Foster Classes and Something Much More IMPORTANT!

Briefly, foster classes last Saturday were good. It was interesting to see a non-pediatrician view into child development and medications. We learned a lot and are looking forward to going back on Saturday.

Now, the more important thing!

Did you know that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month? Most likely not. Almost everyone knows that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and the world is covered in pink to raise money for this. What about childhood cancer. Did you know that Gold is the color for Childhood Cancer awareness?  I have some statistics for you:


*Each school day, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer.

*On the average 12,500 children and teens will be diagnosed with some form of cancer each year in this country.

*One in 330 children will develop cancer by age 20.

*Although the 5 year survival rate is steadily increasing, one quarter of children will die 5 years from the time of diagnosis.

*Cancer remains the #1 disease killer of America's children - more than Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Asthma and AIDS combined.

*In the U.S. almost 3,000 children do not survive cancer each year.

*Over the past two decades, only ONE new cancer drug has been approved for pediatric use.

*Currently there are between 30-40,000 children undergoing cancer treatment in the U.S.

*As a nation, we spend over $14 BILLION per year on the space program, but only $35 MILLION on Childhood Cancer Research each year.

*There are 15 children diagnosed with cancer for every one child diagnosed with pediatric AIDS. Yet, the U.S. invests approximiately $595,000 for research per victim of pediatric AIDS and only $20,000 for each victim of childhood cancer.

*Research funds are scarce as most money is diverted to well-publicized adult forms of cancer, such as breast and prostate.

*Right now, this second, somewhere in America, there are 7 children fighting for their lives who won't live through the day.






Those statistics SUCK! How can we as a nation ignore this? Maybe I know too many people affected by childhood cancer because of my job, but I personally think that as a nation we shouldn't stand by and do nothing. Do I think that people should support other cancer research programs, yes, because Cancer SUCKS and we need to do something about it.


What Can You Do about Childhood Cancer: 


1. Wear Gold and when people ask you why tell them! Help get the word out that this is killing kids.


2. On September 27th go to Chili's! That's right, Chili's will be donating 100% of their profits that night to St. Judes Children's Research Hospital to go towards childhood cancer research. Any Chili's in the country is participating!


3. Donate Blood! Children receiving chemotherapy and having surgery require multiple blood transfusions, every person counts!


4. Join the national bone marrow registry. Simply go here: http://www.marrow.org/ to find out how. It is painless to join and who knows, maybe you could save a person's life? 


5. Support this: http://www.46mommas.com/   This is 46 moms from across the country who shaved their heads together to raise money for childhood cancer research. There stories are inspiring. 


6. Buy things: www.mythirtyone.com/jentufford is the catalog. Go to: http://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/catalog.aspx?eventId=E285033&from=DIRECTLINK to purchase. 10% of proceeds go to 46 Mommas until 5pm on Sept. 24th.

7. Pray for the children and families affected by childhood cancer and for the doctors that are trying to come up with cures

Until!