While Lauren Hoffman’s friends are thinking about careers, dating and starting families, the 28-year-old Winfield resident is focused on one thing: beating cancer.

It’s a battle that she’s been fighting since she was a student at Augustana College.

Unlike most people in their early 20s, Hoffman was undergoing surgeries and chemotherapy to treat the soft tissue sarcoma that was growing in her uterus and abdomen and later spread to her lungs.

Throughout her journey, Hoffman hasn’t met anyone who is battling the same type of cancer she is, never mind anyone her age who had been diagnosed with any form of the disease, prior to her own diagnosis.

Now she will be able to meet and network with other young adult cancer patients ages 18 to 39, thanks to the newly formed Young Adults with Cancer Support Group at LivingWell Cancer Resource Center, 442 Williamsburg Ave., Geneva. The group begins in April and will meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on the second Monday of the month.

Hoffman, who attends a support group for young adults at Wellness House in Hinsdale, is excited to meet more survivors her age at the Geneva group. She had been referred to LivingWell from the Northwestern Medicine Cancer Center in Warrenville for counseling services, art classes and massage therapy.

“When I walk into a cancer center, I feel out of place. I get stares,” Hoffman said. “People look at me like ‘what’s she doing here’ and some ask me why I’m there. Northwestern Medicine asked me to be a part of this [new] group because I’ve experienced all these different parts of the cancer journey.”

Kelley Navar, an oncology counselor at LivingWell, will facilitate the group. She said that the center is seeing more young adult clients, so there is a growing need for support services.

“With the younger population, they feel like they’re not in the same place as their peers. They often feel isolated because, typically, they’re the only ones they know that have gotten that diagnosis at their age,” Navar said. “Their friends are talking about relationships and starting families and can’t relate to them because they have this huge thing going on in their lives that no one else understands.”

The group will consist of mostly unstructured discussion. Clients can feel open and free to discuss the issues they’re facing. Navar said it’s very helpful for clients to be able to talk about their feelings with others who can relate.

“A cancer diagnosis at a young age is extremely isolating,” she said. “This is a place where they can be open about their experiences and get the support they need. It’s helpful to get support from peers who understand the unique circumstances they’re going through.”

Hoffman, who works as a prosthetist orthotist, has had a few recurrences of the cancer, but her most recent scan in February was clear. However, she said her doctors believe it will return at some point, forcing her back into chemo. Even though she’s not in treatment now, she still will be at the support group.

She said she’s most looking forward to the face-to-face interaction that the group will provide.

“It adds emotional value that you can’t get from an online chat group,” Hoffman said. “Chat groups are great if you can’t leave the house. But going to a group, you can be vulnerable with people who get your situation, who can understand and validate you. It’s extremely important to connect with other cancer survivors, even just for an outlet. You form a bond – it’s a shared trauma.”

For information about the Young Adults with Cancer support group, visit livingwellcrc.org. Registration is recommended.