Every school day, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer. Last December 1st, my precious granddaughter, Lily, became one of those children. It is a diagnosis that has changed our family forever. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Since Lily was diagnosed last year with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), our eyes have been opened to a world we were only vaguely aware of before. The world of childhood cancer has always been there, but most people think of it only when a St. Jude commercial comes on the T.V. or they see a bald-headed child while they’re out shopping. It’s a very real world, though. A very scary and all-consuming world.

Lily has what is sometimes referred to as the “good” leukemia. She has the leukemia that has the best odds of surviving. There is no “good” cancer, though. Since Lily was diagnosed, A.L.L. (or complications from the treatment for A.L.L.) has taken the lives of Addison, Dariana, Nate, Zac and Anika. During that time, other childhood cancers have ended the lives of Caleb, Kris, Kayla, Chelsea, Charlton, and Alexa. And even more sad - these are only the children whose journeys I have personally followed. There are so many, many more. Each of those children were loved and treasured by their families. They left behind brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers who are reeling from the loss. The children themselves suffered through incredible pain and untold numbers of operations and procedures.

We now know other children who are battling cancer at Vandy - Katherine, Tanner, Grayson, Angelie, Hatcher, Andy, Thomas, Elisha, Dylan, Samantha, Riley, Ireland, Cooper, Savannah, Hailey. And others, like Elke, Emma, Kate, Ian and Sallie, who are battling cancer at other hospitals. Sometimes I am overwhelmed at the sheer enormity of the world of childhood cancer. So many children. So much suffering. So little money spent to develop better treatments and a cure.

I wish that there was a requirement that before anyone could run for public office of any kind, they had to spend a day at a children’s oncology clinic. You can’t spend more than a few minutes there without realizing that finding a cure for childhood cancer is a top priority. We have GOT to find better and gentler treatments. Just imagine the horror a mother experiences as she watches poison being injected in her child’s port - knowing that the poison will make the child sick, will cause incredible pain, and could very well cause serious learning problems later in life. And yet, the only alternative is to watch her child die. Imagine the frustration a father feels as he watches kids playing in the park or playing soccer while his child is so weak that he can hardly stand up - much less run and play.

Please do SOMETHING to help spread the word for the need for more research into a cure for childhood cancer. Check out Lily’s Garden for more ways to help.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 9:31 pm and is filed under Lily's Leukemia Journey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.