Every year, 12,400 children and teens are newly diagnosed with cancer, and one in four children die. The fact is startling, but to parents and families, who hold a child in their arms, cancer rates are meaningless and futile on that day of diagnosis.

What is cancer? What is the rate of survival? How much will it cost? What lies ahead for our family? These are all questions that trouble over 12,000 families each year. One of the challenges facing the family of a child who has cancer is going on with everyday life. Moving forward is not an easy task. It may be the hardest during times of stress; when you find out your child has cancer, when your child is in the hospital, or when your child is suffering from the side effects of treatment. Even when the treatments are going well, the cancer still affects each member of the family. When your child enters the hospital or goes for treatments, each member has to adjust in some way. Family members may be apart. Days of work may be missed.

For many families who learn they have a child with cancer, basic necessities suddenly take a backseat to medical care and other expenses that arrive at every turn. In a very short amount of time, this financial burden can supersede the emotional turmoil, and daily life takes on a crisis plan in order for any family to just subsist. In the best of circumstances, this may mean many years of debt and belt cinching as parents watch their child grow and mature into a healthy young adult. Under the worst conditions, families may even find themselves without financial wherewithal to make burial arrangements for a child who has not survived the struggle.