SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

September!

Good evening. 

We are back from camping. We were gone for 10 days, and we had a great time!! It is bittersweet to be home. It's good to be home, but we know it is the last time to go camping for the year, and that is kinda sad. But we really had an amazing time! The weather was perfect! The nights were a bit chilly, but the trailer has a great heater, and I was wearing my sleeper, so it was cozy at night. 

This is September, and September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month!! 


The Facts: 
- chances are about 1 in 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before age 20 
- Every day 46 children are diagnosed with cancer 
- 1 in 4 of these children will die within 5 years 
- 2 in 4 will survive 5 years but develop long-term, life-altering and threatening health problems 
- Only 1 in 4 will survive 5 years without major problems 
- There are no warning signs or unhealthy lifestyles. No regard to race, creed, color, religion, or socio-economic status. 
-Most childhood cancers like Osteo are still being treated with 25 - 30 yr old treatments with nothing changed in there treatment chemos. 
- 3% of all money raised for cancer goes to childhood cancers. 

Despite these facts, childhood cancer is considered "rare". Yet, does two classrooms of children diagnosed with cancer every school day, with one-half of a classroom dying from cancer, sound "rare"? It’s “rare” only if it’s not happening to your child. But for over 12,500 children and families in America this year, it will not be "rare". Each will discover the desperate need for increased funding specifically for kid cancer research, while enduring the most devastating experience of their lives. 

When many people hear childhood cancer, they may only think of St. Jude and TV ads with cancer kids with round faces (from steroids) and bald heads (from chemo). Yet while it is a leading childhood cancer research center, St. Jude doesn't work exclusively on cancer research and treats less than 5% of all children with cancer. Or perhaps you think of the American Cancer Society and its support for childhood cancer? Unfortunately, in 2008, with $1,078 million of public support; the ACS gave only $4.2 million to childhood cancer research, less than 1/2 a penny for each dollar of support. 

Nearly 90 percent of cancer kids are treated by members of the Children's Oncology Group (COG), an international consortium of over 230 hospitals and doctors working together and cooperatively sharing results. This cooperative research allows COG to improve cure rates at a faster pace than any single institution could accomplish alone. 

As a nation, shouldn't we prioritize saving our children? The facts on funding suggest we don't. So your help is needed. No child should ever have to ask, "Mom and Dad, what's hospice?" 

Please help us cure childhood cancer! 

Remember I asked you to pray for Fiona? Well, please pray for her family; she lost her battle with Osteosarcoma on Friday. We lost six Osteo kids in August. Please pray for all our Osteo family members. Thank you. 

Kristi and the Koury Klan