Guess who appeared on Atlanta & Company to amplify Blood Cancer Awareness Month? Yep, it was ME!!!

Watch the segment here.

Also, a fun fact is that the host and I unintentionally wore the same color scheme of navy and red! Everyone on set thought we planned it, but nope! I think our energy and fashion were matched in real time!

I’m honored that Blood Cancer United trusted me to serve as a spokesperson/ambassador and share a part of my cancer experience that doesn’t always receive the spotlight: being a caregiver.

I know what it’s like to hear the words, “You have cancer.” I also know what it’s like to be the daughter of a mother living with a rare blood cancer.

Being on the caregiver side of cancer has opened my eyes to an entirely different kind of fear, strength, exhaustion, advocacy, and love. Caregiving means keeping track of medications and appointments, asking questions, speaking up, offering emotional support, and trying to process your own fears while remaining strong for someone you love.

It also means staying on top of your own mental, physical, emotional, and financial health. It can be beautiful, overwhelming, and deeply isolating all at the same time.

That’s why raising awareness about all blood cancers is so important to me. It’s also why I want patients and caregivers to know they do not have to navigate this confusing and exhausting healthcare maze alone.

Blood Cancer United (formerly known as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) offers fantastic resources and supportive services for people living with blood cancers, as well as the family members, friends, and caregivers walking beside them. Caregivers need care, guidance, information, and community, too. I have attended many of their local Atlanta events & and conferences and have always attended virtual webinars as well to stay on top of the blood cancer my mother has had for well over a decade.

During the segment, we talked about my experience as both a cancer survivor and a caregiver, the importance of blood cancer awareness, and Atlanta’s Light The Night event on October 3rd at Piedmont Park.

Light The Night gives survivors, caregivers, family members, friends, chosen family, and advocates an opportunity to come together, honor those we love, remember those we have lost, and bring hope to people affected by blood cancer.

I also want to say this clearly: A lot of people assume I only know about breast cancer. Nope!

My lived experience, advocacy, and professional work extend across the cancer continuum. I understand cancer through multiple lenses—as a media & marketing professional, survivor, caregiver, patient advocate, patient education leader, a woman, a Black woman, ally, writer, storyteller, and speaker. I can speak about many types of cancer and the broader realities that patients, young adults, and families face.

Please don’t pigeonhole me. I am more than my diagnosis, and my expertise is bigger than one type of cancer.

Anyhoo, visit BloodCancerUnited.org to explore its resources and learn more about Light The Night. If you’re in Atlanta, I hope you’ll join us at Piedmont Park on October 3rd.

Let’s continue bringing blood cancers, and the experiences of caregivers, into the light.

Until next time,

Warrior Megsie