Andre Cote - Portrait of an AYA Cancer Survivor

AYA Cancer Survivors

Kirollos Gendi

As a child, Kirollos "Cookie" Gendi thought of himself as "sporty," a kid who could play soccer, basketball and run around with his siblings. But when he was diagnosed with stage 1 Ewing’s sarcoma at age 9, his self-perception changed, and he adapted. Read more

Karmina Barrales

Karmina Barrales says she named her daughter Natalia Guadalupe because she prayed to the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe to make her a mother if it was meant to be and, if – as an ovarian cancer survivor – she could conceive. Read more

Andre Cote

Andre Cote, 27, says his cancer diagnosis at 22 may have stunned his doctors as much as it did him. "Doctors don’t want to believe that someone as young as I was has cancer," says Cote. Read more

Lisa Ann Marie Stamps

Lisa Ann Marie Stamps was 36 and home from her honeymoon just a few weeks when she was diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer. A former beauty queen, hula dancer and martial artist, the diagnosis slapped Stamps doubly hard because she has always taken impeccable care of her body. Read more

Danny Cocke

At age 22, Danny Cocke was reveling in the newfound independence of young adulthood when cancer sent him back home into the fold of his family, and into an awkward period of dependence. Read more

"Doctors don’t want to believe that someone as young as I was has cancer."

~ Andre Cote

Andre Cote, 27, says his cancer diagnosis at 22 may have stunned his doctors as much as it did him.

"Doctors don’t want to believe that someone as young as I was has cancer," says Cote.

That’s not an uncommon phenomenon for young adults with cancer. Doctors sometimes rule out cancer as a possibility for seemingly healthy young adults.

Cote had lost his father to lung cancer when he was 17, so when he himself was diagnosed with thyroid cancer five years later, he knew it was serious. In fact, at first he was certain the cancer would kill him, as it had his father.

But Cote’s doctor reassured him that thyroid cancer is extremely responsive to treatment, with a cure rate of 99 percent if caught early. And Cote and his doctors hit his cancer hard. His treatment was rigorous, requiring him to take iodine and have two surgeries.

"As far as cancer goes, it’s like winning the lottery of cancer," he says.

But the cancer and subsequent treatment gave him new focus.

"Before that I wasn’t a great student. I didn’t put much effort into school," he says. Now, he says he wants to be a doctor to help people – perhaps even young adults with cancer.

Cote is a member of the Young Adult Cancer Advisory Board, a group dedicated to helping others with cancer feel less alone.

"It gave me a completely new perspective on my life," Cote says of his cancer journey. "It’s been a real gift."