The Deep C

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...

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...

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 insid...

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 Maddi...

When Kerri Steele’s husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she was at home with three young children—just two, four, and six—trying to navigate his care, her own grief, and the impossible task of helping her kids understand what was happening. What she quickly realized was that their words and their behaviour didn’t always line up. They couldn’t fully express what they were feeling, but they...

When your child is diagnosed with cancer, everything changes — instantly. And when your teen wants to move on while you’re still trying to process it, the experience can feel isolating, overwhelming, and surreal. In this episode, I sit down with my friend Kelly Stein-Marcus, an extraordinary mom and clinical health psychologist, to talk about her family’s journey through her teenage son Dylan’s Ew...

Today I speak with Susan, founder of OPAAC (Ontario Parents Advocating for Childhood Cancer), about the development of parent-led advocacy in pediatric oncology. Susan shares how her daughter’s diagnosis in 1995 led to her becoming a parent liaison at SickKids Hospital and eventually establishing OPAAC in 1997. Today, it remains the only parent-led childhood cancer advocacy organization of its kin...

Today I'm privileged to chat with Recreational Therapist and owner of Flow Recreation Therapy and Consulting, Danielle Scarlett, about the hard conversations no parent wants to have with their children. We work through every topic from how to tell our kids they have cancer, what to say when something is going to hurt, how to approach end of life conversations, and what to do when there are simply...

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 mak...

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 validatio...

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...

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 thr...

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 -...

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 full...

Today I speak with Leah, a pediatric nurse and nutritional coach who has spent more than a decade supporting families through some of the most meaningful and vulnerable times of their life. She’s worked in pediatric intensive care and birthing centres, and later built her own practice — one that helps parents navigate those early years of nutrition and development with a more holistic, compassiona...

Today I speak with Dr Jackie, a naturopathic doctor and mom to 3 beautiful boys. Jackie’s life was completely upended when her youngest son Spencer was diagnosed with high risk ALL at 13 months old. And when I say her life, I mean her entire foundation. As a naturopath, Jackie was consciously raising her family in alignment with her practice - this meant using things like natural remedies, tinctur...

Todays talk with my friend Lindsay hit so close to home, in many ways. I first connected with Lindsay because our kids were diagnosed with the same cancer, rhabdo. It felt really good to talk to another parent who knew all the same things I knew - like meeting someone in a foreign country who spoke the same language AND also knew all the same people. She was comfortable, familiar and we instantly...

My conversation today with Matt got so deep, so fast, and I think it’s because he’s worked really hard at clearing the path towards the place he holds his pain and grief around losing his son Landon. When Landon was 10.5 years old he passed away from medulloblastoma, leaving Matt with a choice to follow his grief in a bad, destructive direction, or in a powerful and healing direction. A friend cha...

Today I speak with Alex, who was 7 yrs old when his sister was diagnosed with leukemia 20 years ago. We discuss the profound impact of childhood experiences related to a sibling's cancer diagnosis and dive deep into themes of loneliness, emotional neglect, and the long-term effects on mental health. Alex shares his personal journey of navigating his sister's illness, the feelings of bein...

Today I talk with five incredible oncology moms who met during their kids treatments and felt the need to create a collective for cancer moms to come together, feel seen, supported and less alone. Katelyn, Sarah, Amanda, Nicole and Lindsay discuss the importance of having a support system of other oncology moms, the emotional challenges they face, and how they found strength in their shared experi...

In this conversation, Sam and mindset coach/oncology mom Kayleigh Kennedy explore the emotional landscape for parents post treatment and the profound impact of trauma on our mental and physical health. Kayleigh shares her personal experiences and insights on mending the broken heart her son's cancer treatment left her with, and the ongoing process of healing, highlighting the significance of setti...

My talk with Lily has really stuck with me. This is a mom who simply refused to let cancer define her family’s life. There was no way cancer was going to interrupt their normal, and there was no way it was going to interfere with her son’s growth and learning and development. Lily was determined to maintain Wyatt’s full and active life, and not only maintain, but better it. Cancer wasn’t something...

Sam Albert, a recreational therapist at Roger Nielson Children's Hospice, shares her experience supporting families and siblings through treatment and end of life care. Sam shares personal stories of growing up with a brother who had cancer, the impact of grief, and the importance of validating the sibling's experience. The conversation also emphasizes the significance of peer support among siblin...

In this chat, Scott Walker shares his family's journey through his teenage daughter's cancer diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma and treatment. He discusses the shock of receiving the diagnosis, the protective 'armor' parents wear, and the importance of finding moments of release. Scott emphasizes the significance of approaching treatment in phases, coping with the hair loss phase, and the vital role of...

This conversation spans the epic journey of Shara and her wife Karen navigating their son's stage IV osteosarcoma diagnosis while immigrating to Canada. Friends from childhood, Shara and Karen grew up together in the Philippines. Their paths went in different directions, Shara to Canada where she’s a nurse, and Karen to becoming a psychologist, marrying and becoming a mother. Years later, whe...