Pediatric Cancer:Curing the Beast

Do you know how many types of Childhood Cancers there are?

Do you know their names?

    * Brain Tumors
    * Endocrine Tumors
    * Ewing's Sarcoma
    * Germ Cell Tumors
    * Hematology Disorders
    * Leukemia
    * Lymphoma
    * Medulloblastoma
    * Melanoma
    * Neuroblastoma
    * Neurofibromatosis
    * Osteosarcoma
    * Retinoblastoma
    * Rhabdomyosarcoma
    * Wilms' Tumor

Do you know how many children will die in 2010?  Do you know their names?  Some of you do. 

"Our dear precious Sam has won the prize. He is celebrating in Heaven with Jesus and other family members that have passed on before him. We had told Sam all week this past week that we would be with him soon....in just the blink of an eye. How I cannot wait for that day! Everything feels so different. We knew this was coming 4 weeks ago when Sam was sent home in hospice care. Even knowing in our hearts that this would happen never prepares you for when it actually happens. Mike and I were holding Sam and he died in our arms and went straight to the arms of Jesus. He put up such a fight and never stopped fighting until the very end," Sam's Mom.

What would you do if you had taken your child to the doctor for flu-like symptoms and found it was so much more than the flu?

Peyton's parents remember, "Our entire world stopped.  We awoke to a phone call from our doctor saying we needed to pack a bag and take our daughter up to All Children’s Hospital immediately. Once in the doctor’s office at ACH, we were told that yes, she did have Leukemia. They gave her some local anesthesia and we sang some songs while I had to hold her down so they could do a bone marrow and spinal test. She was a trooper throughout, but we found out later that the Leukemia had invaded her body so much that the doctor was unable to get enough bone marrow to test."

After immediate admission to the hospital, Peyton got an IV and morphine was administered every 15 minutes.  Peyton's dad said, "It may seem odd, but I had heard so much about morphine, I was actually leery of it. But it helped out with her pain, and made her silly. She got 2 blood transfusions. Her white blood cell count was high, but her red blood cell and platelet counts were low. Thanks to the morphine, she slept."

The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF) is a non-profit organization founded in 1982 to improve the care, quality of life and survival rate of children with malignant diseases.

Since its inception, PCRF has raised over $22 million to fund cuttingedge research that leads to medically sound treatment protocol for childhood cancers.  Much progress has been made.  For instance, childhood leukemia, once almost certainly fatal, now has a 70% survival rate.  But the battle is far from over - cancer continues to afflict more children under the age of 18 each year than any other disease.

Due to the dedication of volunteers supporting PCRF, 80% of every dollar raised goes directly to research.  PCRF is privately supported through donations from individuals, charitable foundations and businesses that recognize the urgent need to improve treatment and cure childhood cancers.  The foundation raises funds through gifts from individuals, special giving programs, events, corporate sponshoships, grants and the sale of holiday cards drawn by children fighting cancer.

According to the PCRF website, they currently are funding grants for research in the areas of stem cell transplantation, stem cell biology, molecular oncology, and molecular and cellular genetics.  PCRF supported over $1.2 million in research work in 2009.

There are some optimistic moments in the research and treatment of childhood cancers every time a child survives.

"At age 2, Sierra was diagnosed with PNET (primitive neuro ectodermal tumor).  She received high dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue in May 1996.  A very healthy Sierra now loves any sport, especially Little League, and physical education is her favorite subject in school!  Sierra's mother notes that "Sierra is tough!  She has recently become very open about her cancer and she shared about her brain tumor and scar at her Share Day at school."

"Eleven years ago, 4 year old Jack was diagnosed with acute lymhoblastic leukemia and immediately began treatment with aggressive chemotherapy for three years.  Jack's mom had been volunteering at PCRF prior to his diagnosis.  Today Jack is a healthy and active freshman in high school, enjoying a life of soccer, football, fishing, surfing, boogie boarding and loves playing electric and acoustic guitar."  Now living like a typical teenager, his life as a young child was anything but.

There are thousands of stories about childhood cancers; there will be about 12,000 stories of cancer diagnosis this year.  There will be about 4,000 stories of pediatric cancer related deaths; 11 stories a day.

September has been set aside as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month spotlighting the types of cancer that largely affect children, survivorship issues, and - importantly - to help raise funds for research groups working towards a cure. 

The voices of the children cry out for a cure!  The parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends of those children carrying the burden of fighting these terrible childhood cancers also cry out for a cure.

Pediatric Cancer needs to be brought out into the daylight where it can receive the attention it deserves as the ugly beast stealing our children before they have the chance to explore life.   Research is essential in the discovery of Pediatric Cancer treatments, essential in saving the lives of these children.