September is a special month in our lives. It is the month in which Cailyn was born and it is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month!
Some general statistics about Childhood Cancer (from childcan.com and coasttocoastagainstcancer.org):
1. In Canada, 1700 children and youth between the ages of birth and 19 years of age are diagnosed with cancer each year;
2. 1 in 5 children diagnosed with cancer do not survive their disease;
3. 2 in 3 children will experience long-term effects from their disease and the treatments used to battle them, such as neurocognitive impairments, sterility and secondary cancers; and,
4. 5 is the average age of children diagnosed with cancer.
Currently, there is no “cure” available that can eradicate or permanently neutralize Cailyn’s brain-tumour. I am so very grateful that the chemotherapy protocol that she has been on for more than 6 years has held her tumour stable. I’m also thankful that stabilizing her tumour hasn’t required the most toxic drugs that are currently available. However, the drug she has received was developed in the 1950’s and definitely wasn’t a first line of defense for brain tumours.
Childhood cancer research is severely underfunded… only 3% of all cancer research funding is directed to childhood cancer research (childhoodcancer.ca). This is a very tough statistic to swallow for any parent or care-giver of a child diagnosed with a brain-tumour / cancer… paediatric cancers are very different from adult cancers and yet children are treated with the same drugs. The key is getting money to the organizations that are focusing their research on pediatric cancers and brain tumours…
Awareness can lead to funding and funding can lead to research. With the right research, a CURE can be realized! Here’s to changing the status quo through awareness!!