<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"I first read Andrea&amp;#x27;s piece when it was floating around the office after being selected as the winner of our fifth personal essay contest. I was blown away by her intensely raw and beautiful writing--and I completely related to her &amp;quot;non-Zen&amp;quot; approach to cancer. So when an editor asked if I&amp;#x27;d like to interview Andrea to get an update on her life, I jumped at the chance. More than a year had passed since Andrea wrote her story, and she was still struggling with her illness. She had been in and out of the hospital while recuperating from pneumonia, and was trying to determine the next steps of her treatment. Because she had difficulty breathing and was on oxygen, our conversation took place over e-mail. I was devastated to hear that she&amp;#x27;d died just days before the issue containing her story appeared on newsstands. As a cancer patient myself, it hits me hard when someone loses her battle--especially someone as young and full of fight as Andrea. None of us at Glamour will ever forget her, and I&amp;#x27;m sure you won&amp;#x27;t be able to either. Here&amp;#x27;s how our exchange went: Q: When were you first diagnosed? A: At the end of 2001. It was actually kind of a relief. I had been in college, and had been sick for over a year. I was coughing all the time, losing a great deal of weight, and my skin itched like crazy. Finally I went to the family doctor. By then I had dropped out of college, and had honestly thought I was going insane. So in a twisted way, it was nice to know that the sickness wasn&amp;#x27;t all in my head. Q: Are you able to work right now? A: At the moment, no. And I&amp;#x27;m one of those freakish people who loves her job--I work at the most amazing clothing store, Urban Exchange. But I&amp;#x27;ve had complications after coming down with pneumonia this past winter that destroyed a little more of my lung capacity. We&amp;#x27;re in the middle of having a lot of tests and trying to decide what&amp;#x27;s going to happen in terms of further treatment and what will get me better. Fortunately I have good insurance and very generous parents who are helping me pay my bills. Q: I&amp;#x27;m so not a support group kind of girl. For me, my family and friends are my support system--who do you lean on most? A: For me, a support group would probably be a fate worse than death. My family is amazing, and I have the greatest friends in the world--some even have titles like &amp;quot;Cosmic Twin&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;Head Cheerleader.&amp;quot; They take me to my doctor appointments and out for beers afterward. They&amp;#x27;re the best. Q: I can&amp;#x27;t remember the last time I cried about my cancer...I just don&amp;#x27;t have the energy to go there. When was the last time you let it all out? A: It&amp;#x27;s a pretty rare occurrence for me, as well. I think the last time I really let it fly was the last time I was in the hospital. I couldn&amp;#x27;t sleep, it was late at night, and I was all alone. I remember thinking that I must have done something really shitty in a past life. For some reason I feel like I brought this cancer upon myself, but that&amp;#x27;s just me because I&amp;#x27;m crazy. In general, I feel like anger is a far more productive emotion than sadness. Wallowing seems too much like giving in to the disease. I&amp;#x27;d much rather kick its ass. Q: What&amp;#x27;s the most annoying thing people say to you about your cancer? A: I think it&amp;#x27;s either the oversympathizing/pity thing or the under-sympathizing that gets to me the most. I once had a coworker tell me that she knew exactly how I felt because she&amp;#x27;d just had a sinus infection. Seriously. Q: Anything fun you plan to do with your $10,000 prize money? A: I think I definitely need a vacation--somewhere tropical--and something Chanel. And I think my friends deserve a huge friend-appreciation party. So far they want a Super Sweet 16. Q: What do you want to do next? A: I sing, play guitar and write songs--I&amp;#x27;m in the middle of recording my first real CD. I also host a weekly open mike at a local nonprofit theater. All of that is on hold, but I can&amp;#x27;t wait to get back to it. I can&amp;#x27;t wait to get back to my life. And I&amp;#x27;m going to write more. I think this whole experience has finally dragged me, kicking and screaming, into writing a memoir. This disease needs to start paying for itself!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2008/05/meet-andrea-coller/2>