Cecilia Lang-Ree shares her experience as a childhood survivor of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She shares some of her memories as an inpatient, her struggles with fitting in with her peers at school, and the evolution of her identity in relation to her survivorship. She also shares her discovery of her fertility issues and the importance of discussing fertility as early on as possible as a cancer patient. She ends the episode with powerful advice about owning your survivorship and the resources available for cancer survivors. 

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Key Highlights:

1. Being a cancer survivor, especially at a young age, significantly affects one's life and identity, often leading to phases of uncertainty, denial, and willful ignorance. Embracing your survivorship can lead you to people who are also in your shoes, and through connections you can find resources that will support your survivorship-specific needs.

2. The AYA (Adolescent and Young Adult) community plays a crucial role in providing support and understanding for young cancer patients. 

3. Discovering fertility issues can be emotionally challenging, emphasizing the need for early conversations about fertility options like egg and embryo freezing. Survivorship clinics and self-advocacy are key in navigating these preservation options as well as other side effects of cancer treatments.

About our guest:

Cecilia Lang-Ree is a childhood leukemia survivor, advocate, and healthcare Product Manager born and raised in the Bay Area. Since her diagnosis at age 4, Cecilia's personal and professional mission has become to make prevention information accessible to all. At work, she combines product strategy, user savvy, and her academic background in chronic disease prevention & behavioral design to pioneer consumer products that help people lead healthier, happier lives. 

Currently, Cecilia is the Senior Product Manager at Biolinq, a medical device company developing a minimally invasive glucose monitoring sensor for metabolic health. Cecilia holds an M.S. and B.A. from Stanford University, and outside of work enjoys hiking, skiing, trying new restaurants in San Francisco, and hanging out with her husband, Christian, and beloved family! 

Key Moments:

At 6:55 “I was very lucky that I had parents who could read scientific journal articles. They could read my clinical protocol and understand the potential side effects and take action to prevent them. They could be my advocates with doctors and nurses, but I saw firsthand that most of the other kids in the hospital did not have that. Many were children of undocumented immigrants or folks just did not have access to that kind of information. And so for me, that has really sparked, in my career, this passion for prevention, early detection, and really knowing that health data and health knowledge is power.”

At 11:39 “I didn't want the attention. I wanted so badly just to fit in and be normal. I didn't want anybody to know, push it away, push it away, push it away. Don't put this intention on me. I never wanted anybody to mention the C word, cancer, because when the C word got dropped in the classroom or anywhere else, it just changed the energy in the room.”

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.