We found support and each other at Gilda's Club
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Sarah and Vika, Survivors
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Sarah: We got to be friends by being in a support group at Gilda's Club for young adults who have cancer.
Vika: Yes. We basically started the support group and we were in the same support group for about a year together.
Sarah: Yeah.
Vika: Every Monday.
Sarah: I left after a year; you kept going.
Vika: Yeah, I went for a year and a half.
Sarah: You love the people too much.
Vika: Yeah, I love the support too much.
Sarah: It’s true, it’s important so, and we’re still friends.
Vika: Yeah.
Sarah: The biggest thing for me in all of it was to connect with other people who have had a cancer. I mean being in a young-adult support group was the most important thing that I did throughout my chemotherapy because I needed people to connect with and say, “Are you going through the same experience?” And almost every single time, we all said yes. Yeah, we’re having the same experience. You know, “This is what’s happening to my body,” or “This is how…,” and you can laugh about it with the people who are going through it because you can’t do anything else you know. Either laugh about it or you cry you about it so.
Vika: You had your head shaved by your two friends?
Sarah: Right and I had it shaved like two weeks into my—well like as soon as it started falling out, I was just, I couldn’t take it, I had long hair, I didn’t want it to end up everywhere so I just shaved it all off.
Vika: And her two friends shaved their heads too which is very nice and then I held out for about 4 months into chemotherapy, because my type of chemotherapy your hair falls out very gradually. So I run my fingers through my hair…
Sarah: I know.
Vika: …and I would get a whole bunch of hair it wouldn’t all—it’s not like I woke up one morning, it’s all gone. I woke up every single day for four months with hair on my pillow, really thin hair by the end of four months.
Sarah: Right.
Vika: It kinda looked bad, I couldn’t leave the house without a bandana. So I decided to do it.
Sarah: Well, throughout the process, probably like the first week that we’ve met each other, I just—I was like, you can just tell me when you want me to come over and shave your head.
Vika: Yeah.
Sarah: Because I had the clippers and she just came in like, “I’m not sure.”
Vika: Yeah.
Sarah: “I wanna keep my hair if I can.”
Vika: So I was—yeah, I wasn’t sure what was gonna happen with my hair but, so then one day, I just called Sarah on the phone and I said, “Hey, can you come over and shave my head?” So.
Sarah: No, I think you actually text-messaged me and…
Vika: Yeah.
Sarah: …said, ""I think I’m ready to shave my head."" And I called and I said, “I’ll come over tonight with the clippers.”
Vika: Yeah.