Okay, I NEVER send or forward those “send to ten friends” type emails, and this post is NOT one of them. This is a personal request.

Since my 7-year old granddaughter, Lily, was diagnosed with Pre-B ALL (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia) on December 1, 2008, our family has been reading a lot about childhood cancer and the research into finding cures. There’s not much funding for childhood cancer research.

Each school day, 46 children (two classrooms full!) are diagnosed with some form of cancer. In the past three days TWO children whose cancer journeys I’ve been following have died. A two year old named Kayla, and a 5-year old named Addison. Addison had the same kind of leukemia as Lily – had a positive prognosis, but then caught a bug and she couldn’t overcome it. Addison is the one that when Lily was first diagnosed, the doctor told my daughter they needed to get to know her because she was doing so well and would provide such encouragement for them. And then just a few weeks later, she is gone.

Finding a cure for childhood cancer is a life-or-death issue. Just take a brief trip to a children’s oncology hall at a hospital, and your own life will never be the same. These children can’t advocate for themselves because they’re literally fighting for their lives. It is up to us to be their advocates. So you can start by doing the following:

(1) Go to this web address: Citizen’s Briefing Book
(2) In the search box, type “childhood cancer”
(3) Click on the top item “Increased Funding for Childhood Cancer” (The one that was posted at 4:02 P.M.)
(4) Click on the “Vote UP” button. If you don’t already have an account, you will have to create an account. However, it’s free, and it’s quick – and the effort is worth it.
(5) You can read the letter along with the comments. You can log in or create an account if you would like to leave your own comment.

IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO FUND RESEARCH TO FIND A CURE FOR CHILDHOOD CANCER.

The purpose of the “Citizen’s Briefing Book” in the link above is to bring attention to President Elect Obama so that he will hopefully make childhood cancer research a priority. Each small effort helps. Take a few minutes out of your busy day to make a difference for these wonderful children whose futures are in jeopardy.

Lily’s story was on Townhall.com on Monday. Here’s the link: Learning About Leukemia

Here is Lily’s website. Come visit, read her story, make a donation and offer some support: Lily’s Garden

This entry was posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009 at 10:11 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.