Think back to your teenage years… You may have been walking around the mall with your friends or maybe in your bedroom playing the radio and waiting for your favorite song. Or maybe you were up late trying to find exactly what equals “x” after daydreaming about your favorite crush. But enough about me. Most adolescent years are stressful, full of change and require constant adjustment to new friends, new attitudes, new classes, new trends, etc. Some kids, on top of all those teenage worries, are also in a literal fight for their lives.
This was the story of my little brother, Emmanuel Agyemang, when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at 16 years old. He went from learning marching band routines and algebra 2 to limb salvage surgery in another state and months of tortuous chemotherapy. Adolescents with cancer must consider their future in a way few adults ever will. They must consider their 5-year mortality, being left behind in school due to treatment, missing prom, pep rallies and inside jokes, you just “had to be there” to understand. They must consider their fertility after chemotherapy. They must consider their parents who are heartbroken at the diagnosis and their community who cannot help but look at them with pity. They deal with the constant threat of death. Death after going to the movies because someone next to them is sick. Death after a surgical complication. Death due to medical mistakes.
Surviving this is a monumental feat. Something to be celebrated and honored. Fresh Start Primary Care is a direct primary care that prioritizes a high-quality patient-doctor relationship and survivors of pediatric cancer need a partner in primary care that can help them navigate the unique challenges in survivorship. In remembrance of my brother, Fresh Start Primary Care will be offering FREE memberships to any survivors of pediatric cancer, age 12 years and older. Survivors can apply on the website and enjoy a premium primary care membership for life. This includes the 24/7 access to Dr. Agyemang, unlimited visits, included office procedures, 80% off labs, unrushed office visits and much more that all paid members receive regardless of insurance status. Share this with a pediatric cancer survivor you know today.
Warmly,
Dr. Agyemang
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