Cancer Cards is a vintage-style playing card deck designed as a whimsical and powerful communication tool for families navigating the realities of living with cancer. Each card turns a real part of the survivor's experience into a gentle, relatable moment using humor to lower defenses, reduce emotional intensity, and open the door to conversations that loved ones, friends, and patients sometimes struggle to start.
The retro-inspired illustrations keep things approachable and human, but the purpose runs deeper: the cards act as a “third object”, giving families and therapists a neutral, non-threatening way to name emotions, validate challenges, and build shared understanding.
Whether you’re a parent trying to talk with your kids, a partner or friend trying to connect, or a clinician seeking a safe entry point for dialogue, Cancer Cards transforms difficult moments into opportunities for clarity, connection, and the kind of laughter that helps everyone breathe a little easier.
As a Graphic Designer married to a Marriage and Family Therapist, my wife and I recognized the therapeutic value in creating a communication tool like Cancer Cards from the perspective of a family who has been there: a spouse, a parent, a partner, trying to make sense of a new normal. When a parent has cancer, everyone in the family feels it.
Each card features a humorous 1950s-style vintage cartoon scene inspired by a deck of cards my Dad had played with when he was a kid, which I later discovered and played with when I was a kid in the 70s.
⬇ Click on any card below for a close-up view ⬇
The 52 different illustrated scenes depict real moments inspired by our lives, balancing wit with warmth, using lighthearted humor to help others understand what life with cancer really feels like. Families can use the deck to play games, spark conversations, or just laugh together when things feel too heavy. Each card can turn an everyday struggle into a shared moment of humor and connection.
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When my wife first began to experience the lingering, physically draining side-effects of chemotherapy, we sometimes joked that she could, as if it were her turn in a board game, play her "Cancer Card" to get out of doing something. Over time, it became a silly, recurring theme between us until we finally realized the impact a deck of Cancer Cards could represent in real life... a simple, fun, and sneaky way to communicate about the hard stuff, parent to child, partner to partner, and friend to friend. It was a natural progression to evolve this playful "Play Your Cancer Card" concept directly to a deck of cards.
Near the top of each playing card is a short and sweet directive in red italics. 48 cards have a "Get out of..." instruction for various physical tasks and chores, while others address emotional and social scenarios.
There are also 4 cards with a "Get me a..." instruction (one in each card suit):
Get me a drink Get me a pillow Get me a blanket Get me a snack
When a Cancer Card is handed to someone to get a break from a task, a bit of humor can often help diffuse any awkwardness when help is being asked for, or offered. You can effectively, and lightheartedly, 'Play your Cancer Card' to enhance rest and recovery.
4 months after our baby girl was born, my wife was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer.
5 months after her diagnosis, and only two days after her first chemo treatment, we hosted a head-shaving party on our back deck where family and friends each cut off a braid of my wife's hair in a heartwarming celebration of love and support. Even through the handheld, low-quality YouTube video, you can see my wife's strength, and silliness, shining through as she met the fight with cancer head-on (pun intended), choosing to lose her hair on her own terms.
9 months after her diagnosis, we hosted a "Bye-Bye Boobies" party ahead of my wife's double-mastectomy surgery.
It's been 17+ years since her diagnosis, and through countless surgeries, radiation, and ongoing chemotherapy treatments, my wife continues to meet the physical and emotional challenges of living with a terminal illness by using one of the strongest coping mechanisms we have as a family: our sense of humor.
There will be 3 different color decks. Each deck will have unique card back designs and jokers. Backers will have the option to choose which color deck(s) they want for their pledge level. By default, 3-deck pledges will receive 1 deck of each color, and the 6-deck pledge will receive 2 decks per color.
A teal/blue deck that mimics the original inspiration of the 1950s Cheer-Up playing cards.
A green deck that is Kickstarter logo green (nod to the crowdfunding platform).
A pink deck that ties into the Cancer Survivor movement.
Tier 1: $20 1 Deck
Tier 2: $38 2 Decks
Tier 3: $54 3 Decks
Tier 4: $102 6 Decks
Click the green "Manage your pledge" button on the top right of the campaign page to add one or several add-ons to your pledge. After that, click the "Change your pledge" button. You are now on the "Select your reward" page. Your current reward is highlighted. Click the green "pledge" button of your current reward again to get to the add-ons. Now you'll find all add-ons on one page that you can add to your reward. Click the "continue" button to confirm your add-ons.
Mini-Sticker Sheet (2”x3”) (made available upon Stretch goal achievement)
16-page Coloring Book (digital) (made available upon Stretch goal achievement)
Uncut card sheet
Custom Half-brick Box (made available upon Stretch goal achievement)
Campaign Goal: $2,500
Stretch Goals
$5,000: (Qty. 1) Mini-Sticker Sheet (2”x3” to fit in tuck box). I think I can fit 6-9 Small, half-inch mini-stickers of encouragement.
$7,500: (Qty. 1) 16-page Coloring Book (digital) to every 1+ deck backer, PLUS the coloring book becomes available to all backers as an Add-on. During the survey phase, the backer selects one of four different digital coloring books, each containing all the illustrations of a card suit.
$10,000: Custom Half-brick Box to every 6-deck pledge. Scalable. 12 decks = 2 half-brick boxes.
$25,000: Every deck upgraded to PVC plastic cards?