The National LGBT Cancer Network has released “Out: The National Cancer Survey”, the largest-ever LGBTQIA+ cancer survivor survey. The report is based on findings from over 2700 respondents across the United States, and is a massive step in understanding the ways in which LGBTQIA+ people experience cancer and cancer care.
Hi, I’m Skylar and I’m a proud member of the LGBT community. A couple years ago, I learned that my younger sister had begun vaping. Vaping pods with flavors and very high concentrations of nicotine. Of course, I worried about this newfound addiction, but she assured me that it was safer because she was vaping and not smoking. However, the huge amount of nicotine in the pods soon proved to be enough. Despite there being much more nicotine in vape products, she quickly moved to cigarettes as well. First, she was socially smoking and then she became pretty dependent on nicotine as a substance. My little sister is a professional singer and a really amazing vocalist and song-writer. I was terrified for her because of this thing that she stumbled into over the course of her nightlife as a student and as a young bisexual woman (which I later realized put her at twice as much risk as a heterosexual person for starting to vape). This product that she had become dependent on could take away the thing that she’s the most passionate about, and beyond that potentially take away her life. I was terrified, both at the idea of losing her too soon and at the idea of having to see her live without her voice, which is the most important thing to her. Thankfully, it took a year or two, but my little sister has since quit using all nicotine products, and I am so SO happy and hope that she won’t see any long-term effects.
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