Because September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a committee of 25 parents want to raise awareness on the struggle of childhood cancer. Although their stories are diverse, their purpose is the same.
Moreover, they decided to involve more individuals in fundraising for research that could help decrease the number of lives this horrible illness has taken at such young ages.
Maybe one of the most upsetting news parents could hear is that their child has cancer. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation mentioned that parents, somewhere on Earth, are faced with this diagnosis every three minutes. In the United States, pediatric cancer is the principal cause of death by illness for children.
Given the number, only four percent of national funding for research is dedicated to childhood cancer. Moreover, in the last two decades, only three new drugs to fight childhood cancer were confirmed by FDA.
For Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, parents and families who have been affected by the illness have shared dozens of photos of the little brave cancer fighters in the hope that they could increase comprehension on the disease.
The assistant manager at Expect Miracles Foundation who is also a 26-year-old childhood cancer survivor says that although the pictures do not display the entire story, they could describe a significant impression. She also believes that the research for childhood cancer is the one that needs funding the most because cures are developed there.
Nokes asked individuals to take action and before the Childhood Cancer Awareness Month ends to try to make a contribution to support the research for the disease or fund a business that supports childhood cancer victims near them.
The adult types of cancer are usually different from those that develop in children. One of the most common types of cancers in children is leukemia which affects blood and bone marrow. Leukemia represents 30 percent of the cancers encountered in children.
Lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) which is the most common type of leukemia can cause fatigue, joint and bone pain, pale skin, weakness, bruising or bleeding, weight loss, fever, and other symptoms. As soon as the cancer is diagnosed, it is advised to be usually treated with chemotherapy. Moreover, acute leukemia is known to evolve quickly, so, treatment must be applied as soon as possible.
Image source: Wikipedia