Yes We Cancer

Equipping families to manage and thrive during and after pediatric cancer.

Overview

While medical breakthroughs have transformed outcomes for children with cancer, families are left to shoulder far more than the diagnosis itself. Financial stress, emotional overwhelm, social disruption, and job insecurity quickly become part of daily life—often without clear guidance or support. This project asks: how might we design a better way for families to navigate the realities of pediatric cancer, beyond the hospital walls?

Approach

We are bringing together the best thinking on sociology, health, social work, and family resilience, and engaging designers from across the country to develop new ways to fill these gaps and help thousands of families in need.

We're starting with a thorough understanding of the family's cancer journey. This will tackle issues already known to healthcare (like insurance) and dive into untouched territories (like how cancer disrupts family traditions).

What I see

There is a ton of quantitative research to be done, but the heart of it comes from what families don’t say. No one knows what to do when they receive such life-altering news. In the midst of a crisis, you wouldn’t think about how to re-finance your car. You wouldn’t talk about missing date nights. But when speaking to families who have “been there, done that,” I learned just how many missing pieces there were in conversations around the entire family during a pediatric cancer diagnosis.

Research Process

I searched scholarly databases, medical journals, scientific articles, and blog posts to collect >100 crucial sources. I broke each down by using Zotero and was able to categorize them, explain them to my team, and keep track of any new insights and discoveries.

Secondary Research

Every hospital has a different approach, but the treatment is all the same across the board. Digging through the mess to find those nuanced differences is what I ran with.

Creating a Model

Augmented E’s

I had learned about the “5 E’s” a little while back and something about that stuck. One of the big, unifying aspects of every topic regarding pediatric cancer is trauma. Everyone experiences trauma differently, but there are only so many ways a human can react. What if we had a filter to run every concept through that pointed out how it changes due to trauma.

While pacing around an empty classroom, drawing nonsense on a whiteboard to keep myself awake, I thought of “trauma-informed finances.” There are hundreds of papers and blogs about financial trauma, but I found nothing about trauma-informed finances. So I decided to put my model to the test.

My team and I conducted a handful of interviews with parents whose children were either going through treatment, in remission, or have passed away. We did home and online interviews to fit into their busy schedules. From starting their own organizations to going to medical school, we learned the lengths parents will go to take care of their family.

Interviewing

I thought interviewing would be easy, just like how it was in graduate school. But when I first sat down with my colleague to watch and learn, I recognized I was so not ready. I wasn’t sitting in front of someone answering survey questions, I was sitting in front of a mother who had lost her three-year-old son. From then on, I have been reading through human-centered design books and interview workshops in order to learn how to not take their emotions on.

Translation

Blizzard: While on a family vacation at a ski resort, you decide to go out to practice. Without any warning, without any preparations, and without a lifeline, you are swept up in an avalanche.

  • You take your child to the doctor, thinking it’s just the flu. You are sent to the ER. Test after test, night after night. You receive the diagnosis. And you receive the initial bill. Nothing could’ve prepared you for this.

Instincts: After the initial shock, you look around, seeing nothing but white. One step at a time. Is there a tree you remember? Is there a dip in the snow to indicate the entrance to a cave? How do you keep yourself safe immediately after the crisis? Trust your instincts and take a deep breath. Reserve your energy.

  • After a few days to process this, as well as speaking to staff, you look at each number. Okay, you can cover the X-ray. You know that 10 shifts will cover the initial surgery. You don’t look at every bill at once, imagining every horrific scenario. You sit down and do the math, one by one.

Rescue: You found your footing. The snow has cleared a bit. You decide to look for dry wood. Anything to signal for help. You hold the confidence you will get through this. Flames and smoke go up in the air, alerting rescue teams that someone is out there, alive, and in need of help.

  • You begin to realize that you can’t do this on your own. You start to reach out to friends and family for advice and support. A financial advisor sits down with you, organizing the chaos so that you can breathe again. You take the step to distribute the stress, as well as strategically reaching out to work, the bank, school. etc.

Communicate: Do the best you can to tell the rescue team what happened. How you feel. Are you freezing? Are you overheated? How long has it been? Is there any injury you can feel? They can’t warm you up immediately without you going into shock, and you can’t take off the bulk of clothes or you’ll freeze. You are forced to take it minute by minute, trusting that the professionals can assist.

  • Be honest with yourself and with your support system. Learn what the future holds for everyone in terms of employment, financing, insurance, etc. Utilize resources provided and create a plan that is curated for you. Every family needs different resources and help, and communication between patient/family and the providers is crucial.

Adaptation: A year later, your family decides they want to go back to the cabin. There are a few things you can do. Do you learn to sky in order to prepare for, not the worst, but for it all? Do you train as a rescuer to help others in your situation? Do you decide to avoid ever going back?

  • You’ve reorganized your life around these expenses. You’re tackling it the best you can, but you realize you still have years to go on the payments. Are there groups around this? Are there re-financing options that specialize in your specific situation? Do you hire someone to help you, sinking deeper into a money pit? Whatever the plan is, the constant weight of bills rewires your brain to look through the lens of a transactional relationship with life. If one thing costs x, then you can’t afford y.

What Comes Next

My team and I are producing a podcast, “The Cancer Iceberg,” to speak with professionals about what families really need to hear. I am conducting 40-minute online interviews to learn more about the what, why, and how of family dynamics, finances, mental health, and everything that comes along with said topics.

Episode One

Marriage: explores how a pediatric cancer diagnosis strains intimate partnerships, from shifting roles and critical stress periods to disruptions in communication, intimacy, and coping styles. Drawing on research and lived experience, it highlights where couples struggle most—and what kinds of emotional, logistical, and communication support help protect relationships during treatment.

Episode Three

Fathers: centers the heightened vulnerability of single parents, who shoulder all emotional, medical, and logistical responsibilities alone. It reveals how isolation, limited practical support, and the near-total loss of self-care intensify stress and threaten long-term family stability.

Episode Five

Co-Parenting: explores the added complexity of navigating pediatric cancer across separate households, where misaligned routines, communication breakdowns, and logistical coordination increase stress. It underscores the need for targeted resources that support consistency, collaboration, and shared decision-making.

Episode Seven

Large Families: looks at how larger family systems can both buffer and intensify stress during pediatric illness. While shared caregiving and social support can improve resilience, unclear roles and interpersonal conflict can introduce new risks if not intentionally supported.

Episode Two

Mothers: examines the disproportionate emotional, physical, and logistical burden mothers carry during a child’s cancer treatment, including information gaps, mental health strain, and constant caregiving exhaustion. It highlights how unmet support needs—both practical and emotional—compound isolation and long-term burnout.

Episode Four

Single Parents: centers the heightened vulnerability of single parents, who shoulder all emotional, medical, and logistical responsibilities alone. It reveals how isolation, limited practical support, and the near-total loss of self-care intensify stress and threaten long-term family stability.

Episode Six

Siblings: examines the emotional toll of disruption, neglect, and uncertainty across school, friendships, and family life. It highlights siblings’ need for inclusion, clear communication, and emotional support to prevent long-term distress.

Episode Eight

Found Families: tackles the unique challenges faced by small or geographically isolated families, where limited caregiving capacity increases exhaustion, financial strain, and disruption. It highlights how “chosen” support networks can mitigate risk—when families are empowered to build them.