everything around us was falling apart with no end in sight. During one of those storms, Cervivor founder, Tamika Felder asked Pete to write some music for Cervivor. 

He immediately drew parallels with the storms and cancer which inspired the opening lyric, “Been a long rainy season. The tides and winds headstrong. It batters our lives and we don’t know for how long.”

When you have cancer you give up a lot normalcy in your life and it doesn’t change when or if your cancer ends. You look at life differently; you are navigating through uncharted waters. 

Sometimes you’re drowning in fear and it takes every ounce of strength to get through the day. We hold on to hope, this four-letter word that becomes our lifeline. 

This song speaks to anyone who has faced deep hardships. The women featured in this video are beautiful and real. We are your neighbors. We are sisters, daughters, mothers, aunties and cancer is forever part of our lives. But we refuse to let cancer define us. We are living our lives and not forgetting what brings us joy.

The Will to BE is a song of truth and unpredictability but importantly the will to be loved and strong and needing to belong.

We hope that this song and video will fill your heart and show you that despite what cancer takes away, it leaves space for us to fill with gratitude and hope.

Pete and Cervivor Ambassador Carol live in Northern California with their fur baby, Ace the Dog, who can be usually be found at Pete’s feet in his music studio. They also have two amazing grown kids, Michael and Sydney, who are Carol’s inspiration to thrive.