About Panda Bugs, inc.
Panda Bugs, Inc. was initially born out of exasperation, frustration, stress, feelings of despair and loneliness mixed with love, hope, resilience and strength. Let me tell you a bit about our story.
After a long journey with my daughter, Kayleigh, who was diagnosed with dysautonomia and a multitude of life-altering autoimmune disorders, my son was diagnosed with cancer.
Andrew was 26 was living on his own and just starting his career in human services, when he was unexpectedly diagnosed with an inoperable tumor on his spine and B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He went right from the Emergency room on March 30, 2022, to being admitted to a Boston hospital for the next month. Andrew was so sick when he was first diagnosed, we weren't sure what the outcome was going to be.
In addition to processing and coming to terms with our new reality, we had to figure out the logistics. of the life that was suddenly ripped away from Andrew. He was going to need to move back home, as he had a long road ahead of him. We found that there are no programs or assistance when faced with a catastrophic illness, to assist or to even pause payments for rent, credit cards, car payments, insurance payments, private student loans etc. Andrew had no means to make these payments, or to even think about them at that point. He was so ill and he needed every ounce of energy he had to survive.
The next 2 1/2 years included long hospitalizations and trips to Boston from over two hours away (with no traffic). At one point, we were going into Boston up to 4 times a week. One month we spent $1500 just in gas from driving back and forth. Just a few months prior to Andrew's diagnosis, I began working for my own company that I had co-founded in 2019. I immediately had to cut my work load way back, which meant I instantly lost income. The lost income was difficult and our expenses piled up. There are so many hidden expenses involved when needing extensive treatment in addition to keeping up with the regular ones. In speaking with the hospital, there were no programs that existed to assist us or Andrew, outside of getting our parking covered.
One day, feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by the emotional and financial toll all this had taken on our family, and not being able to find any resources that didn't involve meeting a specific poverty threshold or losing everything first, I decided to take action. I drew upon my experiences from years of working in non-profits, as a care-taker to someone diagnosed with a catastrophic illness, and as a clinical social worker and therapist, and I set out to open my own non-profit to help families like ours. I wanted to create a resource that was clearly needed and did not exist when we needed it.
That is how Panda Bugs, Inc was born. It was named after Andrew and Kayleigh, whose childhood nicknames were Andrew Panda Bear and Kayleigh Bug. The colors were chosen because orange is the ribbon color for Leukemia and Teal for dysautonomia.
Dealing with a major illness is a long road with ups and downs. People who have present and supportive families are more likely to have positive outcomes. We don't want people to have to work mutiple jobs to make ends meet, accumulate massive debt to try to maintain a sense of normalcy, or to have to lose everything before they are eligible for assistance.
Our Mission
Our mission is to help people, regardless of age or income, to minimize drastic lifestyle changes while undergoing treatments for long-term medical conditions so that you can focus on the things that matter most. Family.
Our Vision
Our vision is for families in America, who experience unexpected, serious, long-term medical conditions, to have access to resources that fully supplement any loss of income and subsidizes additional costs incurred as a result of the diagnosis, for the duration of the treatment.
Our hope is that no one has to go into crushing debt, take on additional jobs or lose everything in order to provide care and support for a sick family member.
We love that Massachusetts has implemented Paid Family Medical Leave, which is a huge step in the right direction, but still has significant limitations and a long way to go for our vision to be realized. Our vision is that Panda Bugs can help to supplement income loss for families, so they can focus on taking care of themselves and family, and not worry about finances.