Dear Cancer

Psalm 121:1-2 “I lift up my eyes to the mountains where my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth”.    Dear Cancer,  You came into my life, and I was only 46 years old by way of Multiple Myeloma on November 10, 2010.   You tried to rob me of my peace and …

How & Why I Volunteer for Epic Experience

Prior to attending camp in 2016, I rarely talked about having cancer. I didn’t want it to define me. I didn’t do support groups, and I wasn’t involved in any cancer-related volunteering. Camp taught me that by pushing cancer to the background, I was missing out on a huge opportunity to help others through their own journey. Now, I talk …

From MY to OUR Cancer Journey

I received my ovarian cancer diagnosis in September of 2021.  Notice I said MY ovarian cancer diagnosis.  You see, after the initial news that I had a mass that was “highly suspicious of ovarian cancer,” having those “I never thought I would be having these conversations with my family” conversations, and the subsequent surgery that confirmed the cancer diagnosis, my …

My Cancer Story: Not a Gift, but a Learning Experience

by Kathy aka Cheese Curd It was March of 2016. I don’t remember the day, but I remember driving home from work and getting a call from a nurse navigator. She said my breast biopsy showed cancer – Stage 1 and Grade 1. I would most likely need surgery and radiation and I’d be fine.  I pulled into the driveway …

Say Yes

Cancer.  We all remember the how and where we heard about diagnosis.  For me, it was December 16, 2019 via MyChart at a basketball game.  As I like to say, I was ready for 2020 to be done before it started, it just took the rest of the world a bit longer to catch up.  I started 16 rounds of chemo, followed by more …

The Best Medicine is Understanding

Greetings!  I am a Nurse Navigator for the Blood Disorders and Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic at University of Colorado, Anschutz Campus. I have worked at this hospital for 12 years. I’d like to share the life- and career-changing experience I had from being a volunteer for Epic Experience.   My passion for working in oncology started when I was a travel …

Taking Back the “Old” Me

Blog by Camper Danny Lanka, a.k.a. “Babe”. Attended camp in 2015. The day I knew for sure I had cancer was the absolute worst day of my life. The day before, I saw end of my time on Earth as someplace WAY over the horizon, 20 or maybe 30 years away. Then, in the blink of an eye, my end …

You

While going through emails, I found one that contained an incredible correspondence between two campers who attended our very first summer program in 2013. Hollywood and 4G had an instant connection, even though there was a 30-year age difference between them and they had two different cancers: one had neuroendocrine cancer and the other bladder cancer. Both of these epic …

Letter to Self Part 1

Many think cancer disappears when treatment is over and there is no evidence of disease, but for so many, the side effects last forever. Thank you to one courageous Epic Experience camper for sharing what cancer has taken away from them.  This is why Epic Experience was founded: to provide a supportive community of people who understand what it’s like …

Meet Chris Chinn, the Newest Staff Member of Epic Experience

Greetings, Epic Experience community! I’m Chris Chinn, a.k.a. “Burpee.” As Epic Experience’s newest staff member, I wanted to introduce myself and tell you a bit more about the journey that led me to this point. Most of you knew my father Louis “Stud” Chinn. If you didn’t, you missed out on a whole bunch of Dad jokes that left you …