I grew up in a medical family. My father was a doctor, and my mother was hospital dietitian. So, I've been familiar with medicine and medical terms virtually all my life. But like most people, I was hardly ready for a cancer diagnosis. Hearing words like oropharyngeal, metastasis, fractionated radiation and paclitaxel made it clear that would I have to learn quickly.

After my 2013 diagnosis of stage IV HPV-related tonsil cancer...