Last updated September 15, 2026
These terms are the agreement between you and Foreword. They apply whenever you read Foreword, and they apply in full once you create an account or publish a story. If you do not agree with them, please do not use Foreword.
We have tried to write these in plain English. Nothing here is meant to be a trick.
Foreword is a small independent project, not a company. It is built and run by a handful of people at most, and there is no funding behind it and nothing is sold on it.
You can reach us through the contact form on our About page. A real person reads every message.
Anyone can read Foreword. You do not need an account.
To publish a story you must be 18 or over. You need a Google account to sign in, and one person gets one story.
Please give accurate information about yourself. Your story is only useful to the next person if it is true.
You own what you write. Publishing on Foreword does not transfer it to us.
By publishing, you give us permission to store your story, show it on Foreword, and show parts of it in places on the site where stories are listed or previewed. That permission exists so we can run the site. It ends when you unpublish or delete, except for backup copies that get cleared in the normal course.
We will not sell your story. We will not use it in advertising.
Nothing you write is public until you choose to publish it. Drafts stay private.
You can unpublish at any time, which removes your story from the site immediately. You can edit it at any time. You can delete your account, which deletes your story with it.
Your published answers also appear on the shared page for each question you answered, listed by cancer type and treatment status rather than by your byline. Those pages can appear in search results. Your profile page is not offered to search engines.
Two honest limits. Once something has been public, we cannot control what other people saved or copied while it was up. And unpublishing takes your writing off Foreword straight away, including the question pages, but a search engine can take longer to drop what it already saved, which is not something we control either. Please write with that in mind.
Your own story, and only your own.Write about your experience. Do not publish someone else's medical information without their permission, and do not identify the people around your care, including doctors, nurses and family.
Not giving medical advice. Describe what happened to you. Do not tell people what to do instead of their treatment. This is the most important rule on Foreword and it is set out in our community guidelines.
Not breaking the law with it.Do not publish anything that is unlawful, that infringes someone else's rights, or that you do not have the right to share.
Our community guidelines are part of these terms. They describe the rules in full, and they are worth reading before you publish.
We can remove a story, or part of one, and we can suspend or close an account, if it breaks these terms or the community guidelines.
Where we reasonably can, we will tell you why, and where it is fixable we would rather you fixed it than lose your writing. Some things we will remove straight away, because leaving them up while we discuss it would cause harm.
We can also remove content or close accounts if we have to for legal reasons, or if we stop running Foreword.
Everything on Foreword is one person describing what happened to them. It is not medical advice, it is not a second opinion, and it is not a substitute for your care team.
Two people with the same diagnosis can have completely different treatment. What helped someone else may be wrong for you. Always talk to your own doctors before changing anything about your care.
If you are in crisis, please talk to someone now. There are crisis numbers and a helpline directory on our support page.
Foreword is provided as it is. We do not promise that it will always be available, that it will be free of errors, or that anything on it is accurate, complete or right for your situation.
No person reads your story before it is published. An automated check refuses some wording as you write, but it is narrow and it is not a review. Beyond it we rely on people writing honestly, on our community guidelines, and on readers reporting things that break them.
Foreword is a side project, not anybody's job. It may change, and it may one day stop. If it is ever going to close, we will say so in advance so you can save your writing.
To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for any indirect or consequential loss arising from your use of Foreword, or from anything you read on it.
Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Foreword is free to use. If we are found liable to you for anything, our total liability is limited to 100 US dollars.
Our privacy page explains what we collect, why, and what you can do about it. It is part of these terms.
The short version: publishing a story makes health information about you public, on purpose, because you chose to. Please be sure before you publish.
You can stop using Foreword at any time, and you can delete your account from your story page.
We can close your account if you break these terms, or if we stop running Foreword. If we close it for a reason other than a breach, we will give you notice where we reasonably can, so you can save your writing.
We may update these terms. When we do, we will change the date at the top of this page.
If a change materially affects your rights, we will tell you before it takes effect, so you can decide whether to keep using Foreword or to unpublish.
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, and any dispute goes to the courts of New York. If you live somewhere with consumer protection laws that give you stronger rights, those rights still apply to you.
Use the contact form on our About page. If something here is unclear, that is our fault and we would like to know.