What A 14-Year-Old Cancer Patient Can Teach Us All About Self-Advocacy

InnovationHealthcareWhat A 14-Year-Old Cancer Patient Can Teach Us All About Self-AdvocacyByAdaira Landry, MD MEd,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Physician who writes about the rising rates of cancer in young adults.Follow AuthorMay 07, 2026, 11:58am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Jessi BuchananLifetouch Inc. 2025.When Jessi Buchanan’s mother took her to the doctor on April 28, 2025, she expected a stomach bug. What they found instead was a mass the size of a cantaloupe on Jessi’s right ovary. Within weeks, the then eigth-grader from Kentucky would be navigating one of the rarest pediatric cancers in the world — and insisting, with kind but unwavering conviction, that she be included in every decision about her own body.She was 13 years old.A Diagnosis Nobody Saw ComingJessi was an otherwise healthy girl who enjoyed horseback riding, volleyball, and coloring. Her symptoms – bloating, nausea, diarrhea and an inability to get comfortable – developed rather suddenly, only days before her diagnosis. At the hospital, doctors considered her constellation of symptoms to be from a stomach virus, infection, or pregnancy. However, given her degree of discomfort a CT scan was ordered, which showed a large pelvic mass. Jessi’s doctors privately told her parents about their concern for cancer. Jessi remembers not being in the room.“I feel like I should have been present, because it’s my body. I wanted to be part of that conversation,” she told me. Jessi’s preference is supported by data. Though limited, research shows that when children are involved in decision-making, they experience decreased anxiety, increased sense of value and control, and improved communication between children, parents, and clinicians. Understandably, many parents and clinicians may wonder if a child is too young to discuss such heavy news. However pediatric clinicia...