Print Orders Are Now Open for Our 59th Issue!
WORTH
Vol. 11, Issue No. 2
April / May 2026
Cancer changes the math of our lives. Jobs are paused or lost. Savings evaporate. The cost of simply staying alive rises in ways few people talk about. Many of us have faced the quiet panic of financial toxicity, the career detours we didn’t choose... And beneath all of that lives a deeper question: what is my worth now?
This new issue of Wildfire showcases stories about navigating money, employment, identity, and value in the aftermath of breast cancer. From money and career to purpose and worthiness.
We asked our writers to tell us the truth of what cancer costs — financially, emotionally, spiritually — to rebuild a life. And tell us where they found their own definition of worth along the way.
Paper Copy Dimensions
115 full-color pages on premium paper
Book size: 4.25” x 5.5”
Limited Print Run Only! Print copies available for order only until April 27th, 2026.
Available as a dynamic digital download starting April 25th, 2026.
“Worth is the quiet decision to live on purpoe after you have brushed up against the possibility of not living at all.”
Our unique storytelling and thoughtful design put us in a category of our own.
The Worth issue is for you if...
You've measured your value by what you produce — and cancer interrupted that equation without offering a replacement.
You've smiled through something that cost you everything, because it was easier than asking anyone to hold the weight of it.
You've felt the pressure to be an inspiration — and resented it, even while understanding it.
A cancer diagnosis forced you to reckon with the financial realities no one warned you about.
You've had to leave a career, a title, or an identity behind — and you're still figuring out who you are without it.
You've stood in a room full of people and felt like a stranger in your own life.
You've spent years performing okayness for the people around you — and you're exhausted by it.
You live with metastatic disease and need language for what thriving actually looks like from where you stand.
You've always known, somewhere beneath the doing and the achieving, that your worth was never really the point — and cancer finally made that unavoidable.
Wildfire Journal is not your typical cancer magazine. Below you’ll find a sampling of real pages from within this beautiful book-ish issue.
“Cancer didn’t teach me my worth. It stripped away the illusion that my worth was infinite and postponable.”
Underwriter Support Provided by:
AnaOno | Foobs & Fitness | iRise Above Foundation | The Busted Tank | SurvivingBreastCancer.org
Meet Guest Editor & Cover Star
Laura Carfang
Diagnosed at 34. Stage IIb, ER+, PR+, HER2 Equivocal
“I used to think worth could be measured. In degrees earned. Titles held. Salaries justified. Roles fulfilled. The neat math of productivity and proof.
Cancer does not care about your résumé.
It interrupts without consultation. It dismantles identities you thought were permanent. It forces a question many of us have avoided for years: Who am I?
This issue of WILDFIRE confronts that question without flinching. In this issue, worth refuses to be transactional. Worth is setting boundaries. It is reclaiming your voice when you were conditioned to soften it and understanding that you were never required to justify your existence in the first place. If there is anything I hope you carry from these pages, it is permission to believe that your value has never been up for negotiation.” ~ Laura, CEO of SurvivingBreastCancer.org
The “Worth” Writers
The storytelling approach we take in each issue of Wildfire is deeply community-driven. Our contributors are young survivors, thrivers, and fighters, writing from inside the experience—not looking back from a comfortable distance. Each piece is curated to foster connection, validation, and a sense of belonging, ensuring that when you pick up Wildfire, you see reflections of your own fears, hopes, and transformations.
-
Lindsey M. Campbell
DCIS. Stage I, ER+, PR+. Current Line of Treatment: Tamoxifen.
-
Laura Carfang
Chief executive officer of SurvivingBreastCancer.org. Diagnosed at 34. Stage IIb, ER+, PR+, HER2 Equivocal.
-
Jessica Clark-Chant
Executive producer for multimedia experiences within museums. Diagnosed in 2024 at 49. IDC, Stage III, ER+, PR+. Current Lines of Treatment: Letrozole, Abemaciclib, Zoladex, and Zoledronic Acid.
-
Alison Cusmano
Hematopoietic cell transplant nurse practitioner. Diagnosed at 35. IDC, Stage II, Triple Negative.
-
Cathy de la Cruz
Senior metadata manager, Penguin Random House. Diagnosed at 40. DCIS, Stage 0.
-
Naomi French
Mum, recovering teacher, writer, charity worker. Diagnosed in 2022 at 35. IDC, Stage IV, HER2+. Current Lines of Treatment: Phesgo and Denosumab.
-
Alicia Gehring
Full-time family COO, part-time registered nurse. Diagnosed in 2022 at 45. Inflammatory Breast Cancer, Stage III, Triple Negative.
-
Bridget Godwin
Physician, coach, researcher. Diagnosed in 2024 at 40. IDC, Stage II, Triple Positive. Current Lines of Treatment: Lupron, Anastrozole, and Zometa.
