Making Cancer Less Lonely
The Wellspace for Women was built on one idea: that when women have access to credible information and honest conversations, they make better decisions about their health and their lives. INSIDE THE WELLSPACE is where those conversations happen with experts who bring clarity, experience, and solutions to the topics that shape our well-being.
This week’s conversation centers on connection, specifically on how to make the experience of cancer less lonely. Our guest is Christina Merrill, MSW, oncology social worker and Founder and CEO of the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation (BMCF). Christina created BMCF in 1992 after working at Memorial Sloan Kettering and Mount Sinai, where she saw firsthand how much was missing from the patient experience – not in the medicine itself – but in the care surrounding it.
She saw patients and families struggling to manage the emotional, financial, and logistical fallout of treatment. She saw that while hospitals focused on saving lives, they were less equipped to support the lives being lived through cancer. So, she built something that could.
The Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation was born from a simple but powerful premise: no one should face cancer alone. For more than 30 years, Christina’s organization has helped patients and families navigate every step of diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship — all free of charge.
Through partnerships with hospitals nationwide, BMCF provides practical support that fills the gaps medical care doesn’t cover. Housing programs connect patients with temporary lodging near treatment centers. Medication partnerships with Walgreens help ensure access to prescriptions. Patient navigation and mental health programs guide individuals through the chaos and fear that can follow a diagnosis.
Since its founding, BMCF has distributed more than $12 million in assistance to over 150,000 patients, which is proof that care isn’t just about medicine; it’s about humanity.
Christina approaches cancer care through a social work lens that sees the patient as a whole person. “Emotional support isn’t separate from treatment…” she told me. “It is treatment.”
That insight led to one of her most forward-thinking innovations: CancerBuddy™, a digital peer support app designed to match cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers with others who truly understand what they’re going through.
The idea came from an unexpected source: dating apps. “If technology can connect people for love,” she said, “why can’t it connect people for support?”
CancerBuddy uses filters like diagnosis, treatment type, hospital, age, and location to pair users with peers whose journeys align. It also offers moderated support groups, educational resources, and a secure, HIPAA-compliant space for community. The result is a global network that replaces isolation with understanding — one connection at a time.
Running a national nonprofit that gives away all of its services for free takes both structure and vision. Christina has built both.
The BMCF operates entirely on private donations and fundraising, a model that has kept its mission personal and flexible. Beyond its core services, the Foundation offers programs like Carelines™, a secure online platform that lets patients raise funds and share updates with family and friends without jeopardizing insurance or benefits.
Her leadership extends to multiple boards – medical, nursing, social work, and a junior board of young professionals – all working collaboratively to look at patient care holistically. It’s a model that mirrors Christina’s belief that when everyone has a voice at the table, solutions are more human and more effective.
When asked what she wants people to take away from her work, Christina doesn’t hesitate. “That support is not a luxury. It’s a necessity.”
The Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation and CancerBuddy continue to grow, connecting patients across hospitals, across states, and across the emotional divide that illness can create. What began as one social worker’s determination to bridge the gap has become a nationwide network of care that’s redefining what support looks like in cancer treatment.
To learn more, visit bonemarrow.org and explore CancerBuddy to see how connection is changing the patient experience.
Connection is care. Christina built what medicine alone could not: a space where no one has to face cancer alone.
You can watch or listen to the episode TODAY on Youtube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify or at Inside the Wellspace.
As Christina says – support is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
Cathy
