Hi, We’re High School Yearbook

Yes, that’s us, a team from HSYB, in the back row, during the interview of Alina Bedford and her family.

When a young person gets a diagnosis of cancer, the entire family gets it, and they have to pull together to fight it. Alina has that extraordinary family. They’re held together by faith and love, and that support meant everything to her and her recovery. They will have a chapter in the upcoming book we’re putting together now, being published by The Marymount Institute at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Teens and young adults just getting their diagnosis need to hear from the Bedfords and the many other teens and families we’ve interviewed across the United States and Canada. What was their experience, and how did they handle it? Alina and her family generously shared their experience and wisdom so that those just getting their diagnosis won’t feel alone, and might learn something from their journey. Our intent is to give this book away to every teen and young adult getting a diagnosis of cancer, at the moment they get that diagnosis. These teenagers and their families are remarkable people in so many ways, and their stories are empowering and very moving. They have to be heard.

(bottom row, from left to right: Sariah, Alina, Shannon, Kylie and Brian; top row from left: Jeff Homolya, Amanda Denham, Sam Frankel, Nicole David and Brian Braff)