Advocating for Change: Step by Step
By Samantha Reese, PhD Student and Graduate Research Assistant, University of Florida
I am not a parent with cancer. I am an advocate, someone who recognizes the lack of resources out there for parents with cancer and has joined the fight to find or create them.
When I first started grad school, I joined a research lab where part of my job was to transcribe interviews. The first ones I worked on were with young adults with cancer. I remember getting to the 7th one, where a parent with stage IV cancer and her partner shared some of the challenges they were facing. I knew what cancer was and some of the impacts it could have on people. But I hadn’t really understood what the experience itself looked like. I remember listening quietly to the recording and being stunned at how this disease could touch every part of someone’s life.
As I continued my work, I met more parents and heard more stories. They talked about the daily challenges, like finding childcare and transportation, trying to put on a brave face when they were exhausted or in pain, or just running a household with a fraction of the energy they had before. And there were other challenges too, ones that had the experts stumped when you would ask them what to do. There were financial problems that could mean Christmas and birthdays were different, accepting that being a parent might not look exactly like you had hoped it would, or figuring out if and what to tell your child about your diagnosis.
In early 2024, I was searching for tips on how to help parents have those conversations when I stumbled across a link to a webinar that the Bright Spot Network was holding. I remember pacing my living room after it ended because I was so excited to find that there were others out there tackling this issue. The next day, I told everyone I worked with about the amazing work Bright Spot was doing and how helpful it had been to hear from the parents themselves. I went to a conference a few months later and was excited to see Haley, one of the co-founders of Bright Spot, step onto the stage and talk about their mission. I knew immediately that I wanted to be involved and joined as a volunteer co-facilitator for support groups. I’ve met amazing people, both staff and parents with cancer. I’ve also been inspired to tackle these challenges from different angles. I’m a PhD student at the University of Florida, where my research focuses on helping families impacted by cancer (parents and other family members) learn how to communicate with each other more effectively. I’m also a mental health counselor planning on specializing in working with cancer patients.
It's a bit shocking how listening to one conversation opened the door to a world that many still don’t know exists. But it’s very clear to me that every parent with cancer deserves the kind of support that the Bright Spot Network provides, and I’m honored to be a small part of that.