US woman Emily McDowell, 38, has survived life-threatening cancer and, more than anything, she wants the world to start sending better empathy cards.

The most difficult part of her nine month illness was not chemotherapy, radiation or feeling sick, Ms McDowell has claimed.

“It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn’t know what to say, or said the absolute wrong thing without realising it,” she wrote on her website.

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Ms McDowell’s stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma is in remission, and she now has a thriving online card business.

Part of her range is aimed at helping friends and family to voice those feelings that are so difficult to put into words, and so easy to mistake.

“Sympathy cards can make people feel like you think they’re already dead,” the designer wrote.

The cards are brightly coloured and softly humorous, with just the right mixture of sarcasm, optimism and warmth.

“I want the recipients of these cards to feel seen, understood, and loved.”

All the products on Ms McDowell’s website ship to Australia.

See more of the Empathy Card range below