Childhood Cancer Awareness Day

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.  

Today, September 13th, is the very FIRST National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day.

Childhood Cancer Facts

Childhood Cancers are the #1 disease killer of children - more than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined.

One in every 330 children will develop cancer before the age of 19.

One out of every five children diagnosed with cancer dies.

The National Cancer Institute's (NCI) federal budget was $4.6 billion.  Of that, breast cancer received 12%, prostrate cancer received 7%, and all 12 major groups of pediatric cancers combined received less than 3%.

Common cancer symptoms in children - fever, swollen glands, anemia, bruises and infection - are often suspected to be, and at the early stages are treated as other childhood illnesses.

Three out of every five children diagnosed with cancer suffer from long-term or late onset side effects.

Cancer in childhood is 20 times more prevalent than pediatric AIDS yet pediatric AIDS receives four times the funding childhood cancer receives.

Cancer in childhood occurs regularly, randomly, and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographic region.

The cause of most childhood cancers are unknown and at present, cannot be prevented.  (Most adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupation, and other exposure to cancer-causing agents.)

On the average, 12,500 children and adolescents in the US are diagnosed with cancer each year.

On the average, one in every four elementary schools has a child with cancer.

On the average, every high school in America has two students who are a current or former cancer patient.

In the US, about 46 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer every single school day. That's about the equivalant of two entire classrooms.

While the cancer death rate has dropped more dramatically for children than for any other age group, 2,300 children and teenagers will die each year from cancer.

Today, up to 75% of the children with cancer can be cured, yet some forms of childhood cancers have proven so resistant to treatment that in spite of resesarch, a cure is illusive.

Several childhood cancers continue to have a very poor prognosis, including: brain stem tumors, metastatic sarcomas, relapsed acute lymphoblastic Leukemia, and relapsed non-Hodgkin's.

So, now you're saying, "Wow! That's absolutely ridiculous... what can I do to HELP?"

Here are some things you can do this month (and ALL YEAR ROUND, and for the most part!) to support Childhood Cancer Awareness.  None of these things involves any financial burden of any kind (except eating at Chili's... but hey, ya gotta eat right?)

~Join Team Unite - http://www.teamunite.net  to become a part of a unified voice against childhood cancer.

~Join people against childhood cancer (pac2) www.curechildhoodcancer.ning.com - to learn of efforts being made around the world to find a cure, raise awareness, and lend support.

~Eat at Chili's on Monday, September 29th, when Chili's will donate 100% of profits

~Wear gold for the kids!  http://www.cafepress.com/teamunite

~Let a family that's been touched by childhoood cancer know you STILL CARE and haven't forgotten about their struggles.

~Sign the Cure Childhood Cancer petition if you haven't already.  Ask you friends and family to sign as well. 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/CureChildhoodCancer

~The information I'm sharing came from Heidi Randall, another cancer mom whose daughter lost her battle with a malignant brain tumor.  She works tirelessly to help raise awareness and support for pediatric cancer research.  You can check out her daughter's website at www.caringbridge.org/visit/jessicarandall

~Have a great weekend.....Keep praying.   Love, Kathy and Kelly