Making Joy the Reflex

Can a stage four cancer diagnosis leave room for a long life filled with purpose and hope? Tracy Case is a 22-year stage IV breast cancer survivor, CanCare volunteer, and author of Spoiler Alert: She Lives. Her cancer journey began while she was raising a three-year-old and caring for a newborn. Faced with a prognosis of 18 months to five years, Tracy leaned on faith, family, friends, and a strong support system while moving through years of cancer treatment. As the years passed, Tracy began setting small milestones instead of focusing on an uncertain future. She learned to advocate for herself, seek a second opinion, communicate honestly with her children, and accept help when she needed it. Her experience also shaped how she approached marriage, motherhood, survivorship, and the fear that can remain long after treatment begins. Today, Tracy uses her story to give others the same hope she once needed. Through CanCare and her memoir, she reminds people facing cancer that they don't have to walk alone. Her message is simple: find your people, ask questions, advocate for your care, and keep taking the next step. You may be stronger than you ever imagined. Highlights:  Finding ways to live with uncertainty without letting fear lead every decision  Helping children feel safe through honest, age-appropriate conversations  Knowing when another medical opinion may help you move forward with confidence  Protecting relationships through clearer expectations and open communication  Turning lived experience into meaningful support for someone else Mentioned Resources: CanCare- www.cancare.org Tracy’s Book – https://a.co/d/01rB8MCl About the Guest: Tracy Case is a stage IV breast cancer survivor, marathon runner, and author of Spoiler Alert, She Lives, a memoir about the twenty-plus years she was never supposed to get. Diagnosed at 33 when her daughter was just six weeks old, she now volunteers with CanCare, walking alongside other women facing what she once faced.

Becca Schuetz is a certified child life specialist and founder of Coping Solutions. With more than a decade of experience in pediatric and adult oncology, she helps families talk about cancer, treatment, grief, and change in ways children can understand. Her work is rooted in child development, honest communication, emotional safety, and family support. Becca’s path began with her own childhood health issues. She remembers wishing her family had someone to explain what was happening and help them cope. Later, an internship with Camp Sunshine showed her how much support families facing childhood cancer need. That experience shaped her focus on oncology and child life care. Becca explains why children often cope better when parents use clear, age-appropriate language. She shares how conversations should change for toddlers, school-age children, and teens. Parents will also hear practical ways to prepare kids for treatment, respond when they shut down, maintain helpful routines, and make space for grief. Her message for parents is simple. You don’t need perfect words. Keep showing up, keep communication open, and start where you are. Children need honesty, consistency, connection, and the reassurance that they will be cared for. Highlights:  How children process cancer at different ages Age-appropriate ways to explain cancer.  What children may be saying without words How behavior can reveal what they’re feeling.  How to create emotional safety at home Why naming feelings helps kids cope.  Ways to preserve stability during treatment How routines and connection build security.  Why parents need support too How child life and peer support can help. Mentioned Resources: CanCare- www.cancare.org Becca’s website – https://www.copingsolutionsllc.com About the Guest: Becca Schuetz is a Certified Child Life Specialist, a guide for grieving kids, and a believer in families' capacity to endure. For more than a decade, she worked inside two of the country's leading hospital systems, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory Healthcare, walking beside families in pediatric and adult oncology through diagnosis, treatment, and everything in between. She brings that experience to her private practice, Coping Solutions, where she helps children of all ages face loss, fear, and change in ways that are developmentally honest and emotionally safe. Becca shares what children actually understand about illness and death, how adults get it wrong with the best intentions, and why the hardest seasons are meant to be walked together.