Young People Living, And Laughing, With Cancer

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Iva Skoch was 29 when she was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.

NPR

Iva Skoch was 29 when she was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.

NPR

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Kairol Rosenthal was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 27.

Courtesy of Kairol Rosenthal

Kairol Rosenthal was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 27.

Courtesy of Kairol Rosenthal

Can cancer be funny? Some patients think so; hundreds of popular blogs — many of which are written by cancer patients younger than 40 — combine realistic cancer confessions with a healthy dose of humor.

Iva Skoch and Kairol Rosenthal, two writers who were diagnosed with cancer in their late 20s, are among the advocates of a laughter-filled approach to the disease. They discuss the concept of "cancertainment" and suggest ways that young adults undergoing cancer treatment can take a different approach to the disease than older generations.

Skoch is the author of the recent Newsweek.com article "Young Patients Laugh at Cancer" and Rosenthal is the author of Everything Changes: The Insider's Guide to Cancer in Your 20s and 30s.