Young Adults and Teens

Young adults going through transplant face some unique challenges. Your life has been disrupted by a major disease and a lengthy recovery period at a time when you are making many other major life transitions. You may have been in the process of leaving home, going to school, starting a new career, exploring dating and relationships and finally gaining independence from your parents. The transplant may thrustsyou back into a role of dependency which can be depressing and challenging.

The transplant also leaves you with new challenges not shared by your peers. You will need to learn whether and when to discuss your medical history with potential employers. How do you tell a person you are dating and, perhaps, are considering marrying about your medical history and its consequences, such as infertilityThe inability to produce children.? How do youset limits on parents, health care professionals and friends on how much control they will exert over your life?

BMT InfoNet offers a series of webcasts that address many of the issues facing young adult transplant survivors.  They include:

• Taking Charge of Your Health Care
• The Emotional Adventures of Being a Young Adult Transplant Survivor
• Show me the money! Finding Financial Resources for Young Adult Survivors
• Financial Management for Young Adults
• Relationships and Intimacy

A number of organizations now exist that provide information and social networking opportunities for young adult survivors of cancer and other life threatening illnesses. The groups offer everything from peer support to information about financial aid, scholarships and employment information. A list of these groups can be found in the Related Links box on the right.

Educational scholarships are available for cancer survivors. In some cases, they are available for siblings as well.

Click on the links in the right hand column for more about resources available to young adult transplant survivors.