Sunday, September 5

I spent today feeling pretty depressed. I know Collin seems to be responding very well to treatment, and he is making great progress in his recovery every day. I am truly grateful for how well he's doing. But I am also terrified. I'm terrified of losing him, and I'm terrified of a future without him. Just because he is doing well now doesn't mean the cancer won't come back. So far there is no guaranteed cure for Medulloblastoma, or any childhood cancer.

Here are some facts about childhood cancer:*

~Childhood cancers are the #1 disease killer of children in the U.S. - more than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined.

~Childhood cancer is not a single disease, but rather many different types that fall into 12 major categories. Common adult cancers are extremely rare in children, yet many cancers are almost exclusively found in children.

~Childhood Cancers are cancers that primarily affect children, teens, and young adults. When cancer strikes children and young adults it affects them differently than it would an adult.

~Attempts to detect childhood cancers at an earlier stage, when the disease would react more favorably to treatment, have largely failed. Young patients often have a more advanced stage of cancer when first diagnosed. (Approximately 20% of adults with cancer show evidence the disease has spread, yet almost 80% of children show that the cancer has spread to distant sites at the time of diagnosis).

~Cancer in childhood occurs regularly, randomly, and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographic region.

~The cause of most childhood cancers are unknown and at present, cannot be prevented. (Most adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupation, and other exposure to cancer-causing agents).

~One in every 330 Americans will develop cancer by the age of 20. On the average, 12,500 children and adolescents in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer each year.

~On the average, 1 in every 4 elementary school has a child with cancer. The average high school has two students who are a current or former cancer patient. In the U.S., about 46 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer every weekday.

~While the cancer death rate has dropped more dramatically for children than for any other age group, 2,300 children and teenagers will die each year from cancer.

~Childhood leukemia (making up the largest group of childhood cancers) was once a certain death sentence, but now can be cured almost 80% of the time.

~Today, up to 75% of the children with cancer can be cured, yet some forms of childhood cancers have proven so resistant to treatment that, in spite of research, a cure is still elusive.

~Several childhood cancers continue to have a very poor prognosis, including: brain stem tumors, metastatic sarcomas, relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

*(Facts taken from THON's website.)


Everyone knows that a pink ribbon stands for Breast Cancer Awareness, but did you know that a gold ribbon stands for Childhood Cancer Awareness? Millions of dollars are donated to Breast Cancer Research every year. Childhood Cancer Research deserves the same level of recognition and response. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, so I am asking you to help make a difference in the lives of children who are diagnosed with cancer. Consider making a donation toward Childhood Cancer Research at one of these organizations:

• THON
• Cure Search
  

Make a donation. Spread the word. Share the links. Help make a difference.