The Deep C

I absolutely adore my guest today, Kirsten — and I know you’re going to feel the same way. Kirsten is a three-time childhood and young adult cancer survivor with so much honesty and insight to share about what survivorship really feels like.Kirsten was first diagnosed with ALL at age 10, spending more than six years in treatment after a relapse — during the years when kids are learning how to make friends, belong, and be themselves. Finishing treatment didn’t mean life snapped back into place. Survivorship brought its own challenges, especially around reintegration, social development, and finding her footing after missing so much of childhood.Later, in her 20s, Kirsten faced cancer again — this time during young adulthood, another critical stage of identity and growth. In this conversation, we talk openly about fear, uncertainty, stigma, bullying, and the long emotional tail of childhood cancer.What makes Kirsten so special is how real she is about all of it — and how she’s used her experience to pave the way not just for herself, but for the survivors coming behind her. For parents, this episode offers a powerful glimpse into what survivorship can look like long after treatment ends.

Recent research published in a pediatric journal confirms what cancer parents already know: the psychological impact of childhood cancer often lives longer and deeper in parents than in the children themselves. Anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and grief don’t end when treatment ends—they shape how parents live, who we become, and how we move through the world.While we don’t need academic validation—because cancer parents already witness and confirm this truth for one another—it matters to see caregivers finally centered in research. That essential peer recognition is what led me to today’s guests.Jon and Jenn Wall are the founders of Zach’s Bridge, a 1:1 virtual peer support program for advanced and bereaved pediatric cancer parents and caregivers. When their 16-year-old son Zach was in palliative care for osteosarcoma—a phase they call pre-bereavement—they longed to speak with other parents who had already been there. Not professionals, but peers. Parents who had planned funerals. Parents who had come home to empty bedrooms.Those sacred conversations became the foundation of Zach’s Bridge—a place where families navigating pre-bereavement and bereavement can speak freely, honestly, and without translation.In this episode, Jon and Jenn share how partners grieve differently and extend grace to one another, how community can help carry the weight of loss, and a powerful coping framework Jon calls Both/And—the ability to hold grief and joy at the same time.As you listen, carry this quote with you: “We don’t need translators for our pain—we need people who speak the same language.” Parents who have lost a child deserve support from others fluent in the deeply specialized language of loss. Jon and Jenn have built something profoundly necessary for families walking this path, and I am deeply inspired by what they continue to offer those coming up behind them.To learn more about Zach's Bridge, please visit zachsbridge.org

When we were in treatment, I was one of those parents who wanted to hear everything about every single paediatric cancer family I could. Not only because I was looking for support, but because these were my new people. This was my new community and I wanted to fully immerse myself into this world because I simply didn’t fit in my old one anymore. One of the ways I was able to dive in was listening to the podcast Help and Hope Happen Here hosted by the most lovely and biggest hearted human, Mark Levine. Mark has immersed himself in the paediatric cancer world for different reasons than most of us have - he is not a cancer parent, but instead a true, full fledged ally to oncology parents and children who is dedicated to raising awareness and sharing our stories. Mark is close to 500 episodes of Help and Hope Happen Here - FIVE HUNDRED! He speaks to families, survivors, organizations, and clinicians connected to paediatric cancer, and he does it with so much care and attention to his guests. I really wanted to speak to Mark to ask him about what HE thinks when he talks to cancer parents, what he takes away, and what he sees and hears after spending hundreds and hundreds of hours in deep and meaningful connection with us. So, let’s dive deep with Mark.

