For those battling cancer during the pandemic, time lost during the worldwide shutdown felt particularly acute. | FG Trade/Getty Images

“I don’t know how much time I get.”

Justine Luebke, a 32-year-old teacher who lives in Montana, was undergoing chemotherapy for metastatic cancer when the pandemic hit last year. As the world shut down, Luebke was figuring out what she wanted the rest of her life to look like. “Time takes on a new meaning when you go through this,” she said. “This pandemic has definitely felt like it’s taken time from me. And I don’t know how much time I get.”

There is no cure for metastatic cancer. Treatment options are available, but once diagnosed, it is generally understood that patients will be sick for the rest of their lives. The median survival range for people with the disease is