Each day, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer. Each day, 7 children die as a result of childhood cancer. It is the number one killer disease of our children, more than more than from asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies, and pediatric AIDS combined. Did you know that 1 in 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before age 20 and that 35-40,000 are in treatment every day? Yet only 3% of all cancer research money goes to childhood cancer. Our war against childhood cancer is vastly under-publicized and under-funded. It is a truth America needs to be aware of.
I don’t know if anyone has ever been on a pediatric oncology floor. If they have ever walked the halls and seen the smiles or tears on the faces of these little fighters as they play on the little trikes and big wheels. How the moms and dads race behind them with the ever present IV pole. How they have little child-sized masks on because they are at high risk of infection. How the teens hang together and still try to be cool, even though they’re bald and ready to throw up at any time. How the teens have added words like methotrexate and acronyms like ANC to their vocabulary, instead of LOL and "sweet". How the poor little baby's cry because they can't even relate what hurts. Or if you've ever seen a mom or dad alone in the break room at 3 am, with their head in their hands, feeling alone, helpless, scared and mad.
I only know what I've read on a Care Page or a Caring Bridge site. That has been enough for me. Please take some time to review the stats and links I have provided this month. It's the least we can do for the kids who are fighting this fight and to make sure we never have to watch our own children fight!
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