Feb. 1, 2022 — Today, the Together by St. Jude blog turns 1.

Exactly 1 year ago today, we published our first 2 posts.

The first article introduced the blog. It announced our mission – to feature a variety of voices on timely topics about childhood and adolescent cancer.

The second article focused on how childhood and adolescent cancer patients can stay physically active during and after treatment. It was written by Robyn Partin, manager of clinical operations for the Human Performance Lab at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

A Variety of Voices

Many of our articles are written by St. Jude faculty and staff. But the Together by St. Jude blog features the voices of patients, survivors, and experts from places around the world.

First-year Together by St. Jude™ highlights include:

• 38 posts
• 25 authors
• 4 countries –Colombia, Peru, United Kingdom, United States
• 7 organizations and institutions —including Epic Experience, Dear Jack Foundation, First Descents, and Cancer Legal Resource Center
  

We heard from top leaders at St. Jude during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September. President and CEO James R. Downing, MD, shared insights about the progress made in improving care and treatment for childhood cancer patients and survivors.

Executive Vice President Charles Roberts, MD, PhD, shared his personal story of his career as a pediatric oncologist and scientist.

Both posts were among our most widely read.

Timely Topics 

Not surprisingly, COVID-19 was the topic written about most often. The pandemic has affected everyone, including childhood adolescent cancer patients and survivors.

Here are some questions to ask your child’s care team if you’re concerned about radiation exposure: 

One of the most popular blog posts was Self-Care During a Pandemic: Lessons Learned After 1 Year of COVID. It was written by Michael McNeil, MD, a St. Jude pediatric hematology/ oncology fellow.

We published Talking to Your Child About the COVID-19 Vaccine shortly after the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for children ages 5-11. Educator Justin Gardner shared a blog post about cancer patients and survivors attending school during the COVID-19 pandemic: Back to School Following Cancer and COVID-19

The blog also featured many personal stories from cancer patients and survivors. My favorites were:

• Facing Cancer Together: The Story of 2 Best Friends by Emma Gilpin
• Reminders (not Resolutions) for the New Year by Somer Greene
• My Childhood Cancer Story by Maria Angelica Tejada Lorenzo
  

Help us Improve

• We would love to hear your story ideas.
• Better yet – contribute a blog post.
• Have an idea for how we can do better? Let us know.

Email us at together@stjude.org. We cannot wait to hear from you.