Why Kids With Cancer Inspire Me

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When you hear the words "Your child has cancer", so many things run through your mind. There is fear, incredible fear. There is disbelief and denial... surely there MUST be a mistake. There are tears, and hugs, and more tears. You feel as if you are in a dark tunnel and there is no escape. Everything seems to be moving in slow motion, and then things start moving in warp speed. So many decisions must be made, so many tests done. Time passes and you are hardly aware of it. Everything that has mattered in life up to that point takes a back seat to the fight you have been forced into.

You struggle to be brave and strong for your child, when you really want to crawl in someones lap and cry. You are bombarded with so much information that makes no sense, and you must make decisions based on that information. You hear words, diagnosis, drugs, procedures and many more things that you had no idea even existed. You meet doctors and nurses that will work so hard to save your child's life.

You are checked into a world that you will never fully escape. It is the world of CHILDHOOD CANCER. It is your own version of Hotel California.... you will always be a part of that world, no matter the outcome of the cancer fight. You will meet so many others that are in that same fight. So many that won their fight by gaining their angel wings. So many that gain remission. You have no idea at first, or for many months, just how your own fight will go.
You will meet strangers that become family, that carry you through their love and prayers and support during times that you just feel like you can not go on. You will lose friends and family because of your fight. So many people that just do not know how to help or what to say, so they chose to distance themselves from you. You will find so many organizations that work tirelessly to help you, to make your load a little lighter.

And you will meet so many warriors. Other children that are fighting for their lives, too. You will learn so much from these brave heroes. You will learn how to smile through anything. You will learn how to keep on going on, even though you do not have enough energy to lift your head. You will learn how to love, how to find joy in any circumstance. And you will love these children with all of your heart. Their fight is your fight. You will never be able to turn your back or pretend that Childhood Cancer does not exist. No matter the outcome of your own fight... you will continue to fight for every child and family that may hear those dreaded words.
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One day, I pray.... no mother, father, family will hear the words "Your child has cancer." Until that day, we go on fighting. Raising awareness. Screaming about the cause. There is not enough funding for research. There are not enough people doing whatever they can to help those fighting. I ask you.....
What will you do today to help? There are so many ways to help... write a letter or call your congressmen, tell them that 4% is not enough funding for research. Get on the bone marrow transplant donor list... go to BeTheMatch.org and request a kit. Donate blood. Find a legitimate childhood cancer foundation and make a donation... some good ones are CureSearch, Alex Lemonade Stand, and ACCO. Whatever you do....
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THANK YOU.

Kelly Brown