Thursday, September 17, 2009

Good evening.

I am going to post something I wrote last September. It is still just as relevant as it was last year.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Each day, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer. Each day, 7 children die as a result of childhood cancer. It is the number one killer disease of our children, more than from asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies, and pediatric AIDS combined. Did you know that 1 in 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before age 20 and that 35-40,000 are in treatment every day? Yet only 3% of all cancer research money goes to childhood cancer. Our war against childhood cancer is vastly under-publicized and under-funded. It is the Inconvenient Truth America needs to be aware of.

I don’t know how many of you readers have ever been on a pediatric oncology floor. If you have ever walked the halls and seen the smiles or tears on the faces of these little fighters as they play on the little trikes and big wheels. How the moms and dads race behind them with the ever present IV pole. How they have little child-sized masks on because they are at high risk of infection. How the teens hang together and still try to be cool, even though they’re bald and ready to throw up at any time. How the teens have added words like methotrexate, and hydration, and limb-salvage; and acronyms like ANC and GCSF to their vocabulary, instead of LOL and "sweet". How the poor little babies cry because they can't even relate what hurts. Or if you've ever seen a mom or dad alone in the parent room at 3 am, with their head in their hands, feeling alone, helpless, scared and mad. I don't know if you've ever visited a Care Page or a Caring Bridge site besides this one; blogs where we tell our kid's stories. I've seen it all and more. I have seen enough. I have lived through it. I am still living it. I will forever live it.

David is doing the same. He tried to do his PT in the pool today, his leg still didn't co-operate. He says he has no control over how his lower leg 'swings' as he walks. When we walk, if we turn our foot in or out, we do it from our hip. His lower leg is swinging from the knee. I haven't heard back from Connie yet, so I don't know when we will get it x-rayed. I am not panicking because he isn't in any pain. Please continue to pray for him. This is just very unsettling!! We shudder to think that he went through all the hell of the limb-salvage just to lose his leg, anyway!! That would just so suck!! *sigh*

Otherwise he is doing good. He is really enjoying doing on-line school! He is such a great kid! We are so proud of him. He is doing his best to 'catch up' with everybody else. I have no doubt he will succeed!!

Well, David is wanting a milkshake, so I will close for now. Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good night. God bless you all. We love you.

Kristi and the Koury Klan

Confucius said it best "The smallest gesture is better than the grandest intention"