Doctors treat the diagnosis.
We explore everything else.
The Cancer Iceberg is a new podcast series exploring the unseen emotional, financial, and family realities of pediatric cancer. We're stepping outside the clinic to help families navigate the other hardest parts of the journey.
WELCOME
Welcome to the Cancer Iceberg
The Cancer Iceberg features one-on-one conversations with experts, caregivers, and families who look at the bigger picture. We aren't talking about pathology or treatment plans. We are asking questions you didn’t know you needed answers to.
EPISODES
What Lies Beneath the Surface
This podcast isn't about offering false hope or quick fixes. It's about giving families the tools, language, and validation they need to survive—and eventually, rebuild.
Expert guidance. Real stories. Actionable insights.
Season 1
Family Dynamics
Pediatric cancer is a family event that reshapes roles, tests marriages, and forces households to reorganize in real time. We explore what happens at home: parenting, partnership, the weight carried by siblings, and the "found families" people build when support has to come from somewhere.
EPISODES:
Marriage under pressure, Siblings, Single Parenting, Co-Parenting.
Season 2
Mental Health
Cancer doesn’t end at the body. It lives in the mind in fear, hyper-vigilance, guilt, hope, and exhaustion. These
conversations sit outside of clinical pathology and inside lived experiences, helping you create a plan for your needs instead of what you think you "should" do.
EPISODES:
Caregiver Burnout, PTSD, Coping Strategies, Grief.
Season 3
Finances & Future
Bills don’t pause for cancer. This season explores how trauma alters financial habits and decision-making. Decisions not made through spreadsheets, but real life. From emergency hospital bills to the daily, compounding costs of missed income, travel, and changing priorities.
EPISODES:
Trauma-Informed Finances, Hidden Costs, Navigating Debt.
JOIN OUR WORK
Fund the Research.
Change the Journey.
This podcast is more than storytelling, it's research in action. Every episode is built on months of interviews, expert consultations, and big-picture thinking that maps the real needs of families facing pediatric cancer.
Join Us in the Work
By supporting us on Patreon, you help fuel our discovery. 100% of your contribution powers the professional research and production needed to turn raw experience into actionable insights.
$10
per month
The Family Toolbox: Full access to the show notes, insights and resources captured as part of each episode.
$20
per month
You’ll get The Family Toolbox plus…
The Synthesis Brief: A monthly summary of the patterns and insights identified during our research.
$50
per month
You’ll get The Family Toolbox & The Synthesis Brief plus…
Quarterly Roundtables: Direct conversation with our team and experts in a live, small-group session to discuss findings and solve problems together.
Help Uncover Even More
We are seeking visionary partners to help us uncover the full breadth and depth of the iceberg. If you are interested in underwriting a season of discovery or exploring a deeper partnership, please Contact Us.
UX for Good founder Jason Ulaszek (on the left) is a user experience designer and also the father of a pediatric cancer patient.
ABOUT
The Diagnosis Changes Everything
When a child is diagnosed with cancer, it turns your world upside down. Of course, the most important thing is getting your kid healthy again. But that's not the only fight.
Suddenly, you are navigating shifting family dynamics, unspoken mental health crises, and a financial reality that no one prepared you for. The medical binder tells you about protocols and drug interactions. But there is no rulebook for how to plan a date night when your wold is falling apart, or how to ensure siblings don't lose their own identities in the shadow of the hospital.
The help that's out there is scattered and confusing. We're here to change that.
The 10% You See
The 90% You Don't
Like an iceberg, most of what families face during pediatric cancer treatment stays hidden beneath the surface. The medical appointments, scans, and treatments are visible, but the emotional weight, financial burden, and family challenges are invisible to most.
Emotional trauma and caregiver burnout that lasts for years
Financial strain that compounds with every missed paycheck
Relationship dynamics shifting under extraordinary pressure
And, countless other challenges outside of the medical treatment
"The medical team saved our child's life. But no one prepared us for how to save our marriage, our finances, or our other kids' sense of normalcy."
— Parent of a pediatric cancer survivor
THE HOSTS
We've been there. And we’re building a better way.
Jason Ulaszek
Co-Host & Co-Founder, UX for Good
Years ago, my daughter was diagnosed with cancer at age two and a half. Nothing could have prepared me for it. She's healthy now, but even years later, our family still carries the weight of that journey. I learned the hard way that thousands of families like mine need better guidance for the world outside the hospital walls.
Jeff Leitner
Co-Host & Co-Founder, UX for Good
Jason and I have spent over 15 years tackling the world's most pressing issues through design at UX for Good. We've spent years talking to families about what they're going through. Now, we're applying the best design thinking to the pediatric cancer experience—bringing in the experts to help write the rulebook that families deserve.
Cas Leitner
Researcher & Producer
Drawing from an ethnographic and UX research background, I have spent years working with the very systems transformative justice is all about. Now it’s time to individualize oncology care, breaking away from the “one size fits all” system. Pain is a part of the human experience, but we are here to ease the suffering and collaborate with experts around the world to know just what it means to thrive during the cancer journey.
Jen Wiebers
Wrangler
I have a passion for bringing order and process to complex, large-scale projects. I have dedicated my career to operationalizing efforts, tightly managing timelines, and ensuring the smooth execution of major campaigns and team objectives. For the Cancer Iceberg Podcast, I’m helping orchestrate, organize, and streamline our work to help the team deliver the essential guidance and expert collaboration that families deserve.
If audacious were a measure, that'd be us.
The Cancer Iceberg is a UX for Good project. Launched in 2011 by Jason Ulaszek and Jeff Leitner, UX for Good has partnered with organizations like The GRAMMY Foundation, the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education, the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda, and the Clinton Global Initiative. The Cancer Iceberg is an outgrowth of Yes We Cancer and is our latest effort to leverage the best thinking and the best design to help people in need.
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