At twenty-two, Andrea Wilson Woods got the phone call that split her life into a before and an after. Her mother no longer wanted to be a mother, and her eight-year-old sister, Adrienne, needed someone. Andrea said yes without knowing what she was saying yes to. She worked multiple jobs so she could be there for school pickups, dinners, and school events. She built a life around one person. And then, three weeks shy of finishing her first year of high school, Adrienne was diagnosed with stage four cancer. What followed was 147 days, and a grief that Andrea would spend years learning how to actually feel.

This is a story about caregiving, about the friends who show up and the ones who quietly disappear, about laughing in hospital rooms because laughter is its own kind of survival. It is about the mistake of pretending you are okay, and the slow work of finding yourself again when the person who was your center is gone.

August being National Make-A-Will Month, got me thinking about what it means to care for the future.

When someone is diagnosed with liver cancer, so much attention understandably turns to what needs to happen right now. There are appointments to schedule, treatment decisions to make, questions to ask, and an unfamiliar medical landscape to navigate. But a serious diagnosis can also make us think about the people we love, the lives we are building, and what we hope to leave behind.

This month, as our country marks its 250th birthday, I have been thinking about progress and what it means to build a healthier future for everyone.

For people living with liver cancer, progress is not measured solely through new treatments and medical advances. It's also reflected in whether patients and caregivers have the information, emotional support, nutritional guidance, and community they need throughout the cancer journey.

When Andrea Wilson Woods was 22 years old, she made a life-changing decision: she became the legal guardian of her eight-year-old half-sister, Adrienne. What began as stepping in to provide stability quickly became a true parent-child relationship, with Andrea raising Adrienne through childhood, adolescence, and eventually a devastating liver cancer diagnosis. By the time Adrienne died at just 15 years old, Andrea had spent years fighting for her, advocating for her care, and building a life centered around the person she loved most.

In this conversation, Andrea and Heather talk about the unique grief of losing a sibling who was also your child in every way that mattered. Andrea shares what it was like to navigate the medical system as a young caregiver, the heartbreak of watching friendships disappear after loss, and the struggle of reconciling a life that has been permanently shaped by grief. They also explore intuition, anniversaries, the milestones their loved ones never reached, and the ways we continue carrying someone forward decades after they are gone. Andrea reflects on writing her memoir, Better Off Bald, preserving Adrienne’s own words and artwork, and building a national liver cancer organization in her sister’s honor. It’s a deeply moving conversation about love, advocacy, identity, and what it means to spend a lifetime keeping someone’s memory alive.

Blue Faery's mission is deeply personal, yet it spans far beyond any single story. Every so often, a moment drives that reality home. This year, ASCO was that moment.

Our U.S.-based Blue Faery team traveled to Chicago, along with two incredible volunteers, Jeff Cape and Nicole Wright-Derks. At our booth, we connected with 477 people from 58 countries.

I keep coming back to that number. Not because it is impressive, but because of what it represents. Physicians, researchers, advocates, patients, caregivers, and people from around the world stopped to talk about liver cancer. Each conversation reminded me that this disease reaches across borders, languages, and communities. It also reminded me how much work still needs to be done.

May is Hepatitis Awareness Month, a time to remind everyone that liver cancer prevention begins with knowing your risk.

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C are leading risk factors for liver cancer, but many people do not know they are infected. Without testing, viral hepatitis can go undetected for years while slowly damaging the liver. That damage can lead to cirrhosis and, in some cases, liver cancer.

Parent. Sister. Friend.

That was the order Andrea established with her little sister Adrienne when Adrienne was just nine years old, fresh into a new life in Los Angeles after their mother signed over custody on the day after Christmas. Andrea was twenty-two. She had not planned any of this. But she looked at her little sister and she knew.

And so she laid it out simply: I have to be your parent first, then your sister, and one day when you grow up, I really hope I’m your friend.

Adrienne understood. She had a painting made for Andrea’s office wall. It said: Parent, Sister, Friend.

That painting still hangs there today.

Memoir is not just the art of sharing memories; it’s the act of shaping a legacy, healing wounds, and providing a guiding light for others walking a similar path. In this episode of Authors Who Lead, I sat down with keynote speaker and advocate Andrea Wilson Woods to discuss the profound power found in her book, Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days. Our conversation dove deep into what makes a memoir memorable, the complex reality of writing personal truths, and the freedom we find when we are honest with our readers.

