Camille Brady

Speaker: Camille Brady, Sarcoma Patient

Camille Brady: My cancer story started when I was 12 years old. I was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in my left hip and pelvis and was treated with about nine months of chemotherapy and four rounds, or four cycles, of proton beam radiation. I was declared NED by my 13th birthday and was in remission for five years until I was 17 years old in my senior year of high school, and I was diagnosed with radiation-induced osteosarcoma in the same location. And because I couldn't get radiation at that point, I went into another nine months of chemotherapy, standard MAP protocol, and had a limb salvage surgery to save my left leg. The tumor was safely removed, but I have permanent nerve damage all throughout my left leg and now I use a crutch to walk and have a permanent foot drop. So, still navigating all of that, but in September of this year, I will be five years NED again. I just graduated from Cornell University in May 2025 and I'm now living in Washington, DC, working full time.

Camille Brady: I have two pieces of advice, the first being that you have to remind yourself that it's OK to ask for help. I am a person who loves to have control over my situations, and being diagnosed with cancer, I realized that that is something completely beyond my control. And there are a lot of things in life that you cannot control. But what you can control is being OK with not being in control, and asking for help when you need it, even if you feel like you can do everything on your own and be independent. At some point, it makes a huge difference when you just kind of let your guard down and let your community, your family, your friends, everyone around you, your care team, just take hold of the reins and, kind of guide you through your journey. It's not a fun one, but having a strong support system really makes a huge difference. My second piece of advice would be to make sure that you know to the best of your ability what your diagnosis means and do the best you can to figure out what what your options are. The best thing you can do for yourself in this situation is be an advocate for yourself. And even if it means getting your friends or your family involved and figuring out together what that means, that's great, but you need to be able to come to your doctor with questions, and they can be whatever questions you want. But this is directly affecting you, and so, to the extent that you're comfortable, I think it's important that you really try to understand exactly what's going on. I think it'll make you feel better, it'll make your friends and family feel better, and you'll have a lot less anxiety about the whole process if you just ask whatever is on your mind. Your care team is there to support you and they want to answer your questions, so, definitely, definitely advocate for yourself in that department. Even if you feel like your questions aren't being answered, keep pressing until they are. No question is a stupid question. And knowledge is power.