Between a rock and a hard place.

Cancer asks a lot of tough questions. Here’s one of them: how do you choose between working or being with your child?  

When my mother was dying of cancer, I had to choose between keeping my job or being at her bedside. Luckily, I had an understanding employer and a laptop to keep working flexibly, but not everyone is as lucky. These are the tradeoffs that no one talks about. With cancer, everyone talks about the treatment and the chemotherapy, but there can be guilt and shame when talking about tradeoffs and finances.   

Many of the families entering the childhood cancer journey are already at risk financially.  According to the National Institute of Health, over 20% of families in a childhood cancer journey live below the federal poverty line. For a family of four, that’s $30,000 per year. And yet, the costs continue to pile up. It’s the financial fall no one talks about. From hospital bills to mortgage payments to overpriced vending machine snacks, the financial elephant in the room grows bigger and bigger.

Yet, at the same time, a stable income becomes the most critical, it also becomes the most difficult to maintain. Childhood cancer pays no mind to a 9 – 5. It creeps into every minute, every day with irregular emergency room visits and extended hospital stays. It forces families to make the painful decision between being at the office to keep insurance benefits intact or being at their child’s bedside during chemo treatment. It’s the unfair and heartbreaking reality of a cancer diagnosis. It’s the space between a rock and a hard place no one wants to find themselves in.

All-Star Greyson and his family experienced this tension firsthand when Greyson was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Since the beginning of Greyson’s cancer journey, both of his parents have been taking leave from work, often unpaid, in order to be with Greyson.

“It’s been a huge loss of income for us, and right now, I am just trying to hold onto the job as long as possible,” said Cynthia. “Insurance is great until you have to use it, then come all the out-of-pocket expenses. Everything started stacking up. Our well pump broke, which was the most expensive thing. Then it was the oven, the washing machine twice, and the garage door. It was just one thing after another.”

So what’s the answer? What can you do for families stuck between the “rock” of choosing to work for financial stability and the “hard place” of being at their child’s side?

Pinky Swear Foundation provides part of the answer; a way for you to ease the weight of the financial “rock” and offer families a helping hand out of the “hard place”. Together, we can pay a family’s mortgage, keep their lights on, fill their gas tanks, and put food on their tables. We can make the choice between working or being with their child an easier decision. We can help families focus on what matters most – their child.

Cancer asks a lot of tough questions. You can be a part of the answer. Please join me in keeping the pinky swear promise for kids with cancer and their families. I pinky swear promise it makes a difference.

- Erica Campbell