So many American based services for young adults with cancer.... where are the Australian ones?

[Nikki_YAC]

Hi guys,

I came across this list of cancer related services for Young Adults. they are all from America and Canada.Have a browse... they look good don't they?

Does anyone know of any Australian-based cancer services for Young Adults? If so then tell us all about what you have discovered please... and then we can do up a comprehensive list of Australian Services and spread the word!

best, Nikki

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CancerCare Young Adults

www.cancercare.org/get_help/special_progs/young_adults.php

800-813-HOPE (4673)

CancerCare offers specialized services for young adult patients, caregivers, and those who have lost a loved one, including: counseling, support groups, telephone education workshops, educational publications, financial assistance, and practical help.

Coping with Chemo

http://chemo.starlightprograms.org

310-479-1212

Coping with Chemo is a series of webisodes written by teens with cancer to help other teens dealing with cancer. Each webisode addresses a different topic -- getting diagnosed with cancer, side effects of chemotherapy and other treatments, telling your friends, and celebrating your last treatment. Coping with Chemo also has an FAQ resource section as well as blogs, chat rooms, and bulletin boards to connect with other teens online.

Group Loop

www.grouploop.org

888.793.WELL (9355)

E-mail: help@thewellnesscommunity.org

Group Loop is a program by The Wellness Community that provides online support for teens with cancer and their parents. I’m Too Young For This!

Cancer Foundation

www.imtooyoungforthis.org

I’m Too Young For This, i[2]y, is an online support community for young adults with cancer. The organization hosts “The Stupid Cancer Blog” and weekly talk show “The Stupid Cancer Show,” has 13 local chapters across the U.S., Australia, and Canada, and provides an extensive compilation of resources including links to forums, books, coping literature and other young adult cancer organizations.

National Collegiate Cancer Foundation

www.collegiatecancer.org

717-215-0943

The National Collegiate Cancer Foundation's mission is to provide services and support to young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer. NCCF is committed to providing need-based financial support to young adult survivors who are pursuing higher education throughout their treatment and beyond. Furthermore, the Foundation promotes awareness and prevention of cancer within the young adult community.

Next Step

www.nextstepnet.org

617-864-2921

E-mail: info@nextstepnet.org

Next Step provides retreats, camp excursions, creative workshops, and social networking for young adults facing life threatening health issues.

Planet Cancer

www.planetcancer.org

512-452-9010

E-mail: contactus@planetcancer.org

Web site for young adults with cancer. A place to share insights, explore fears, or laugh with others.

Prepare to Live

www.preparetolive.org

E-mail: info@preparetolive.org

Prepare to Live is the only non-profit, charitable organization founded and managed by cancer survivors, dedicated to using the power of the web and documentary-style filmmaking to provide Help, Hope, Information and Inspiration™ specifically to young adults coping with cancer worldwide

RealTime Cancer

www.youngadultcancer.ca

877-571-7325

E-mail: connect@youngadultcancer.ca

An initiative of Young Adult Cancer Canada, RealTime Cancer provides support, inspiration, and non-medical information online for all young adults with cancer, regardless of location. The RealTime Cancer website provides support in several different ways including: survivor profiles, news articles, online forum discussions, cancer blogs, annual conferences, newsletters and links to other young adult cancer resources.

Survivor Alert

www.survivoralert.org

937-767-1924

Survivor Alert is a nationwide awareness initiative offering information, links to many resources, and recommendations for action for young adult cancer survivors and the health professionals who treat them. The site provides information to help young adult survivors understand survivorship issues and do the right things to stay as healthy as possible.

Teens Living with Cancer

www.teenslivingwithcancer.org

585-563-6221

Teens Living With Cancer provides support and information to help deal with the unique age-specific issues and questions teens with cancer face such as body, school, and relationship issues, staying healthy, and connecting with peers.

The SAMFund for Young Adult Survivors of Cancer

www.thesamfund.org

866-439-9365

E-mail: info@thesamfund.org

The SAMFund is a unique non-profit organization created to assist young adult survivors of cancer with a successful transition into their post-treatment life, by providing financial support through the distribution of grants and scholarships.

The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults

www.ulmanfund.org

888-393-FUND (3863)

E-mail: info@ulmanfund.org

The Mission of the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults is to enhance lives by supporting, educating and connecting young adults, and their loved ones, affected by cancer.

Working Against Cancer

www.workingagainstcancer.org

E-mail: contactus@workingagainstcancer.org

Working Against Cancer supports children, adolescent and young adult cancer survivors through mentoring, self-evaluation tools, and career opportunity referrals. WAC's mission is to help adolescents and young adults navigate the emotional upheaval that accompanies a cancer diagnosis in order to become self-reliant individuals with independent, productive lives.

