Beyond Cancer Series

The Beyond Cancer Series started in October 2018 as the Epic Experience Education Series. The goal was to maintain a sense of community among Epic Experience alumni, family, caregivers, and friends, while also providing information and resources surrounding a variety of topics related to living beyond cancer, everything from professional development to mental health. The series was also launched as …

Don’t Call it a Comeback – The Reason for the Season

Steve Nash, James Harden, Alex Rodriguez, Roberto Clemente, and Dan Marino are some of the most well-known sports icons who have worn the number 13 on their teams. For the first time in my life and in my cancer journey, I also get to proudly wear the number 13, as today marks 13 years of clear scans and good health. …

Isolation or Blessing?

COVID-19. Coronavirus. Stay-at-home. Shelter-in-place. Quarantine. These are terms that most of us have either never heard of or ever believed would directly impact us. Yet, these are now the daily “terms” of our lives.  The global pandemic has forced whole countries to isolate themselves from other countries. Within our own country, each state has made its own “isolated” decisions on …

Fiddler’s Green

“To young men contemplating a voyage I would say ‘Go.’” Captain Joshua Slocum, 1st solo circumnavigator I wonder what old Josh would say to one who found himself thrust into a voyage without time for prior contemplation? Or to the one on a voyage that would continue for a lifetime? I suppose that growing up at a lighthouse on the …

volunteering at camp

On the Other Side – Volunteering at Camp

I was fortunate enough to be an Epic Experience camper in the June 2018 group fondly known as Big Girl Panties, as in pull them up and get on with your life. I had an incredible time; came to understand, respect, and love the new me (my after-cancer-treatment self); and made lifelong new besties. Camp was inspirational, motivational, and eye-opening, …

Yard Sale

I found out about Epic Experience through a magazine article in my oncologist’s office. After reading how Epic claimed to help adult cancer patients learn to “live beyond cancer,” I stole the magazine (I actually told my doctor I was taking it) and applied for camp. I was thrilled to be accepted as a camper in the summer of 2018. …

The Joy of the Moment

Hello! My name is Cheese Curd, or Kathy. My story all began with a lump in my breast I felt in the winter of 2015. Earlier that year I had done three half marathons and took second in a national fitness challenge. I was a vegetarian for almost 40 years, ate fairly clean, received regular acupuncture, and did yoga, Pilates, …

Cancer Club

Hello! I’m Lahana, or as the rest of the world knows me, Kelly Capre. However, I prefer my camp name “Lahana.” I came to camp in June of 2016. A couple months prior, a friend told me she had just signed up for a camp later that summer. Later that day, I watched the video on Epic’s home page. I …

Don’t Be a Stuffer

In May 1999, as a recently engaged thirty-two-year old, I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Given the two western medicine options—hysterectomy and a relatively untested drug—I opted for door number 3: an alternative juicing therapy. Six months later, however, it became clear the cancer was too aggressive and I ended up having a hysterectomy anyway. I never really wanted kids. …