http://kaylinsworld.com/

“I can’t live my life in constant fear preparing for cancer to come back. I have to move on just for…survival.”—Kaylin from MTV’s show World of Jenks.

It thrills me that YA’s with cancer are coming “out” and exposing their lives for all to see and hear about. This is what Kaylin is doing on this season of MTV’s World of Jenks. The premise of the show is that a documentarian, the handsome Andrew Jenks, follows and lives with three different people on and off for a year. I can’t lie. The sole reason I began watching this show was for Kailyn. She is a new face for people like me—the cancerous and the young. The one’s who feel they have the most to lose. The show is about mid season right now and is rather incredible. Jenks is sweet and endearing and walks the line between friend/confidant and third party documentarian. He follows an autistic Chad that is, at the time of filming, transforming from young adult to an adult, graduating from his school for students with special needs to the workforce (I fell in love with Chad a little). He also follows Dreal and his dance crew that tries to end the violence in Oakland with their dancing after the “Dancing in the Rain” video garnered much attention on YouTube. Of course these story lines are much deeper than the brief overview I just gave, but they are all moving and inspirational. Obviously, Kaylin is the star of the show for me. She blogged about her life with cancer and spoke openly, honestly, and with a haunting voice I could probably not even imitate. Filled with the hope of the future, the audience sees her navigate through her trepidatious remission period and chronic pain and worry. Unlike me, Kaylin was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma, a rare bone disease in 2008. She underwent chemo and radiation and celebrated her own cancerversary. In 2010, Kailyn was dealt another blow and was diagnosed with papillary thyroid carcinoma and had surgery to “fix” another disease her body created. On the show, the audience sees Kaylin going to typical doctor visits for check ups, check ins, and meds. She deals with the (insert explicative of choice here) health care system while constantly being reassured her health is fine. Anyone that follows her blog, however, knows more than what MTV has shown thus far…her cancer has returned a third time and she too is being treated at Sloan.

I wonder what life would have been like for me had I known these faces and voices of cancer before I was diagnosed. It thrills me that there are people like Kaylin and Suleika that really put themselves out there for the world to see. They are faces that the young and cancerous can relate to. The realization of our inevitable mortality ties us all together and I am thankful for getting to hear their stories. My only hope for the future is that there are more YA’s out there that get to share their story and that society keeps opening doors for those of us that have to do so much just to live.