“You have cancer.  It wasn’t what I expected to hear my doctor say,” remembers Joseph.  “It took my breath away for a moment and then the questions started.  What will treatment cost?  Will I be able to work?  How long will it take?  Will I survive?  How do I tell my wife, my kids?”

No one is immune from receiving a cancer diagnosis.  One day you don’t have it, the next day you do.  Angel Foundation provides vital information and support to families, families like Joseph’s, who are facing cancer. 

Once diagnosed, Joseph soon realized that while he had the cancer, every member of his cherished family was affected–his wife, Maria, his two teen-aged sons, Mark and Nick, and his little girl, Amelia.  His family’s life had turned upside down.  As he and Maria searched for answers to their questions they found Angel Foundation.

“Angel Foundation’s Facing Cancer Together program helped us learn how to talk to each other and support one another through this horrible disease,” states Joseph.  “We learned how to talk to our children and answer their questions openly and honestly in a way they could understand.  It was heartbreaking when we learned that our little girl’s tantrums were likely due to the anxiety she felt around my cancer.  In Amelia’s mind, I was sick because she was being punished for being naughty.  Through Facing Cancer Together, we learned how to talk to her about this serious disease in words and ways she could understand.”

Angel Foundation’s board of directors, of which several are cancer survivors, knows the value of this programming and has stepped forward with a challenge to new and current donors to Angel Foundation.  In our 10th anniversary year, the board has put together a Power of 10 challenge grant of $5,000 to match donations from new dnors.  This challenge will also match increased gifts from individuals who are already donors to Angel Foundation. The Power of 10 challenge will expire at the end of the year–please make your gift count by being part of this challenge today.  Families like Joseph’s depend on it.

Over the next 10 weeks, you will learn more about Joseph and his family and their journey through the cancer experience on this blogpost.  Joseph’s family is just one of thousands of area families facing.  Their story represents the challenges that many families face when cancer intrudes on their life.