AFL Cancer Support & Recovery
The medical team treats the cancer.No one should carry everything around it alone.
Veteran-led, family-centered navigation for service members, veterans, first responders, caregivers, and survivors—built to connect the medical journey with the practical support real life still demands.
Our place in the fight
“Support and complement the medical team—not replace it.”
AFL helps make the system easier to understand, connects families to credible resources, and stays focused on the person—not only the diagnosis.
Start where you are
You do not need to solve the entire journey today.
Choose the situation closest to yours. The navigator will narrow the page to the support most likely to help right now.
Showing 8 support paths
Cancer care & a clear point of contact
Start with the team responsible for your diagnosis and treatment. Ask who your oncology navigator, social worker, or care coordinator is.
What this can help with
What it covers: Treatment questions, referrals, second opinions, symptom reporting, clinical trials, and coordination between VA and community providers.
First step: Write down the name and direct number of one person on your care team who can help route questions.
Explore VA’s National Oncology ProgramEmotional, peer & family support
Cancer can affect sleep, relationships, identity, work, and the sense of control—not only the body.
What this can help with
What it covers: Individual or family counseling, support groups, spiritual care, peer connection, stress management, and help talking with children.
First step: Ask your oncology social worker what counseling and peer groups are available locally, virtually, or through VA.
Review NCI support servicesTransportation, lodging & travel pay
Distance should not quietly become the reason an appointment is delayed or missed.
What this can help with
What it covers: VA appointment rides, possible mileage reimbursement, and—in some cases—approved lodging, meals, or travel for an eligible attendant.
First step: Contact your VA transportation representative before travel when possible. Lodging and meal reimbursement may require advance approval.
Request help getting to VA careCosts, work & daily-life barriers
The financial strain around treatment can include much more than the medical bill.
What this can help with
What it covers: Questions about insurance, leave, medication costs, food, utilities, transportation, housing, and local financial-assistance programs.
First step: Tell the oncology social worker the exact barrier you are facing. “I need help” is harder to route than “I may miss treatment because I cannot afford the trip.”
Understand cancer-related financial distressCaregiver guidance & breathing room
Caregivers often become the scheduler, driver, note-taker, advocate, and steady person in the room—all at once.
What this can help with
What it covers: VA caregiver education, peer mentoring, coaching, referrals, skills training, and possible enhanced assistance for eligible families.
First step: Ask the Veteran’s VA care team for the local Caregiver Support Program coordinator, even if you are unsure which program fits.
Visit VA Caregiver SupportSymptoms, comfort & palliative support
Palliative care is support for symptoms and quality of life. It can be provided alongside treatment and is not the same as giving up.
What this can help with
What it covers: Pain, nausea, fatigue, appetite, sleep, shortness of breath, emotional strain, family communication, and treatment decision support.
First step: Ask the oncology team whether a palliative-care or supportive-care consult would help now; it does not require stopping cancer treatment.
Learn what palliative care can provideToxic exposure & VA benefits
Some cancers may be presumptively connected to qualifying military exposures, service locations, or periods.
What this can help with
What it covers: Understanding PACT Act eligibility, presumptive cancers, VA health care, disability compensation, and evidence that may matter to a claim.
First step: Do not wait for treatment to end. Review the current VA presumptive list and gather diagnosis, service, and exposure records.
Check current PACT Act guidanceFirefighter-specific cancer resources
Firefighters may face occupational cancer risks that deserve informed screening, documentation, and long-term attention.
What this can help with
What it covers: Learning about firefighter cancer research, recording work history and exposures, and voluntarily joining the national research registry.
First step: Keep a personal record of departments, roles, fire responses, gear practices, and known exposures, then discuss appropriate screening with a clinician.
Visit the National Firefighter RegistryA calmer first 48 hours
Four moves that reduce confusion.
These are useful after a new diagnosis, a change in treatment, or any moment when the number of decisions starts to feel unmanageable.
Name one care contact
Identify the oncology navigator, nurse, or social worker who can route questions.
Build one simple record
Keep diagnoses, medications, appointments, contacts, questions, and travel receipts together.
Say the real barrier out loud
Transportation, money, childcare, work, food, and fear are care issues when they affect treatment.
Bring one trusted person in
Ask someone to listen, take notes, drive, organize updates, or simply sit beside you.
Take this to the appointment
Questions worth asking
- Who should I call between appointments?
- Which symptoms need a same-day call?
- Can I speak with an oncology social worker?
- Is a second opinion appropriate?
- What support is available for my caregiver or children?
- Could palliative care help with symptoms during treatment?
- What should we know about travel, work, or treatment costs?
The long view
Recovery is more than finishing treatment.
AFL’s Cancer Support & Resource Center is being shaped around the gaps families often feel most: navigation, community, caregiver support, benefits education, stress reduction, wellness, and a place to rebuild confidence after life has been reorganized by illness.
At the future Sanctuary, that support can grow into family-inclusive retreats, nature and animal connection, practical workshops, quiet recovery spaces, peer mentorship, and a Veterans Resource Epicenter that helps people understand what comes next.
AFL’s promise
We will never reduce someone to a diagnosis, a claim number, or a list of appointments.
The person, the family, and the life they are fighting to return to all belong in the plan.
Verified starting points
Go to the source before you rely on a rule.
Programs and eligibility can change. These official resources were reviewed in July 2026.