The whole intention of this podcast is to give cancer parents a feeling of recognition - of knowing we’re not alone, and we do this by sharing our stories. Storytelling is how we connect at our most fundamental, primal selves - it’s the most ancient thread humans use to tie ourselves together and make sense of the world around us.Now, when you add music to those stories - when you communicate through song - well, that’s when things get even more profound, more connected. Music transcends language, music cuts through all the logic and meaning and connects us on a cellular level.And that’s what my guest today has done for the entire paediatric cancer community.Anna Palfreeman, a singer & songwriter from Seattle, wrote the album Frontline when her almost 5 yr old son Emerson was diagnosed with B cell ALL in December of 2023. In a desperate state to process her shock and absorb her son's diagnosis, she found the piano in the chapel at Seattle Children’s hospital and started to pour her feelings out in the way she knew how - through song, and music.This turned into Anna writing an entire album that starts with Emerson’s first chemo and follows his frontline treatment. Songs like, Too Much, He’ll Be Ok, Breathe and The Tunnel are all songs that will SPEAK TO YOUR SOUL. I can’t emphasize this enough. That recognition we talk about when we hear each other's stories - well, the recognition you’ll feel when you hear Anna’s songs - it will go straight to your core.My advice is to listen to her album from start to finish as a catharsis, as a healing journey, and as confirmation that sharing our experiences is how we bear witness to each other - it’s how we feel seen, and how we see the people around us.You can stream Frontline wherever you listen to music, or support Anna through her website annapalfreeman.com and her Bandcamp https://annapalfreeman.bandcamp.com/album/frontline

Today I chat with my friend and fellow cancer mom Jenna about carrying her son through a 42 day bone marrow transplant this past summer. This episode is really important for so many reasons, BMT is a big and daunting procedure that so many of our families go through - so many parents are in complete isolation with their children for weeks and months, there are so many layers, so many challenges - we could talk about the isolation alone for 20 episodes - it’s just such a consuming and encompassing part of treatment. Jenna does a brilliant job of sharing their experience with so much accuracy, and she does it so families who have been through BMT or are going through BMT feel seen, and know that despite the intense isolation - they are not alone.But before we get to Jenna, I’m going to give you a little background on Jenna’s son Hendrix to set the stage.Hendrix was 3 when he was dx with B cell ALL. He endured the very long and intense treatment ALL requires - chemo, lumbar punctures, countless procedures - right when he started maintenance, Hendrix went into severe diabetic ketoacidosis, almost losing his life. This led to a type 1 diabetes diagnosis to his already intense and wildly unfair leukaemia diagnosis.And then, going into his 6th round of maintenance, Hendrix relapsed, forcing him to battle a second time, now as a type one diabetic. Relapse treatment was extremely challenging, Hendrix became chemo resistant and his cancer was still present even after his re-induction. He qualified for Car T therapy, which was also a long and VERY hard road, and unfortunately didn’t work as well, leaving a bone marrow transplant as the only option left. He did immunotherapy and spent seven months getting into remission for transplant, which miraculously worked, and that is where our conversation today with Jenna, Hendrix’s mom, begins.As someone who didn’t go through BMT with my child, this was part educational, part enlightening and honestly just left me pretty astonished at Jenna’s ability to disassociate, which you’ll hear us talk about as the main strategy she used to endure this really trying, really challenging experience.For any family going into BMT, Jenna’s story will be a reference and for any family who’s done BMT, Jenna’s story will be a recognition for what you did to support your child through one of the most harrowing experiences I think we can go through in oncology treatment.

Today I speak with Mel, an ALL survivor currently in her second year of university. Mel was diagnosed at 17, and just recently rang the bell this past summer, so her account of treatment is still really fresh and honest. Our talk today is from Mel’s lens as an AYA patient, and how we as parents can best support our teens and young adult children going through treatment at an age when they are fully aware of every single layer of their cancer diagnosis. Mel talks about what helped and didn’t help when it comes to support from her peers and family, and how the moments when her parents acknowledged how hard treatment was, rather than bright side it away, were the moments she connected the most. As a parent, all we want to do is take away our child’s suffering, so for her mom and dad to have the fortitude and strength to sit with Mel in her fear and discomfort is a level of love and commitment I am so deeply proud of in them. I also happen to know Mel’s parents, and want to take this chance to publicly acknowledge their strength and internal compass to know exactly how to best support their daughter. I adore Mel, and her family, and can’t wait to share her story. So, let’s dive deep with Mel.