Candlelighters' Statistics about Childhood Cancer

I often wonder what she was thinking about. This was just a couple of weeks before her transplant. (3 1/2 years since her battle began)

Hi,

Thanks to all of you for once again supporting our family by signing the petitions!!!! You're awesome! Read some of the messages. So many people are touched by cancer. Until people like you and me get involved and make our voices heard, things are not going to change for these precious children or anyone with cancer. We need the masses to stand up and finally say, "this is not acceptable". Even the doctors agree that not enough is being done but their hands are tied. Without money to fund research, we will remain at a stand still with childhood cancer. Despite very aggressive therapies that approach the limits of tolerability for the child, the overall survival rate for childhood cancer has remained unchanged since 1998. One in four children who are diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. will die within five years of their diagnosis, and 30% of those that do survive have severe side effects, including cognitive deficits, kidney failure, heart failure, and secondary cancers caused from the traditional toxic treatments. Because of the high level of toxicity associated with many current treatments and the plateau in survivorship rates, future success is dependent upon the development of new therapeutic approaches.

The last couple of days I have spent a lot of time on different sites collecting information and statistics about childhood cancer. I am including a link to Candlelighters that includes information that nobody talks about concerning childhood cancer. Candlelighters’ mission is to address the needs of families through programs that emphasize information, advocacy, awareness, and research. Please take a moment to visit this site...watch the short video. Then do something! Tell a friend, send out an email, make a donation...just talk. If you haven't forwarded the petition from my last blog...please do. http://www.candlelighters.org/Research/WhyResearchisNeeded/tabid/408/Default.aspx.

For too long, no one has wanted to talk about kid's having cancer much less dying from it. I always felt lucky that Bailey had the "good cancer" because Standard Risk Leukemia (ALL) has an 85 % cure rate and because she responded so well to her therapy statistically...she should never have relapsed. On the other hand, I know some children who, statistically speaking, shouldn't be here and they still are. My point is...we need more research specifically targeting pediatric cancer because the fact that over 20% of kids who get cancer...die from it. Others face a life time of health issues. United...we can make a difference. Please join us in eliminating childhood cancer, the #1 killer of our children by disease.

Thank you,

Kathy and family