Nobody can know what it is like to be a cancer patient without actually having cancer. Before I was diagnosed, I had proximity to cancer patients and experiences in health care that I thought gave me insight. In some ways they did. Yet although I had previously experienced discrimination for being transgender, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to endure as a trans cancer patient.
The abusive treatment I have experienced makes clear how having cancer and being trans are stigmatized in our health care system.
In the summer of 2020, at age 26, I was diagnosed with a rare eye cancer — uveal melanoma. I live in Oakland and was fortunate to have most of my care close by in San Francisco, though due to the rarity of my illness I traveled to Davis for radiation. Many patients with my type of cancer have to travel out of state or drive several hours to access care.
