Flairies and Larys · Andrea’s own words
Watch: I never smoked
People assume everyone with head and neck cancer smoked or drank, that we somehow brought it on ourselves. Andrea never smoked, and her cancer wasn’t from HPV.
So she went looking for why. In her own words: the limestone quarry she grew up beside, the 1960s Army spray tests over her hometown, three women from the same side of town, veterans exposed to chemicals and asbestos, and why the stigma makes it harder to study the causes no one is looking at. Don’t ask what we did. Ask what we’ve been through.
Patients advocating for patients
Flairies and Larys was built by patients, for patients. Everything here comes from people who have been through this themselves — our own experience, in our own words. Nobody should have to face it feeling alone, and that is the whole reason this place exists.
We always consult our own medical professionals when making decisions about our care, and we encourage you to do the same. What you find here is our opinion and our lived experience. It is not medical advice, and it is not a substitute for your own doctors and care team.