** Don’t tell me your a boob man if you don’t know what breast cancer feels like

** Other people can see cancer from different perspectives--herd knowledge

** Corporations co-opt the cancer thing and go off road with it in a way that doesn’t make sense

** Instead of cancer “awareness”, give patients a cancer card for discounts and privileges

** We have to be there for each other--PEOPLE take care of other people so keep your IRL relationships

** Don’t ask for money from cancer patients

** Donate to organizations doing good

** Be proactive about making new connections

** Travel

** Communication is healing

** Go meet people in real life

** You find community by MAKING community

** Diagnosis is a pretty arbitrary date: it’s way after you STARTED being sick, and way before you are DONE being sick-- it’s a celebration of discovering what’s wrong with us?

** Mourn your 1.0 self and life -- ceremony or a formal remembrance/farewell can be useful.

** Maybe your celebration is forgetting about it.

** Some people don’t feel safe enough to celebrate -- the chance of recurrence.

** Cancerversaries can be a reminder of how your options have become limited.

** Schedule exams on your cancerversary -- (Leanna gets a mammogram on her diagnosis anniversary--NOT an annual mastectomy).

** Use your cancerversary to mourn those who’ve died.

** Statistics mean something, but they might not mean anything FOR YOU --don’t hide behind the statistics.

** Get ready to be nervous -- planning for the future and figure out what’s next.

** Beware of your teenage self: she might have ambitions beyond your old wet damp dishrag of an adult self.

** Think about what you are celebrating: the future and the amazing YOU!

** Take comfort in the “vague” and “abstract,” because that’s how it comes sometimes.

** The cake is a lie, or "your promised reward is merely a fictitious motivator"--tomorrow is not promised, so enjoy every day, not just the milestones.

We go behind the scenes with YouTube’s Rudy Fischmann and Brain Cancer Diaries, and check out our video debut for the cliffs notes version!

** The Intersection of Cancer and Life with gem Emily Garnett

** DJ Breast Cancer Tina Conrad

** The CanSurvivor with Kelsey Smith

** Cancer Casually Lindsay DeLong

** But You Don’t Look Sick with Kelsey Bucci

** Yoga, stretching, or biking

** Gardening

** Do some art: painting, writing, etc

** Eat extra well and mindfully

** Find your witchy brew: B complex, magnesium, turmeric, activated charcoal, etc

** Massage, manicure and pedicure (don’t let them cut your cuticles)

** Get some strengthening nail polish (Leanna’s mom liked the Hard As Nails stuff)

** Sleep is a big deal--try restricting your sleep hours and only getting in bed when you are ready to fall asleep

** Look into a digital detox, including social media

** Be open to taking drugs, and be open to stopping drugs

** Imagine this as a spa treatment if you can

** Graciously accept help

** Do something you’ve never done before

** Cancer doesn’t just require you to change once—it’s constant adaptation.

** Check if any of your survival strategies have turned against you.

** Try to sit with the idea that existence is enough, and if that fails, we are pretty sure going to Spain is the answer.

** Try to clarify surgical options early on: what’s the best possible, what’s the worst possible, what’s the probable middle? Manage your expectations as much as you can.

** Know your options. For mastectomy, that’s flat, implants, flap (tram or diep), nipple reconstruction, etc.

** Fat grafting covers a multitude of divots and creases.

** Know your risks and what you value (looks, function, scars).

** What’s your backup fat plan? (ie know what your surgery entails).

** Nipple tattoos: not like a normal tattoo--kind of a high end prison tattoo—and fade quickly.

** You can’t feel when your mastectomied boob pops out--so you you have to look with your eyes.

** Surgeries are going to be a pyramid: major and big at the beginning, and smaller and more delicate at the end.

** Love your plastic surgeon.

** Talk to someone who has been through your surgery and find pictures.

** Aphrodite Reborn and Reconstructing Aphrodite are nice post-breast cancer photo books.

** Silicon bandaids are reusable and help with scarring and healing.

** Use microbead pillows to get comfortable.

** Leanna doesn't’ know when women got the vote: she thought it was 1912, but it was 1920. Less than 100 years ago. Bananas! ** Informed consent can feel like a rubber stamp: “this is what I have to do to get the treatment I need.” ** Doctors have to tell you common and serious risks, but they do not get granular. ** If you are interested in detailed information, you have to ask. ** Ask ‘What happens if I don’t get treatment?” ** Ask “How long do I have to decide?” ** Part of informed consent is getting answers to your satisfaction. ** Informed consent is a matter of trust in the process/system/doctors. ** Look it up yourself: understand as much as you can.

** Testicular cancer is almost always curable… IF you find it early and get treatment.

** Everyone should know how to do a testicular self exam, whether for yourself or for a partner.

** Talk about your health, men! (Especially young men who are more likely to get testicular cancer!!)

** Share your story, for yourself and for the next generation of patients.