We're proud to announce the recipients of this year's Blue Faery Award for Excellence in Liver Cancer Research: Dr. Richard Finn and Dr. R. Kate Kelley.

Dr. Finn is being honored for his Lifetime Impact in advancing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment, helping to shape therapies that are now extending and improving patients' lives. Dr. Kelley receives the award for her Clinical Leadership and Patient Impact, recognized for her dedication to delivering innovative, patient-centered care and moving research forward in meaningful ways.

Blue Faery: The Adrienne Wilson Liver Cancer Association today announced Dr. Richard Finn and Dr. R. Kate Kelley as this year's honorees under the Blue Faery Award for Excellence in Liver Cancer Research. Dr. Finn will receive the Lifetime Impact Award, and Dr. Kelley will receive the Clinical Leadership and Patient Impact Award.

The Blue Faery Award honors individuals whose work advances scientific understanding, treatment innovation, and patient care in hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of primary liver cancer. By honoring both recipients, Blue Faery underscores two drivers of progress: scientific leadership and excellence in patient care. The organization remains committed to supporting research, education, and advocacy that improve survival and quality of life. The award is presented annually on Adrienne Wilson's birthday. Had she survived liver cancer, she would have turned 40 this year.

March is National Nutrition Month, which feels fitting because my relationship with food has had more plot twists than a soap opera.

Let me take you back to my ballet years, when I truly believed fat was the enemy. I lived on Diet Coke and Red Vines, faithfully visiting a vending machine in the dance studio stocked only with diet sodas. Check out this photo of me from that time. I labeled it “fat ole me.” Spoiler alert: I wasn’t fat!

For 17 years, fat was forbidden. I avoided peanut butter, eggs, nuts, and anything cooked with oil, but happily devoured fat-free cookies the size of my hand. I tried grapefruit diets, three-boiled-egg marathons, and even a teaspoon of vinegar after meals to curb my appetite. I starved myself in the morning, ate an orange and a Diet Coke (of course) for lunch, and had processed food loaded with sugar for dinner. If the label said “zero fat,” I didn’t question the sugar hiding inside. I was basically a late-80s nutrition myth in pointe shoes.

I am so excited to share about one of our newest partnerships. Our collaboration with CanCare allows us to provide free, one-on-one emotional support to liver cancer patients and caregivers.

A liver cancer diagnosis does not just affect the person in the exam room. It impacts spouses, children, parents, siblings, and friends. Fear, confusion, and isolation often appear long before answers do. Through our partnership with CanCare, Blue Faery can connect individuals with trained and compassionate support volunteers who understand what it means to face cancer, not just clinically, but emotionally.

Grief. The loss of someone we love is likely the most devastating of human experiences. And while death is a part of life, the death of a young person proves particularly wrenching.

Author of Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days, Andrea Wilson Woods suffered the loss of her younger sister Adrienne after a desperately critical and short illness due to a rare liver cancer. Adrienne's illness and death affected Andrea in countless ways, among them hopelessness leading to thoughts of suicide. Ultimately, Andrea began to channel her grief into advocacy, noting the lack of resources for patients and families during her sister's illness. 

Hello George,

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2026. I hope your year is off to a hopeful and healthy start.

If you attended The Liver Meeting or ASCO 2025, you may already know the newest face behind Blue Faery's programs, our Program Manager, Aura Sanchez. Aura joined our team in May, just three days before ASCO, and she jumped in immediately. At our booth, she met oncologists from across the world and connected with clinicians from South America in Spanish, thanks to her Colombian roots. From the start, we knew we were fortunate to have her.

In this episode of Behind Beautiful Things, host Kevin sits down with Andrea, author of Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days, for a powerful and heartfelt conversation. Andrea shares the inspiring story of her sister Adrienne and her courageous battle with liver cancer, reflecting on their close bond, Adrienne’s resilience, and the lasting impact of her journey.

Listeners will hear Andrea discuss her early life, the deep relationship she shared with her sister, and how Adrienne’s legacy led to the creation of Blue Faery, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and support for liver cancer patients. This episode is a moving exploration of love, loss, advocacy, and honoring life through purpose.

I'm writing this newsletter on the eve of what would have been my dad's 79th birthday. He died from lung cancer on April 24 of this year; my mother died four days later. My dad, with whom I had a better relationship (despite my stepmother's repeated attempts to cut me out of his life), experienced unnecessary pain and suffering. To quote him, "I didn't realize it [cancer] would be such a slog."