Help Us Raise Awareness

This is right before what we thought was going to be her "last bone marrow aspiration and spinal". Our life was finally going to be normal again after two years of uncertainty. Only 10 months later, she relapsed.

For the sake of Pediatric Cancer Awareness I am now officially becoming a blogger!

Our family has become involved with two non-profit organizations that are extremely important to us. The first is called, "Comforting Kids Foundation". www.comfortingkids.org A local group of amazing people started this non-profit organization in order to raise funds for local hospital's "Child Life Programs". The Child Life Staff are the wonderful people who help to distract, entertain, and comfort the children while they are in hospital. All of the TV’s, DVD’s, video games, toys, prizes, arts & crafts, teddy bears, etc. that are used at the hospitals are donated by outside sources. Last year Comforting Kids donated a van full of items that Childrens Hospital of Central California in Madera had requested, in honor of our precious Bailey. After seeing the passion and commitment of this foundation’s board members & supporters, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I had an idea that involved reaching out to our local Westside children (Newman, Gustine, Patterson, Hilmar, etc.) who face long-term illnesses. The group loved the idea and “Bailey’s Treasure Box” became a part of Comforting Kids and an answer to my prayers. This is a perfect tribute to the life that Bailey lived during her four-year battle with cancer. She loved to give special treasures and treats to those precious children who she may have known for many months or just met that day. Check out their website and see the great things they are doing. Let me know if you want to get involved.

The second organization is called Gold Rush Cure. www.goldrushcure.org (It will be up in Mid-September) and is extremely important to us because 100% of the donations will go to pediatric cancer research and awareness. It was started by Sandy & Gary Barker from Laguna Niguel. Their son Christian passed away in Dec 2007 after receiving two bone marrow transplants. We met them up in Seattle and became good friends. She has already gone back to Washington D.C. five times to lobby for more funding for pediatric cancer because it is so underfunded.

I wanted to share a few statistics with you that no one wants to talk hear. “My Mission” is to get people talking because that will bring…awareness…change….cure!!!! Please share this information with others!

-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 35,000+ 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%.

- Two-thirds of children who do survive cancer face at least one chronic health condition because of the amount of chemo they receive (3-4 times what an adults receives). One quarter of survivors face a late-effect from treatment that is classified as severe or life-threatening. Late-effects of treatment can include heart damage, second cancers, lung damage, infertility, cognitive impairment, growth deficits, hearing loss, and more. It is becoming increasingly apparent that childhood cancer "is for life." Late effects from either the disease process or aggressive treatment regimens are given at a time of life when children have growing bodies and developing brains. As such, patterns of late-effects include disabilities, chronic health conditions, and even subsequent battles with additional cancer. It is imperative that all survivors of childhood cancer receive on-going monitoring and continued physical and psychosocial care throughout their adult lives.

You can make a difference. You can help. Please go onto the following website and sign a petition that will help bring more awareness and hopefully funding for pediatric cancer. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/curechildhoodcancer Please sign and pass it on.

Please check back because we have more to share with you. I will try to post updates at least once a week to let you know what is going on. Next post, I will give you an update on our family and add some pictures too.

God bless all of you,

Kathy and family