Enes, United States

World Cancer Day: My Journey and the Birth of CancerWise.AI

Today, on World Cancer Day, I am sharing my story with you, hoping it might bring change—even a small one—in how we face cancer together.

Three years ago, I was deep in the world of AI, passionately building Connected Wise, a startup disrupting the transportation industry. My life was consumed with work, innovation, and ambition. But then, life handed me a challenge I could have never prepared for.

It started with a small canker sore on my tongue—a harmless annoyance, or so I thought. My doctor injected steroids to speed up the healing, but within weeks, the sore grew alarmingly large. A biopsy confirmed my worst fear: cancer.

Hearing the word "malignant" over a morning phone call is indescribable. I wasn’t a smoker, I ate healthily, I exercised—I was the last person I thought would get cancer. That phone call shattered me.

My journey took me to Turkey, where my brother, a remarkable doctor, arranged for me to see one of the finest surgeons. After scans and tests, I overheard a radiologist say it might be stage 4. I googled survival rates. Less than 10%. That car ride home was the longest of my life. I felt like I was already a ghost, walking through memories that would soon fade away.

But there was hope. My surgeon believed he could remove the tumor entirely. I underwent a grueling surgery—neck dissection, lymph node removal, partial tongue removal. But I was alive. Clean borders. No spread. For a while, it felt like I had won.

Life gained new meaning after that. I cherished every moment, every friendship. I poured myself back into work, celebrating this second chance. But cancer wasn’t done with me.

Only a month later, it returned with vengeance. The tumor was back. This time, the surgery was longer, harder, and crueler. I lost nearly my entire tongue. Breathing through a port in my neck, eating through a tube, hooked to machines—my identity was stripped down to pain and survival.

The worst moment came one night when my breathing port clogged with blood. My surgeon rushed to the hospital at midnight to save me. I was conscious, watching the inside of an operating room for the first time, feeling the sting of every stitch. It was my breaking point.

Somehow, I got through it. I moved back to the U.S. to start proton therapy and chemotherapy. My family uprooted their lives to support me, sacrificing everything. The treatments burned scars into my mouth and left me nauseated for days. But it worked. My scans came back clean.

I thought I was free. But just as my parents were preparing to go home, the ear pain returned. A scan revealed the worst news: the cancer had metastasized to my lungs. The survival rate for this stage was grim. My doctor told me I might have six months.

Strangely, I didn’t cry. I had accepted my fate. I was ready to die. But I wasn’t ready to stop living.

Then, a miracle happened. I was offered a spot in a Phase 1 clinical trial for a bifactoral immunotherapy. Against all odds, it worked. The tumors vanished. Today, I am in complete remission.

My journey is far from over, but I have one mission now: to help others who face this terrifying illness.

During my darkest days, I realized how critical access to information, research, and treatment options is. I was lucky to have a supportive family, the best doctors, and the privilege to find cutting-edge trials. But millions of people don’t have that. They are left scared, confused, and lost in a sea of medical jargon and uncertainty.

That’s why I created CancerWise.AI.

It’s a free, AI-powered platform designed to guide cancer patients through their journey. By analyzing clinical data, it provides personalized treatment recommendations, symptom monitoring, and even matches patients to clinical trials. With genetic testing integration, it can offer even more precise guidance.

Most importantly, it’s free. Always. Patients can securely manage their data, and they choose whether to share it with researchers to contribute to future breakthroughs.

This isn’t just a platform—it’s my way of giving back. I hope CancerWise.AI becomes a beacon of hope for those fighting the fight I know all too well.

Please visit our website, explore the platform, and share it with anyone who might benefit. Together, let’s make sure no one faces cancer alone.

This is my story, and this is CancerWise.AI.

Let’s fight cancer with wisdom, technology, and above all, hope.