** Treatment to cure can directly or indirectly interfere with sleep. ** Do what you have to in order to get a good night's sleep a few times a week. ** Doctors will happily prescribe medication to help with the insomnia. Most of these are pretty addictive. ** There are several supplements hat can help: valerian root, magnesium, etc. ** Exercise ** Think about making your best nest: pillows and a comfy mattress can make your stays in bed much more pleasant.

We talk about how cancer, survivors, and breakthroughs are portrayed in the media and come up with suggestions of how to improve the conversation. Maybe Baconsale can come up with better ideas, or at least give Leanna her own peppy cancer theme song.

** Trust your instincts and listen to your body. If you are sure something is wrong, it probably is.
**Prioritize your mental health.
**Ask about fertility treatments, and LiveStrong can help with the finances.

**Life shift: The Emotional Side of Cancer for a Young Adult

**Hear more from Christina on chemo brain, or find her on Instagram @crespicreme.

** In the waiting room, use headphones and avoid phone calls.

** Be considerate to the people who are having the worst day of their lives.

** Be aware that other people exist, and that they don’t cope like you cope.

** Do not prescribe: let people subscribe to your input.

** Do not one-up other patients.

** Don’t call strangers to Jesus. (Confirmed that Mimi and Leanna were both called to Jesus by the same patient, and neither answered the call.)

** Read the room, and have your parties in private.

** Friends and family are the buffer. They need to be super aware to manage the patients and the bystanders.

** Friend’s and family, if you hate the hospital, don’t insist on being at the hospital. Know your limitations. Know what you CAN do, and do that.

** If you are sick, don’t come to the hospital or wear a mask.

** Communication is a two way street.

** If anyone knows Dr. Dre, help us put Beats in Cancer Centers so we don’t have to yell at any inconsiderate people.

** See “What did you just say?” for additional guidance on handling the ridiculous things people say.

***We are a new tribe of survivors (carcinopaths!) that have the luxury of a 2.0 after cancer.

***The big c: cancer, chaos and change.

***You are a physically new self AND a psychologically new self.

***The hard restart is an opportunity… and difficult and confusing and weird and surreal.

***You need a 2.0 because your 1.0 was stripped bare. You couldn’t exist as your 1.0, and the "before" can feel like a different lifetime.

***After rebirth, you get to create yourself with everything you know as a grown up.

***Be open to different ways of rebuilding yourself.

***You are going to fail inevitably as a part of the process. Fail fearlessly. Fail again.

***Explore your 2.0 like you are in high school: fashion, ideas, taste, choices, identity.

***Incorporate water into your life. Drink the water. Be more like water. Swim in the water.

***You are a teenager. Let yourself be a teenager and understand that other people won’t give you the understanding that they would give a teenager. Cuz you look like a grown ass person.

***Let yourself be surprised, and maybe carried away a little bit by your 2.0.

***For a cancer community, check out The Time Between Is http://www.thetimebetweenis.org/ for how to approach your career after cancer and finding meaningful work.

**Have fun with the cancer card. ** If you use it strategically and excessively, people will stop with the sad eyes because you are too ridiculous. ** Use it to spend time with people you love and who bring you up. ** When people offer you cancer perks, accept with grace. ** People want to help you. You need help. Let them help you. ** Say yes more than you say no, especially if it is no effort on your part.

** “ALL” means “ALL the time in the hospital”… or “Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.” ** If you feel weirdly tired all the time, or have bruises that don't go away, or eye bleeds, go to a doctor. ** Doctors really need to make sure you aren’t alone when they are calling with a cancer diagnosis. ** Massachusetts General Hospital has some great views from inpatient rooms. ** You used to get sick before, and then you used to get better. And it was (usually) ok. ** Learn to advocate for yourself, or choose a caregiver from New York. ** Trust yourself if you know something is wrong, and be pushy. ** Get your flu shot.

** Cancer words are negative words; your 2.0 was forged in the fire of cancer, but your new identity is not "cancer." ** You might never feel like a "hero" or a "survivor". ** Fighter implies all sorts of things, like you are at war with your own cells. **Doctors often won’t say: "You are in remission." ** Pay attention to how you talk about your cancer and yourself.

**Your scalp is going to be tender. **Up your makeup game: brow pencils, eyeliner or false eyelashes.  **Glasses and sunglasses can camoflauge. **Explore your options: colored wigs, scarves, turbans, etc. **Bald is an intense, powerful look. **Get a soft sleeping cap and a slippery pillow case. **Penguin cold caps probably work. **Latisse can help, but will probably stain your skin. **Your hair will be different every day. **Embrace the seasons, and get comfortable with unintentional hairstyles. **Find a great hairdresser for your complicated regrow. **Choose how to frame this experience.

***Dating after cancer problems are dating problems--just magnified.

***Breakups are super common. 

***Any sex problems are either short-term or largely fixable.

***Ask your doctors/nurses/social workers about resources at your hospital.

***Own your story, think about your story, and practice telling your story with your friends.

***You don't have to tell a date everything all at once.

***Your 2.0 is different than before. Scars lead to new sensations.

***Get to know your new, rejuvenated, cancer-free self.

***Exercise can help put you back in your body.

***The first rule of googlestalking is you do not talk about googlestalking.

***Don't suggest that your date guess which boob was mastectomied, or find someone who thinks that's as funny as you do.