No Roadmap, No Guide – So She Wrote One

When the diagnosis came, Laura DeKraker Lang-Ree had no idea how much she’d have to become

Hi friends,

Some conversations just stick with you. This one with Laura DeKraker Lang-Ree has been sitting heavy on my heart, but in a good way. In a way that reminds me why The Life Shift exists in the first place.

Laura shared the moment her world flipped: lying in bed with her almost-four-year-old daughter, playfully asking, “Where does it hurt?” And hearing, “Everywhere, Mama.” That’s the moment she knew. What came next was a diagnosis – leukemia – and a three-year whirlwind of medical jargon, daily chemo, and more questions than answers.

Image by ChatGPT

“We had a great medical team. But nobody told us how to live while our child was fighting for her life.”

So she started writing it all down – the practical things, the emotional weight, the wins, the heartbreak, and the systems that helped her family stay upright. And then, years later, she turned it into the guidebook she never had: The Cancer Parents Handbook.

Here are a few things I’m still thinking about:

  • Intuition is powerful. Especially when the world tells you not to trust it.

  • Caregivers need oxygen too. You can’t carry everyone without breathing.

  • Language matters. Calling her daughter “in treatment” instead of “sick” gave her power.

  • There’s no “right way” to survive something hard, but having a map helps.

Laura’s episode is for anyone who’s walked through fire, loved someone through pain, or wondered what to do after the unthinkable happens.

🎧 Listen now at TheLifeShiftPodcast.com or watch on YouTube.

Thanks for being here – and for letting stories like this one live beyond the conversation.

Warmly,
Matt

PS: During a recent long weekend trip, I created a short-form podcast, “It’s Okay If…” Each episode is under three minutes long and provides a permission slip to simply be human. I’d be honored if you subscribed to the show. New episodes are released every Wednesday at noon ET.