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 …

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 …

Life is a gift, that’s why they call it the present

Many of us have had life changing moments; some good, some bad. I had mine on March 5, 2014.  That was the day that I was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer and given 2 years to live.  It came out of the blue.  It was an incidental finding and I had absolutely no risk factors or symptoms leading up …

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. …

What difference can a dog make in someone’s life?

We met Jessex in 2010 when he was an eight-week-old puppy. He was the seventh dog we had raised for Canine Companions for Independence, an organization that trains service dogs to be the ears, hands, legs, and best friends of people in need. When you start training a puppy, you never know if he will “graduate” to live a life …

How Experiences with Cancer Thrivers Changed my Perspective

I will never forget my college experience, but that is for very different reasons than most college students. It was not because of the endless parties, staying up all night, or enjoying my independence. It was because during my junior year, I was with my older brother when he heard the words, “You have cancer.”

Why We Grow for our Bros in November

Because I work in the cancer not-for-profit sector, when November rolls around each year I am often asked, “What is the difference between Movember and No Shave November?” Good question, but is it the one we should be asking? The month of November gives us a chance to think about something else: How do we build awareness within the cancer …

Seizing the Moment

Once cancer comes into your family and you have to face it alongside a loved one, your perspective in life tends to change—at least I know it did for me when my brother, Michael, was diagnosed with testicular cancer. At the time of Michael’s diagnosis, we were both still in college at Regis University; he was a senior and I …

Why I Do What I Do

In 2012 Abby Staible and I founded Epic Experience with the goal of offering hope to adult cancer survivors and their caregivers. It is now June of 2016. More than 250 campers have enjoyed a week at Epic Experience, and we have 35 signed up for the remaining three summer camps of 2016. We have offered 22 camps, including one …