-
Kelly Gunn
Founder at Feinix Haus. Diagnosed in 2024 at 44. IDC, Stage I, ER+, PR+. Current Lines of Treatment: Oophorectomy and Tamoxifen.
-
Bess Hagans
Diagnosed in December 2021 at 32. Stage III, Hormone Positive.
-
Cheri Henderson
Diagnosed in 2019 at 39. IDC, Stage IIIa, ER+, PR+. Diagnosed in 2021 at 41 with Stage IV, ER+, PR+, HER2-low. Current Line of Treatment: IV chemotherapy (Enhertu) every 5 weeks.
-
Lauren Huffmaster
Cancer coach, founder, author, podcast host, advocate. Diagnosed in 2015. Stage III. Diagnosed in 2017 at 37. Stage IV, Triple Negative.
-
Alannah Jayne
Public servant. Diagnosed in 2023 at 29. IDC, Stage II, ER+, PR+. Current Lines of Treatment: Anastrozole, Lupron, Abemaciclib, and Zometa.
-
Teckla King-O’Connor
Medically retired. Diagnosed in 2016 at 37. IDC, Stage IV, ER+, PR+. In 2024 tumor expression mutated, currently ER-, PR-, HER2-low. Current Line of Treatment: Enhertu.
-
Kristina Kulin
Diagnosed in 2023 at 43. IDC, Stage I, Triple Positive. Current Line of Treatment: Tamoxifen.
-
Grace Murphy
Health care creative services and operations. Diagnosed at 31. IDC, Stage IV, HER2-low, Triple Negative.
-
Laura Murray
Elementary school teacher. Diagnosed in 2021 at 34. IDC, Stage IV, Triple Positive. ATM. Current Lines of Treatment: Herceptin, Perjeta, Zoladex, Letrozole, and Zometa.
-
Lisa Orr
Brand director at Elephants and Tea. Diagnosed in 2019 at 31. IDC, Stage II, Triple Negative, BRIP1, RAD51D.
-
Diana Dawn Rosiello
Writer, single mother, carb loader. Diagnosed in 2024 at 49. IDC, Stage I, ER+, PR+. Current Line of Treatment: Aromatase Inhibitor.
-
Dr. Alicia San Miguel, PhD
Licensed clinical psychologist, dancer, dragonboat paddler. Misdiagnosed in 2023 as Stage II. Staged correctly in 2023 at 39. IDC, Stage IV, ER+, PR+. Current Lines of Treatment: Zoladex, Letrozole, and Ibrance.
-
Cara Nash Snyder
Professional patient. Diagnosed at 39. IDC, Stage III, Triple Negative, and then Stage IV. Current Lines of Treatment: Keytruda and MVASI.
Order Your Copy! Print or Digital
Paper Copies: Print copies available for order now thru April 27th, 2026.
115 full-color pages on premium paper
Book size: 4.25” x 5.5”
Digital Copies: Available as a dynamic digital download starting April 25th, 2026.
“Life’s crumbs are the moments you miss when you are rushing, the sounds you do not attend to, the sensations of the world that tell you that you are alive... Despite the cancer that metastasized throughout my lungs. I breathe. I can breathe. I am savoring these moments because this is enough. I am worthy enough to savor these crumbs life has provided in the in between.”
At Wildfire, we are challenging the sterile, pink-washed narratives of traditional breast cancer media.
Each issue is a beautifully designed, book-quality collection of raw, moving, and visually rich personal essays, reflecting the reality of survivorship in all its complexity. By elevating the stories of those who have been marginalized in mainstream cancer conversations, we foster connection, advocacy, and a lasting legacy of truth-telling.
Our design philosophy is artful, immersive, and editorially rich. We blend evocative photography, bold typography, and modern layout design to create a reading experience that is both literary and visually compelling. This attention to aesthetics elevates the deeply personal narratives, reinforcing that breast cancer stories deserve the same level of artistry and care as any major literary publication.
Happy reading (and writing!).
— April Stearns, Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Get This Issue Now!
Choose Your Reading Preference
-
Subscription Option 1: Print + Digital Lush, print copies arrive on your doorstep every other month, starting with the current issue. In the meantime, you get to enjoy full access to our decade of accumulated beautiful digital archives.
Subscription Option 2: Digital-Only
True instant gratification: full access to our decade of accumulated beautiful digital archives including the current issue.✨ Either subscription option offers the most value-add and provides savings over the newsstand price.
A portion of each new subscription is donated to organizations that fund research to end the deaths from metastatic breast cancer.
-
Each issue we publish is available for individual “newsstand” purchase.
Select from instant-gratification digital downloads, or order a lush print copy to be sent to your mailbox (while copies last).
