Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

[torontomom]

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Did you know:

- Childhood cancer is the #1 killer disease of our children, more than from asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies, and pediatric AIDS combined

- 1 in 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before age 20

- Each year 3,000 children die, and 35-40,000 are in treatment

- The National Cancer Institute's (NCI) federal budget was $4.6 billion. Of that, breast cancer received 12%, prostate cancer received 7%, and all 12 major groups of pediatric cancers combined received less than 3%

(source: People Against Childhood Cancer http://curechildhoodcancer.ning.com/)


Please consider getting involved, raising money and raising awareness of this devastating disease.

Some ways to get involved: http://www.stbaldricks.org/user_media/downloads/SU2C_Calendar.pdf

Thank you.

[mytwosons]

Torontomom, thanks for posting this reminder.

I think of you often and wonder how you are doing. :hug5:

[WatchingThemGrow]

A little boy (2) from our music class is starting radiation next week :( Thanks for the links.

[justlearning]

Torontomom, thanks so much for posting this--I am so very sorry for your loss.

My son was diagnosed two years ago with cancer and is completing treatment this month. But unfortunately the pediatric oncology clinic he goes to gets new kids every week who have just been diagnosed. In fact, they're so busy that they're having to hire another oncologist because they're ovewhelemed with the number of patients. And it's heartbreaking to attend our local organization's annual Christmas dinner and see all of the candles given out to families who have lost their child to cancer that year.

And, yes, the funding of pediatric cancer is awful, especially compared to the other types of funding. Breast cancer groups (especially Susan G. Komen) have done an excellent job in raising awareness and funds for their cause, but no one has been able to do such an effective job for pediatric cancer. Hopefully, that will change in the future.

Thanks again for posting your important message. I pray for peace and healing for your family.

[BabyMine]

Thank-you for the links and the reminder.

[torontomom]

Torontomom, thanks for posting this reminder.

I think of you often and wonder how you are doing. :hug5:

Thank you for thinking of us and for the hugs.

[torontomom]

A little boy (2) from our music class is starting radiation next week :( Thanks for the links.

Poor little guy. Does he have a brain tumour? Radiation can be awful. My DD's personality totally changed during radiation (she stopped talking for 2.5 months). I hope that he can be sedated for his treatments (my DD couldn't) and that the radiation is successful.

[torontomom]

Torontomom, thanks so much for posting this--I am so very sorry for your loss.

My son was diagnosed two years ago with cancer and is completing treatment this month. But unfortunately the pediatric oncology clinic he goes to gets new kids every week who have just been diagnosed. In fact, they're so busy that they're having to hire another oncologist because they're ovewhelemed with the number of patients. And it's heartbreaking to attend our local organization's annual Christmas dinner and see all of the candles given out to families who have lost their child to cancer that year.

And, yes, the funding of pediatric cancer is awful, especially compared to the other types of funding. Breast cancer groups (especially Susan G. Komen) have done an excellent job in raising awareness and funds for their cause, but no one has been able to do such an effective job for pediatric cancer. Hopefully, that will change in the future.

Thanks again for posting your important message. I pray for peace and healing for your family.

I am so happy for you and your son that his treatments are almost over.

5 other children that were in the hospital at the same time as my DD have passed away. And that's only the ones I know about. I'm sure there are more from the hospital and those that were in palliative care at home. It's horrifying.

I don't understand why there is so little funding and so little attention given to pediatric cancer. Maybe people don't want to think about it because they don't want to think it can happen to them. I don't understand why more than twice as much funding is given to prostate cancer research (where the average age at the time of diagnosis is 70) than to pediatric cancer research. I'm sure my DD's great-grandfather would have wanted as much money spent trying to find a cure for her brain tumour as was spent researching his prostate cancer. When I talk to people, no one knows that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month but almost everyone knows that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

[torontomom]

Thank-you for the links and the reminder.

You're welcome. Thank you for caring and for replying.

[missym]

Torontomom, thank you for posting. :hug: I think you're right that childhood cancer doesn't get the press that other cancers do because it's just too horrific to think about. But the kids and their families deserve all the attention and funding they can get.

Here's a really easy way to help the cause. Aflac makes pediatric cancer its primary philanthropic cause. This month, they are donating up to $1 million to the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. They'll donate $1 for each person who joins the cause on Facebook, and also match donations made through the site.
http://www.facebook.com/aflacduck?v=app_2318966938

If you don't FB, you can also text the phrase "GOCARL" to 90999 to make a $5 donation (Aflac sponsors Carl Edwards in NASCAR). The $5 charge will appear on your next cell phone bill.

[Piglet]

Torontomom - is there any Canadian organization to make a donation to? I am having a hard time finding Canadian sites. I am sorry for your loss an I pray that a cure is found and SOON!

[elektra]

Thanks for posting. I have been thinking about you too torontomom.

[torontomom]

Torontomom, thank you for posting. :hug: I think you're right that childhood cancer doesn't get the press that other cancers do because it's just too horrific to think about. But the kids and their families deserve all the attention and funding they can get.

Here's a really easy way to help the cause. Aflac makes pediatric cancer its primary philanthropic cause. This month, they are donating up to $1 million to the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. They'll donate $1 for each person who joins the cause on Facebook, and also match donations made through the site.
http://www.facebook.com/aflacduck?v=app_2318966938

If you don't FB, you can also text the phrase "GOCARL" to 90999 to make a $5 donation (Aflac sponsors Carl Edwards in NASCAR). The $5 charge will appear on your next cell phone bill.

Thank you for posting the link. I didn't know that Aflac was doing that.

[torontomom]

Torontomom - is there any Canadian organization to make a donation to? I am having a hard time finding Canadian sites. I am sorry for your loss an I pray that a cure is found and SOON!

Hi Marina,

Thank you.

Two organizations that helped us were Candlelighters Canada (http://www.candlelighters.ca/index.html) and the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (http://www.pogo.ca/). I would imagine your province would have a similar organization, but I wasn't able to find it online either.

[torontomom]

Thanks for posting. I have been thinking about you too torontomom.

Thank you for thinking about us.