Laughing at Cancer: Discovering Funny Personal Cancer Blogs

Is it ever okay to laugh at cancer? Is it okay to joke about cancer? Yes. Are there such things as funny personal cancer blogs? We think so!

Here is a list of five cancer bloggers we are reading now who talk about their experiences with cancer in unusual, sometimes educational, mostly amusing, sometimes sad, and entirely personal ways. If you’re looking for that feeling of “I just can’t stop scrolling,” you’ve come to the right place. 

And if you think the topic of funny cancer blogs is in questionable taste, I would like to quote for you the great journalist Leroy Sievers:

"Cancer takes so much from our lives. I think it's important to keep it from stealing our laughter. And for all the people who don't have cancer and who get uncomfortable if we joke about it, it's OK. It's just a disease. We need to be able to laugh about it, and we need you to laugh with us. Not the uncomfortable, nervous laugh, but real laughter, the kind that makes you feel better. We'll all be better off."

Stupid Dumb Breast Cancer: Ann Marie Giannino (Otis) is our first choice for real-life tales in the online realm. Her beautiful, graceful funny personal cancer blog is full of stories about life, love, and family and the effects of cancer on the whole lot. She puts a lot of focus on her family and isn’t afraid to share some of their most intimate moments with us. You can tell that she has a truly special relationship with her children, and many people find her to be an inspiration.

Not only that but since her journey began, she has gotten involved in raising a lot of money for cancer research, as well as awareness and laughs for people struggling with cancer.

“Since its inception in 2012, Stupid Dumb Breast Cancer has raised and contributed over $750,000 to a variety of breast cancer organizations, including Stand Up to Cancer, Duke Hospital, Wilmot Cancer Center, the Upstate Cancer Center, CancerConnects, Personal P.Ink, and the Maureen’s Hope Foundation.”

Life with Chronic Illnesses: Along with her older blog, Caroline’s Breast Cancer Blog, Life with Chronic Illnesses is another funny personal cancer blog. It is a great place to read some extremely relatable, hilarious stories about life with cancer (and other illnesses). What makes this writer great is that she hides nothing of her own character, mistakes, and flaws. This makes her so easy to connect with from the very first sentence.

“Married to the most wonderful man. My list of ailments so you can keep up: left knee full of osteoarthritis, right knee recovering from a meniscus repair, bursitis in both hips, lymphedema issues in the left arm, tennis elbow right arm, degenerating and dessicated disks in my back (two separate areas) that cannot be repaired by surgery, along with a bone spur in my neck, fibromyalgia, and rheumatoid arthritis. Oh, and then there is that cancer thing twice now… But I’m still here.”

Lauren Tedaldi: “Ex-scientist, stalled writer, current mammy. Went on #maternityleave, and ended up with #breastcancer. Not mutually exclusive, it turns out. Views my own. ”

When we first set eyes on Lauren’s personal cancer blog, we were absolutely mesmerized. The very first thing we saw was a gruesome tale of an exploding breast in the middle of an airplane hours away from landing… with a small child on her lap. There’s no way you don’t want to know how this turns out.

“After Entertaining, we had moved to Inconvenient, as we blocked one (of two) bathrooms on a full plane, and then we swiftly upgraded to ‘Christ-at-least-were-not-them’ status. ”

It’s hard not to fall in love with her quick wit and openness. Honestly, you can’t do much better in terms of hilarious cancer adventures than Lauren. She knows how to laugh at cancer. Interestingly though, Lauren never reads personal cancer blogs, but she writes about cancer.

Hotel Melanoma is a funny personal cancer blog offering up a mixed bag of stories, photos, quotes, old people jokes, and lots and lots of good music. Although the blog has not been updated since 2017, what we like about author Rich McDonald is that he talked about a less-talked-about brand of cancer, and combines good old-fashioned humor with awareness-raising.

“The “Hotel Melanoma” moniker is a metaphor for living with my particular brand of cancer. Except for those lucky few of us deemed “cured”, all we cancer survivors are guests of one of the many, many branded hotels in the “Hotel Carcinoma” chain. We can check out any time we like, but we can never leave. Meanwhile, let’s be livin’ it up, and please support cancer education, prevention, and treatment research.”

Most of all, he promotes a healthy and safe attitude when it comes to UV protection and the use of sunscreen. Let’s face it, we could all do a little bit better in that department.

“Your beach or desert golf ‘glow’ would much better come from your sparkling wit under the influence of a margarita or three than an excessive dose of UV rays. Okay?”

Cancer Owl: One of our favorite personal cancer blogs that laugh at cancer is Cancer Owl, a funny cancer blog by Matthew Paul Mewhorter where he draws himself as an owl.

“The comic has been able to impact thousands and is currently being used in cancer support groups and college classrooms. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear about how the comic has made a difference in the lives of cancer patients, survivors, caretakers, and healthcare professionals.”

You can go back and read about his entire journey through Cancer Land in an adorable owl format. Even more amazingly, he now takes the stories sent to him by his readers and transforms their daily adventures into owl comics.

Take a look at what people are sharing, or go ahead and share your own story! But, for sure, don’t miss this amazing comic.

The Cult of Perfect Motherhood: This is one funny personal cancer blog that we simply couldn’t leave out of this list. However, recommending it comes with a caveat: be aware that the amazing, beautiful, lovely author Beth Caldwell passed away on November 2’nd 2017 after a long struggle with cancer.

While her final posts are justifiably sadder and darker, this remains one of the most beautiful and fun blogs out there on the topic of living with cancer.

We particularly enjoy her series on “Crazy Cancer Cures” dedicated wholeheartedly to all those of us who are sick and tired of hearing, “Hey, you know what I heard works?”. Most notably, she mentions curry, farts, and the ever-present positive thinking.

We can’t help but bow down to the strength of this amazing woman who, in one of the last posts on her blog, announced to all of us that the conclusion had arrived: she was going to die within two months. Her takeaway?

“For now, I’m alive. I get to watch my bathroom getting remodeled. I get to watch my kids dress up in costumes. I get to watch them play with our new dog (her name is Nova, and she’s perfect). This is the life I have, and I’m going to enjoy it.”