MY LIFE Matters - Health Literacy - Cover2

Conversation LETTER FROM NICK GIALLOURAKIS
HEALTH
LITERACY
NICK GIALLOURAKIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ELEPHANTS
& TEA
T
Nick
Thank you to
our Sponsors:
he topic of health literacy can take many forms.
For me, it is as a sibling and caregiver to a fivetime
cancer survivor. As a sibling to a five-time
cancer survivor, you truly don't know everything or
understand anything until it is too late. The lack of
resources and explanations for caregivers is minimal at times,
but as a sibling, it is far worse.
While we were more prepared as a family for the fourth
and fifth time my brother was diagnosed with cancer, there
were still topics that we had to self-advocate for. We had to constantly ask questions to make sure we all understood
what was going on.
In the year 2023, I find that our community is still dealing with the same issues my brother and my family
were 17 years ago, which is hard to believe. This needs to change and there needs to be more transparency and
communication on what it truly means to be a patient and survivor as a young adult.
In this latest collaboration with our friends at Tigerlily Foundation, we have some fantastic articles and powerful
personal stories that talk about exactly that: dealing with different issues as a cancer patient and navigating
your own health when presented with incomplete or confusing information. Cancer patients deserve to fully
understand what is going on with their own bodies, and healthcare providers should continue to strive to have
open communication with their patients so that the information presented is clear.
As always, I'd like to thank all of the contributors in this magazine for being vulnerable in sharing their own
experiences to help others know they are not alone in facing cancer. Our hope is that their stories will help
others continue to advocate for their own health. Storytelling is a powerful tool to be used in building community.
It takes a Herd to help each other face cancer and we are honored once again to partner with Tigerlily
Foundation in producing this newest edition of the MY LIFE Matters magazine.

MY LIFE Matters - Health Literacy

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MY LIFE Matters - Health Literacy