When it comes to teenagers living with cancer, “it’s not like the movie The Fault In Our Stars,” says Sophie, an ambassador for cancer charity CanTeen. "It's not the pretty, romantic story."

And she would know. At 17, Sophie has seen what she calls “the ugly side of cancer.” In 2009, her older brother Hamish was diagnosed with a brain tumour and then two years later, she also discovered she had brain cancer.

“Hamish wasn’t interested in CanTeen,” Sophie told Yahoo7 Health. “He was more interested in getting better, getting home and forgetting her ever had cancer.” However, following her own diagnosis in 2011, Sophie decided to get involved with the organisation that has been helping young people living with cancer for 21 years. “I thought I’d just go just for the fun of it. Hamish also joined when I did but never got the chance to go to any camps.”

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Tragically, Hamish passed away in 2012, and the first CanTeen camp Sophie attended was called ‘Good Grief’ a couple of months later. She described it as “the best thing” for her. “Being at school everyone felt sorry for you and it’s not really what you’re looking for,” she says. “You want someone to help you, not pity you.”

Sophie found that meeting likeminded people through CanTeen filled a void that counsellors couldn’t meet (“It was like talking to counsellors with personal experience”) and it allowed her to be more open about what she was going through. “Death scares a lot of people and because they’ve experienced it, you can be quite open about it,” she says. “CanTeen lets you be you, and you don’t have to worry about scaring anyone because they’ve all seen the ugly side of cancer.”

With CanTeen, Sophie found the kind of support she was looking for. According to Professor Pandora Patterson, General Manager of Research and Youth Cancer Services at CanTeen, the organisation can play a vital role in addressing social isolation sometimes felt by teenage cancer sufferers.

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“Most young people who are suddenly confronted with cancer have lots of questions about everything to do with the cancer and the impact it will have on them and their family. It’s good to be able to go somewhere where the advice is appropriate for their age and accurate,” she says. “Friends often don’t understand what dealing with cancer is like, but everyone at CanTeen ‘gets it’.”

For Sophie, there are always going to be those “days when you just want to sit down and fall into a lump and a lot of people don’t understand that.” That’s where CanTeen has stepped in. “It has helped me through so many situations.

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“Attending a CanTeen camp provided me with a chance to be myself, have fun and not worry about the pressures of life, school and family.” Since her last MRI scan, Sophie is in the clear for the next six months and has been accepted to study nursing at university in 2016.

For more information or support visit canteen.org.au or call 1800 835 932. To support young people living with cancer this Bandanna Day, October 30, visit supportbandannaday.com.

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