Oh you guys!!!! How can I see to type?? First this morning in church, I didn't make it through the song service as the congregation was led to sing, "It is well, with my soul." I can see my dad time after time when he sang that down through the years with tears streaming down his face and with a crack in his voice, lifting his wet face skyward, praising his Maker and thanking Him for the opportunity to make it "well with his soul". And now reading all your wonderful remarks and comforting words has set me off again.
We wanted so much to bring the knowledge of this terrible childhood illness to the forefront of everyone we could. Everyone has heard of prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, skin cancer, colon cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, and most of all breast cancer. I suppose that is natural because there are so many cases of it and because most of them only attack adults and many adults. Neuroblastoma attacks children and the average age is 2 when it is discovered. There have been cases of a 12 day old baby being diagnosed and older children too. There are about 650 cases in the US so because it is so uncommon, it is underfunded and under researched. But it kills more children every year than many of the well known children's diseases that we hear about all the time. This disease is very difficult to treat as it doesn't seem to respond to the same meds or treatment types, the same in each patient. What cures one child doesn't even faze the next. It almost seems to be a situation of educated guesses because of that.
LBAK, you have blown me away with the story of your daughter's effort to volunteer with a Neuroblastoma patient. I am so grateful that our story has touched her to the point that she wants to do something to help a child with this illness. This is exactly what we had hoped to do, get the information about this horrid disease going around the world. Maybe we will be instrumental in spreading the word and getting contributions going, which will enable the world of research, to at least become more educated about it and wouldn't it be great if they would FIND A CURE!!!
Give your daughter a big hug for us and make sure she knows what a wonderful thing she is attempting to do. Tell her not to be afraid of these sick kids. She cannot contract this illness. She just needs to make sure she uses the hand sanitizer before entering the room so as not to take any germs in with her. I'm sure the hospital staff will train her with the procedures. After she has spent some time with the patients, I'd love to have you give us a shout here on the chat side and tell us about her experience. She will be a shining example of selflessness to us. Hopefully this will solidify a spirit of helpfulness in her heart that will follow her the rest of her life.
