"Getting to meet up with people who've been through similar things, it makes it a lot easier to cope with it. Personally, I know that if I'm struggling with something or one of the local members is struggling with something around cancer, we know we can flick off a text to any one of 30 to 40 people around the country and they'll be there to support you."
It also reached out to their siblings, because as Mr Stewart said, they were impacted too, but often overlooked.
"The uncertainty of it all is a far bigger thing for family members and siblings to deal with than the patient," he said.
"The patient is more concerned with what we can and can't do right now, and the worrying is left to them. For a while, [my sister] was really quiet. Probably shock more than anything. She didn't have anyone around who knew what that felt like."
Mr Stewart said every cancer patient had a different story. He was halfway through a computing degree at EIT when he got the news. He had always been active, there was cricket since the start of primary school, plus soccer all through college. But chemotherapy sucked all his energy to the point where he couldn't turn his head to look at the television.
Although he never wore a bandanna to cover his baldness when he was sick, Mr Stewart was fully supporting CanTeen's annual Bandanna Challenge fundraiser.
"For me, personally, it's a symbol of one for all of us," he said.
Auckland cancer patient, Amanda Beaton, 24, designed one of this year's bandannas and said the fundraiser was a way for people to overcome any awkwardness around young people with cancer.
"It can be hard to know what to say. A bandanna is a visual thing you can display that says 'hey I support you' without any words," she said.
Funds raised from the campaign allowed CanTeen to continue offer services, programmes and activities to its 1500 members across 14 regional branches.
There are eight styles, including ones designed by New Zealand sports stars Dan Carter, Paige Hareb and Maria Tutaia. They available until October 9, for $4 each from Pak'nSave, New World, Four Square, Farmers, BP, Repco, Burger King and Warehouse Stationery nationwide or online www.canteen.org.nz. A selection of bandannas signed by national celebrities is being auctioned on Trade Me