Young Adults Surviving Glioblastoma

www.yasg.com/indexframes.html

YASG provides treatment information and an online forum and live chat service for young adults with glioblastoma (brain cancer).

Young Cancer Spouses

www.youngcancerspouses.com

E-mail: shareyourstory@youngcancerspouses.org

The mission of this organization is to bring together young spouses of adults with cancer to share information, support, and experiences. The website provides information on taking care of yourself, medical care, relationships, financial issues, transitions and has an online forum to connect with others.

Young Empowered Survivors

www.youngempowered.org

303-477-2161

e-mail: info@youngempowered.org

Young Empowered Survivors is a social networking group and support group for young adults with cancer (anyone under age 45). YES holds monthly support groups in Colorado, but also has an active message board for members to share questions, ideas and helpful resources

[Wilmo34]

Hey Nikki If anyone with melanoma is in perth then melanomawa support group is really great (even though i have missed a few) and there are quite a few young adults there. 🙂

[flight]

Hi all, Here are a few websites that I have found useful: On Trac @ Peter Mac www.petermac.org/ontrac Lance Armstrong Foundation Livestrong www.livestrong.org Revive Web site This website can be found at The Leukaemia Foundation's Website. It is a discussion board that has been developed for young adults diagnosed with blood cancers. It also provides information on issues affecting young adults. The website provides links to other websites that relate to young adults. Although it is aimed at people diagnosed with blood cancers much of the information would be relevant to any type of cancer. www.leukaemia.org.au After Cure www.aftercure.org This is a UK website that provides information to adolescents who have finished treatment for cancer. Provides factsheets on late effects and follow up health checks. Although it is targetting adolescents the information is still relevant to young adults who have had treatment for cancer. "Long Term Follow up Guidelines for Survivors of Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancers" can be found at www.survivorshipguidelines.org I highly reccommend this article. It can be found on the Children's Oncoloy Group Website.The Children's Oncoloy Group is an American organisation that advocates for late effect follow up for children, adolescents and young adults. It gives a comprehensive guide to common late effects and reccommendations on late effects follow up. Why don't we have any of these guidelines developed in Australia and provided to patients when they finish treatment?!?

[Nikki_YAC]

Thanks Wilmo34 and flight for kicking off on this topic as I am sure there are many YACs who will value knowing about these services. Its going to be interesting to see just how many underground services there are for YACs in Australia. Nikki 🙂

[flight]

I've found a couple of American websites that people might find interesting. The National Cancer Institue has a section of their website that is dedicated to yound adults with cancer. Their website is www.gov/cancertopics/aya/survivorship The Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Centre has a Survivorship Guide which can be found at www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/65801.cfm They have information about late effects and late effects follow up. It is interesting to see the types of support and follow up programs that are available in this hospital. Maybe Australia could develop a few of these programs too.

[Nikki_YAC]

Hi flight,thanks for these links. I really like the helpful list that Memorial Sloane Kettering has for survivor - especially relevant for YACs are the 2 last link to do with workplace issues and insurance. Also, can you please check the 1st link as it does not appear to be working 😕

[flight]

Sorry the address for the National Cancer Institute is www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/aya .

[claire-bear]

My teenage kids belong to CANTEEN, they are a great organisation that help kids living with cancer be it as a patient, a sibling of a cancer patient or an offspring of a cancer patient. They have been a great support to my children, organising days out, camps or just being there when they need somewhere to go. They are for anyone aged from 12 -24.

[#9]

Now What www.nowwhat.org.au There is a new Australian website that has just been developed called Now What. It is designed sepcifically for young people and has information about cancer (cancer types, treatment, tests), coping strategies, dealing with uni, work etc. It also has loads of stories of other people, and forums that are open daily so people can chat about their experience. One of the other good things about the site is that you can only view content that is relevant to you. So, for example, there is content on there for young people who have cancer, but also for young people who have a friend with cancer, but you can choose what you want to see. This is really valuable given the amount of information about cancer that is out there! It has been created by CanTeen but is designed for people who may not use any support services and may only want to look online for information and support.

[Nikki_YAC]

Hi nowwhat, thanks for posting up the link to this fabulous website. I have had a good look at it and CanTeen have done a great job piecing this together. is the site aimed at the same age demographic as CanTeen or do you also see it a good resource for people affected by cancer over age 25? In my mind 'young' encompasses people in there 20s, 30s and 40s. cheers Nikki