Suleika Jaouad

“When I was diagnosed with cancer at age 22, I learned just how much cancer affects families when it affects individuals.”

“A growing body of evidence suggests that cancer survivors continue to struggle with medical, financial, professional and psychosocial issues long after the end of their cancer treatment.”

“If you have a chronic illness in America, there's a good chance you also hold a degree in Health Insurance 101, whether you want to or not.”

“Having cancer changed the way I ate and thought about food. My symptoms dictated my eating habits. The sores in my mouth and the bouts of nausea, for instance, stole the pleasure of eating and made it an ordeal. At some points in my treatment, eating wasn't even an option.”

“And there came a point in my treatment where I couldn't see that end in sight. And that was the most challenging, I think, to know how to kind of anchor yourself when you're swimming in a sea of uncertainty.”

“Well, writing for me had always been my first love and what I leaned on as a way to kind of endure difficult passages.”

“There's a photograph of me in the transplant unit where I have a vomit bucket under one arm, I have my laptop on my knees, and I'm crying, not because, you know, I'm about to have a bone marrow transplant, but because I've missed a deadline!”

“My column launched while I was in the bone marrow transplant unit. And I remember waking up the next morning and opening my inbox and seeing hundreds of emails from strangers all around the world.”

“My mother comes from a small village on the Lac de Neuchatel where there is one bakery, one butcher and one grocery store. Even after decades in New York, she prefers home cooking to ordering in.”

“The bone marrow transplant procedure itself can be dangerous, but it is swift, which makes it feel strangely anti-climactic.”

“Isolated in the oncology ward, I began to think about my dream to become a writer.”

“Where cancer is concerned, it's safe to say there's no such thing as good timing.”

“In the world of medicine, a trial refers to clinical research that follows a predefined plan or protocol. A clinical trial must comply with strict health, safety and ethical regulations determined by the Food and Drug Administration.”

“Growing up, I had always been an avid bookworm and a straight-A student. I approached my cancer the same way I approached writing my senior thesis in college: I buried my head in research journals, interviewed experts and scoured the Internet for information.”

“At the age of 22, I began to consider my own mortality. It had never occurred to me that, with all of the progress that has been made in cancer research, none of the standard treatments would work for me.”

“Often when I wake up in the morning and I'm thinking about my day, I try to imagine if I only had three hours today to do anything, what would feel most important to me.”

“I get along well with my medical team and I have a tremendous amount of respect for them. But the idea of discussing my finances during a doctor's appointment makes me uncomfortable.”

“Just a few years ago, at the age of 22, I learned I had an aggressive form of leukemia. I needed intensive chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant to save my life. Back then, my doctors told me that I had a 35 percent chance of surviving my transplant.”

“I joke that I was basically born and raised in airports. I feel most at home at JFK.”

“Today, my brother and I share almost identical DNA, the result of a successful bone marrow transplant I had last April using his healthy stem cells. But Adam and I couldn't be more different.”