Like most people between the ages of 15 and 30, you probably have a lot going on in your life—school, your career, relationships or maybe even starting a family. But if you’ve been recently diagnosed with cancer, everything seems to change overnight: Getting healthy becomes the top priority.
Children’s Minnesota’s Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer program is specifically designed to meet the needs of cancer patients between the ages of 15 to 30.
As one of the leading pediatric cancer hospitals in the nation, we’re experts in treating cancer in young people. And, we also know that your life outside of your diagnosis is important. From diagnosis to recovery and beyond, Children’s Minnesota is here to help you make decisions about your care, fight your disease and address the challenges cancer causes in all areas of your life.
“I’m Maddie (in middle photo) and I was diagnosed with ALL leukemia with the Philadelphia chromosome. To be treated at a pediatric hospital was ok, and I wouldn’t want to be treated at an adult cancer treatment cause treatment there is way different. It was hard though because most the kids are I would say about 7 and under so being the only teen and watching the little kids ride around on there tiny trikes is hard. The AYA program has helped. I really like the cooking classes. Those are my favorite because I love to cook and learn new things. Meeting other teen patients is probably my favorite part. Even if they don’t have the same thing I’m going through it’s nice to talk about how you feel when your the only teen up there and experience with kids and walking around on a normal day because if I had 1 dollar every time I was called a boy I would be rich. I would like to give a big thanks to Teen Cancer America for funding this and making AYA possible because it has had the biggest positive impact on my life and I actually feel like getting out of the house.”
