On the 17th floor of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, patients check in at a kiosk to receive a number. They wait until a loud robotic voice directs them to a registration desk. 

A magnetic whiteboard lists infusion times from “on time” (rare) before jumping 15- and 30-minute intervals up to 90 minutes. No number is listed after that, though longer stays are not uncommon.

Patients sit resigned, mostly silent, in the plastic chairs in the room that seats about 50. Some sit alone; others come with companions or caretakers. Walkers and canes are common. Scarves and caps cover a few bald heads. Disposable nausea bags are carried. 

After a nurse calls someone’s last name, individuals are ushered into a curtained, partitioned bay with one spare chair where for the next few hours, chemotherapy will be delivered via infusion.

This is cancer’s waiting room. And 40% of Americans could be sitting in one.

The  Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, which ranks among the top 10 cancer programs in the nation, treats 16,000 to 18,000 new patients each year. Like other comprehensive cancer centers, it has been affected by the administration’s funding cuts. In Lurie’s case, millions of dollars in grants for research and community outreach were frozen or cut. 

The Trump regime has proposed eliminating cancer screening and prevention programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has cut billions in funds for the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute. Clinical trials have been disrupted or reduced.

Journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, daughter of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, described her leukemia treatment in a New Yorker essay that railed against her cousin, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for slashing billions of dollars in research and technology that target the disease. 

“I worried about funding for leukemia and bone-marrow research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. I worried about the trials that were my only shot at remission,” she wrote in November. 

Schlossberg had two stem cell transplants, chemo and a clinical trial of immunotherapy that attacks cancer cells. She died at age 35 in December.

These dramatic cuts reverse years of progress for future cancer cures. As funding dries up, researchers leave the field or the country. It is impossible to predict how many lives will be lost because of the funding massacre and how long it could take to get us back to progress. 

Meanwhile, excessive spending flows elsewhere. President Donald Trump’s war against Iran cost more than $11.3 billion in six days, his planned presidential library is “missing” millions of dollars and super political action committee donors are paying $1 million per plate at Mar-a-Lago for presidential access. 

The Trump family has profited up to $4 billion from his presidency. “I found out nobody cared and I’m allowed to,” Trump said to The New York Times in January.

Then there is the lavish spending by his officials. Now-former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem spent $220 million for an ad campaign depicting her on horseback at Mount Rushmore. (Why?) She also bought two Gulfstream jets at an estimated $200 million during the government shutdown.

FBI Director Kash Patel flies government jets on personal occasions for vacations, to visit his girlfriend and to celebrate with the USA men’s hockey team at the Winter Olympics in Milan. 

Under Pete Hegseth, the Department of Defense spent $6.9 million on lobster, $15.1 million on ribeye steaks and $2 million on Alaskan king crab. A $98,000 Steinway piano was given to the Air Force chief of staff, and $225.6 million was spent for Pentagon furniture including Herman Miller recliners. These purchases were all part of a spending spree to exhaust the military’s remaining budget in the final months of fiscal year 2025.

Graft has escalated as health funding has diminished. 

Meanwhile, cancer’s waiting room grows every year with over 2 million new cases. If you, as I do, have someone in that room, you are probably profoundly angry and discouraged. 

What can you do? Until there is a new administration, you can donate money or time to cancer organizations. In the next couple of months, two area walks are raising funds for cancer support and research organizations.

On May 3, supporters will walk in Hinsdale for Wellness House, which helps cancer patients and caregivers across Chicagoland by providing emotional and physical support. With almost 500 programs offered for free each month, Wellness House has 14 partner locations in the area.

A little over a month later, on June 7 at Grant Park, a 5K Cancer Survivors’ Celebration Walk will raise money for the Lurie Cancer Center. Now in its 33rd year, the event also provides entertainment and speakers. 

Of course, participating in cancer fundraising efforts will raise only a fraction of what has been lost. This administration has shown it cares little for cries of help from victims of any kind. But eventually, new leadership will be elected, and if we are fortunate, research funding will be restored.

And, hopefully, our loved ones will still be alive in the waiting room.

Christine Ledbetter is a former senior arts editor at The Washington Post who lives in Illinois, where she writes about culture and politics.