The Deep C

What do our children discover about themselves when they go through cancer treatment?On The Deep C, I usually talk to parents about the strength, hope and love we discover deep within ourselves when our child is diagnosed with cancer. But for this episode, I wanted to hear about that experience from our kids.In a special collaboration with ACCESS (Advancing Childhood Cancer Experience, Science and Survivorship), I sat down with seven teenagers from across Canada who have all been diagnosed with cancer, some of whom are still in treatment.Sully, Karina, Ollie, Izabella, Keaton, Noah and Sachan generously share their experiences, beginning with the moments they learned they had cancer. We talk about the fears they faced during treatment, how cancer affected their friendships and what it felt like to return to school. They also share what they wish adults understood about their capabilities and the advice they would give another young person facing a diagnosis.What I found most enlightening was hearing about the strength they uncovered within themselves while their parents were discovering their own. Their stories offer an extraordinary perspective on what it means to grow up with cancer and how important it is that we listen to young people when they tell us what they need.About ACCESSACCESS is a national, community-driven network working to advance childhood cancer research and care in Canada. By bringing people with lived experience together with researchers, healthcare providers and policymakers, ACCESS ensures that the voices of children and families help shape the future of childhood cancer care.This episode is part of ACCESS Presents, a series of free public educational conversations, and was created in recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.A special thank you to Sully, Karina, Ollie, Izabella, Keaton, Noah and Sachan for sharing their stories, and to Stephanie Reid and Renu Jeyapala at ACCESS for bringing this idea to The Deep C and making these conversations possible.https://www.accessforkidscancer.ca/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when the person who usually delivers the diagnosis suddenly becomes the parent receiving it?In this powerful episode, Sam sits down with Dr. Raksha Hemanth Raheja, a pediatrician and cancer mom whose son Rian was diagnosed with leukemia and later relapsed. Raksha shares her unique perspective of experiencing childhood cancer from both sides of the hospital bed, as a physician caring for children and as a mother desperately trying to save her own.Together, they explore the tension between medical knowledge and parental fear, the illusion of control, and the difficult reality that expertise doesn't protect you from the heartbreak of watching your child suffer.Raksha speaks candidly about what surprised her most when she became a cancer parent, how her son's diagnosis changed the way she practices medicine, and why she now places even greater value on parental intuition.This conversation is a powerful reminder that parents and clinicians aren't on opposing sides—they are teammates. Doctors bring medical expertise. Parents bring an intimate understanding of their child. The best care happens when both are heard.In this episode, we discuss:What it was like to experience childhood cancer as both a pediatrician and a parentWhether medical knowledge makes a child's cancer diagnosis easier—or harder—to navigateThe loss of control that comes with childhood cancerHow to approach difficult conversations with your child's oncology teamWhy parents should feel empowered to ask questions, voice concerns, and trust their instinctsThe role of parent intuition in medical decision-makingHow Raksha's experience as a cancer mom transformed the way she practices medicineWhy doctors and parents are ultimately working toward the same goalThe importance of partnership, trust, and communication in pediatric cancer careWhether you're newly diagnosed, deep in treatment, or years into survivorship, this episode offers valuable insight into the relationship between families and medical teams and reminds us that behind every white coat is a human being doing their very best to help a child heal. Because when it comes to caring for our kids, we're all on the same team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Mother’s Day episode, Sarah Bartosz joins Sam for a deeply honest conversation about motherhood, grief, survival, and the question every cancer parent has heard: “I don’t know how you do it.”Sarah is Jack, Annie, and Tommy’s mom, the Executive Director of the Beat Childhood Cancer Foundation, and someone whose life has been shaped by cancer for decades. After her three-year-old son Jack was diagnosed with Stage IV neuroblastoma, Sarah spent nearly seven years beside him through treatment before losing him in 2012. Years later, she lost her husband John, whose own cancer treatment ultimately led to his death, before facing her own breast cancer diagnosis.But this conversation is not about inspiring people with resilience. It’s about telling the truth about what carries parents through impossible situations in the first place: love. Sam and Sarah talk about the force of a mother’s love, the way it stretches to meet fear and grief and exhaustion, and why cancer parents bristle when people say, “I could never.”They also explore Sarah’s perspective on grief and scars — why she wants people to “ask me about my scar,” and how grief is not something to fix or move beyond, but an extension of love itself. A conversation about motherhood, loss, fear, survival, and what it means to keep loving after your life has been completely altered. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Sam sits down with her close friend, award-winning songwriter and bestselling author Tara MacLean to explore the importance of parents telling their own story in the context of childhood cancer.This conversation moves beyond the clinical version of events—the timelines, the treatments, the updates—and into something deeper: the lived experience of being a parent inside it. What it felt like. What it changed. What it took to endure it.Together, Sam and Tara talk about storytelling as a fundamental human instinct—something we’ve always used to make sense of the unimaginable and to find connection with others who have lived through something similar. They explore how, when parents begin to put words to their experience, it not only helps them process what has happened, but also creates a bridge for the families coming behind them.Using the framework of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey as a loose guide, they walk through the arc many parents recognize: the moment of diagnosis as the call, the depth and disorientation of treatment, and the quiet return—when parents begin to find language for what they’ve lived and share it with others.Tara brings a rare ability to help articulate the most complex emotional experiences, offering insight into how to approach telling your story in a way that feels honest, grounded, and true. This episode is an invitation for parents to begin exploring their own narrative—not as a retelling of events, but as a way to understand, connect, and support others.At its core, this conversation is about the power of story to create meaning, reduce isolation, and offer something steady to those just beginning their own experience.You can learn more about Tara here https://www.taramacleanmusic.com/And purchase her best selling memoir Song of the Sparrow here https://www.amazon.ca/Song-Sparrow-Memoir-Tara-MacLean/dp/1443465127 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Infant cancer is rare—so rare that many physicians may never encounter it, especially outside of major centres. And because of that, parents are often required to step into a role they never expected: becoming the voice for a baby who can’t speak, and advocating within a system that is still learning in real time. In this conversation, I speak with Jackie Didio, mom to twin girls, Hannah and Maddie. Maddie was diagnosed with leukemia as a baby, and Jackie shares what it means to navigate treatment with instinct, confidence, and the willingness to question and push when something doesn’t feel right. When the condition is rare, your awareness as a parent matters - it has to.We also talk about the dynamics of caring for a baby through cancer, how infancy can shape the roles of each parent, and the layered reality of raising twins while grieving the loss of one. I deeply admire Jackie - her clarity, her openness, and the way she has turned her experience into meaningful support for others. Through the Madelyn James Foundation, she and her husband provide wraparound care to families with babies aged 0–3, supporting them not just during treatment, but in the critical months after. It’s the kind of care our system often misses but our families so deeply deserve.You can learn more about the Madelyn James Pediatric Cancer Foundation here https://madelynjames.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.