Acknowledgement: Patient Worthy is proud to share this article from our friends at Elephants & Tea. To see the article in its original form, please click here.

I wish someone would have told me that being young won’t save me from all of the horrible side effects of cancer treatment.

I wish someone would have told me that being a young adult and having cancer is a special kind of hell that erupts during some of the most important years of your young adult life. When I was diagnosed with a rare ovarian cancer at age 32, I knew life as I once knew it was over, forever. I was building my 10-year career, living a wonderful life with my husband of 8 years, and spending time with my family and friends. After I was diagnosed, I had to leave my job, and my husband became my primary caregiver.

I wish someone would have told me that treatment was going to be so hard despite my age.

I wish someone would have told me that I would lose friends.

I wish someone would have told me that my brain would never go back to pre-cancer memory.

At last, I wish someone would have told me that I would find my family, that having cancer made my marriage stronger, that I would learn to love so deeply, and that I would find so much positivity in every single day.