What happens when cancer enters your life at a time when you're supposed to be focused on growing your family and raising your children?

Nerissa Balland was 38 years old, five months pregnant and already raising a toddler when she was diagnosed with melanoma. Suddenly, an ordinary workday became the beginning of a cancer journey that would challenge not only her health, but her beliefs about cancer, motherhood, identity and what her future might hold.

In this episode of The Many Faces of Cancer, Nerissa shares the experience of being diagnosed while pregnant, why a devastating first oncology appointment led her to seek a second opinion, and how she navigated treatment while caring for two very young children.

When her cancer later returned, Nerissa found herself confronting two deeply held beliefs: that cancer was a death sentence—and that cancer was simply “bad.” A pivotal conversation helped her begin questioning those beliefs and recognizing that while cancer had brought tremendous difficulty and loss, it had also changed the way she approached her marriage, motherhood and life.

That shift eventually led Nerissa to connect with and interview more than 100 young mothers affected by cancer. What surprised her most wasn't how different their stories were, but how much they had in common.

Those conversations became the foundation for her book, Canvas of Courage: The Art of Healing, Hope, and Gratitude for Young Mothers Facing Cancer.

Melissa and Nerissa talk about the emotional themes she discovered again and again—identity, fear, connection, courage, gratitude and the struggle to understand who you are after cancer changes your life. They also explore one particularly powerful shift: moving away from the often-unanswerable question “Why me?” and instead asking “What now?”

Nerissa also shares how creativity has become part of her work helping others process difficult experiences—not because everyone needs to be an artist, but because, as she beautifully puts it, “creativity is a human capacity. It’s not an artistic credential.”

In this conversation:

• Being diagnosed with melanoma while five months pregnant
• Why Nerissa sought a second oncology opinion
• Navigating treatment while raising a toddler and newborn
• The limiting beliefs that shaped her early cancer experience
• The unexpected conversation that became a turning point
• Why “What now?” can be more powerful than “Why me?”
• What Nerissa learned from interviewing more than 100 young mothers with cancer
• The importance of connection and asking for help
• How creativity can help us slow down, process and reconnect with ourselves
• Canvas of Courage and her new companion book, The Curious Curator

Today, Nerissa is approaching nine years with no evidence of disease and uses her experiences as an author, artist, speaker and therapeutic arts practitioner to help others find resilience, curiosity and meaning through life's challenges.

And perhaps her simplest advice for someone facing a new diagnosis is also one of the most important:

Be gentle with yourself. Ask for help. And don't try to go through it alone.

Resources:

Nerissa's Website: https://www.nerissaballand.com

Free Creative Guide: https://www.nerissaballand.com/creative-reset-guide

Nerissa's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nerissaballandart/

Nerissa's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nerissaballand

Nerissa's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nerissaballand

Follow:

Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/melissagrosboll/

My website: https://melissagrosboll.com

Email me: drmelissagrosboll@gmail.com