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Vannora Hawkins shares her experience seeking life insurance coverage after stage IV colorectal cancer.

Winning a free vacation is wonderful but winning The Colon Club’s raffle for a stay in a tiny house in Williams, AZ was extra special because of my relationship to the Grand Canyon and my own family history of colorectal cancer.

I don’t often speak about the extra weight I carry. It has been an invisible, cumbersome, massive weight that I have been dragging around 24 hours a day of my life for the last 29 years. I have learned to conceal it for fear of sympathy or being labeled the ‘sick girl’. You may catch glimpses of it…

What happens to a superhero when they die? Does their light go out and dim into the darkness of the universe? Does their light transform into a star? Does their fight end? Does the villain who slayed them go into retirement and leave the people of the world alone? What really happens when we lose an…

Imagine being 24 years old, 17 weeks pregnant, and told that you have stage 4 colon cancer with a percent five-year survival rate. Imagine lying in the hospital bed with a newly placed colostomy bag, as the OB/GYN tells the father of your child and your parents that they could “You need to make…

Cancer changes friendships. Before I was diagnosed with cancer, the first time, most of my friends were colleagues. We were all in our twenties, some were married, most of us didn’t have children yet. When I was downsized and diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer within a three week span my life…

When I first googled the symbolic meaning of white roses many years ago, the words on the screen made me love them even more. White roses are not only absolutely breathtaking, they also symbolize so many of the feelings that I’ve embraced since I was diagnosed with cancer: Reverence, Humility, and…

The loss of innocence; I thought I understood it. As a licensed marriage and family therapist, it is something I have seen over and over again. From substance abuse and overdoses, car accidents resulting in the loss of a parent, attachment figures breaking social norms as protectors and becoming…

Transparent post following and trigger warning for dealing with loss:I confess. I avoid social media from May 8th through Mother’s Day, if not longer. Over the past few years, it has become too much. My mom’s passing is marked TWO days of the year - Mother’s Day and May 8th. It is almost a very…

As we close out Colorectal Cancer Awareness month amidst the corona virus outbreak, I would like to share my perspective as a current clinical trial patient. The feeling of uncertainty that surrounds the trial process has taken on a new layer with the need for social distancing and the unique…