David X and Vanessa might never have met. But the 21-year-old college student and the 77-year-old former Black Panther were united by cancer.

Michelle's journey ends with two surgeries and a big surprise.

Michelle McBride decided she wanted to know. She recounts her own path, step-by-step, through learning she has the BRCA mutation and dealing with the results. Her first step? Genetic testing.

Now that she knows that she is positive for the BRCA 2 mutation, Michelle must decide on a plan of action.

Even as the decisions remain tough and the surgeries remain daunting, Michelle sees blue skies ahead.

With a week to go before her second surgery, Michelle reflects on the path that led her here.

In this excerpt from his forthcoming book Love, Kristen, pilot Kirk Forbes combines his recollections of his daughter's fight against terminal cervical cancer with her journals and poetry from that time.

"My favorite photo has always been the one where she’s sitting in a car, flipping off the camera. I like to think it’s cancer on the other side of that lens, cancer who’s receiving that defiant flip-off."

When faced with an impossible decision, Deirdre had to come to terms with the fact that she couldn't rescue her son.

Saving your own life not providing enough incentive? Steve Young starts you down the path to overcoming the prospect of discomfort, detailing the many side perks to making (and keeping) your colonoscopy appointment.

Another summer will end Sunday. The new Yankee Stadium, located just across the street, is supposed to look much like the old Yankee Stadium. But you can’t re-create moments, and you can’t move the memories of one place to another. I miss my sister, for sure. But I’m glad she won’t be there on Sunday.

Robin Roberts had always lived her life by seven guiding rules. After her cancer diagnosis, she added an eighth rule, and a new chapter to her book. A selection from the new chapter.

For the 46 million Americans without health insurance, cancer research is the first step to a healthier tomorrow.

Being a world-class chef doesn’t keep you from getting tongue cancer. But Grant Achatz didn’t let tongue cancer keep him from being a world-class chef. The renowned culinarian in his own words.

“It was the first news I’d ever heard after being told to sit down. I’d just come into my room after a week of midterms, and the phone rang. My sister. When she told me that I should sit, I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t think that there was anything that bad that she could possibly say.”

An excerpt from the NYT Bestseller. "So, when I was in the bath with the girls, I was, you know, washing myself, and I found a lump." As I talk, I touch it again and again, like you would a loose tooth or a canker sore, each time, surprised to find it still there.

It was bad enough getting breast cancer the first time. But ten years after having her right breast removed, author and comedienne Tania Katan found herself reliving history – in more ways than one.

“If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?” An excerpt from this powerful book by the late Randy Pausch, written with Jeffrey Zaslow.

In an open letter, Nancy Sharp shares the knowledge she has gained from experience on how to get through the loss of a spouse.

Robert Schimmel was on top of the world in 2000 – until he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. While sitting in the waiting room before his first chemo treatment, the comedian made a command decision to laugh his way through cancer. And, funnily enough, that's just what he did.

As Allison Stanley discovered, the cameras don’t stop rolling in reality television. Even for cancer.

They don’t tell you how to parent with cancer. There aren’t any books or magazines. So, throughout six months of chemo and radiation, with the help of a good sense of humor and a collection of off color wigs, Jen Singer winged it.

Being a caregiver to a loved one with cancer and still taking care of yourself and your relationship is no easy feat. A Wellness Community advocate and the mother of a cancer survivor, Ellen Silver gives some tips on how to maintain the balance.

Helping a parent overcome cancer? Listen to the writers behind The Nanny Diaries: Drop your pre-conceived notions and pick up an extra bouquet.

Advice and tools to help you keep your friends close without losing your mind.

Some people get cake. "Sex and the City" scribe Cindy Chupack got a mammogram for her birthday.

Where and why do we draw a line between extending empathy and assigning blame when it comes to cancer? Should we be drawing that line at all? Laurie Lathem remembers her brother Niles and his fight with lung cancer.

Stacey Winkler shares her unique and irreverent take on the etiquette of cancer - or the lack thereof.