What happens when treatment ends but the journey continues? For young adult cancer survivors, the ringing of the bell marks not an ending, but the beginning of something more complex — survivorship.

In this powerful episode of Life on Pause, five young women who participated in Penn State Health Children's Hospital's inaugural PhotoVoice project come together to share their experiences using photography to tell the stories they struggled to put into words. Facilitated by social worker Meredith Noel and art therapist Alexis Steefel, this program gave childhood cancer survivors a space to explore themes of impact, visibility, loss and found, time, and "here."

Monica Henderson (rhabdomyosarcoma, 20+ years post-treatment) shares how PhotoVoice helped her break decades of silence and honor "little Monica" who never got to share her story. Gabriela (Hodgkin's lymphoma, 4 years post-treatment) describes finding community after feeling isolated as the first in her family diagnosed with cancer. Shelly Bliss (Ewing's sarcoma, 11 years post-treatment) reflects on photographing her prosthetics as a powerful measure of time and healing.

From Monica's dish soap bubbles representing "visibly invisible" survivorship to Lily's peeling paint symbolizing layers of untold stories, each photograph became a window into experiences that too often go unspoken. The participants discuss the pressure to package their stories with "a pretty little bow," the struggle to own the term "survivor," and the transformative power of finally being heard and understood.

This isn't just a story about cancer — it's about sisterhood formed through shared truth, the courage to be vulnerable, and the healing that happens when survivors can tell their whole story, not just the inspirational parts.

Topics Covered:

1. The PhotoVoice methodology and five weekly themes (Impact, Visibility, Lost & Found, Time, Here)
2. Why survivors struggle to own their narratives and the term "survivor"
3. The gallery exhibition at Penn State Health and family reactions
4. Sibling dynamics, twin relationships, and invisible trauma
5. Survivor's guilt and the pressure to be grateful
6. Living with late effects and ongoing health challenges
7. The moment they decided to ring the bell together — on their own terms
8. How photography gave voice to what words couldn't express
9. Building a survivorship community for the future

Featured Participants:

1. Lily Montgomery (Host) - Acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivor
2. Monica Henderson - Rhabdomyosarcoma survivor, 26 years old
3. Gabriela (Gabby) - Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor, 21 years old
4. Shelly Bliss - Ewing's sarcoma survivor, 20 years old
5. Meredith Noel - Social Worker and PhotoVoice Program Facilitator

About Life on Pause: Life on Pause is a podcast for and by young adults with...