September Is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month!

Six months ago today, our Braden became one of those diagnosed every 2 minutes when he was diagnosed with Pre B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (aka ALL). And our lives will never been the same.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and while I was aware of childhood cancer before, it is now a cause that is and will forever be near and dear to my heart.

This poem my daughter, Kamala (Braden’s mom), found makes me cry every single time I read it. I’ve had a front row seat to the past six months, and I’ve seen how childhood cancer can affect kids, siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins—all family members, really, and everyone who loves our cancer kids.

Cancer is the word we all fear.
The hushed whispers,
The gaze that’s never met.
It’s rubbing your child’s legs at midnight because the chemo makes them hurt.
It’s holding the sick bowl because they’ve not stopped being sick for hours.
It’s pouring poison into the veins of your beautiful baby,
Watching them bloat from steroids or turn into skeletons from infections and aggressive treatment.
It’s handing your child over to strangers so they can operate on them.
It’s holding your child down for painful tests and procedures.
It’s comforting them and telling them everything will be OK.
It’s crying in the shower because you have to be strong.
It’s saying goodbye to the warriors you meet along the way, some will make it, some will not.
It’s washing your hands 50 billion times a day, the fear of infections never far away.
It’s blood tests, and biopsies, injections, meds,
It’s MRIs, CTs, PETs, and X-rays.
It’s waiting by the phone for the results, desperately hoping nothing has changed.
It’s watching your child sleep at night and making memories while you can.
Even if your child is one of the lucky ones, it’s the late effects, the long-term consequences.
It’s physio, and OT, psychiatrists, and play therapy.
Even when treatment is finally through, even when your child is happy and well,
Cancer will always leave a scar, deeply emblazoned on your heart.
In its wake it leaves disabilities, and psychological scars, PTSD and anxiety, constant fear and worry.
When your child has cancer, it changes you.
You watch your child go to hell and back.
You get so used to your child having anesthetic that you don’t cry anymore.
You calmly hold your child still for painful tests.
You seem so strong.
But I see you.
I know inside, behind that strong exterior, that mask you put on for all the world.
I know you’re slowly breaking, you’re trying hard not to show it, but I see it.
I know because my child’s a warrior too. 🧡
~Unknown

And here are some ways you can support cancer kids and their families during this nightmare time in their lives:

• Donate blood at a blood bank that supplies blood to children’s hospitals.
• Donate kid’s stuff to a children’s hospital. Call to see what type of donations they need.
• Send door dash, grocery store, restaurant, apple or google play store gift cards (cancer kids spend a lot of time using screens…that’s often all they even remotely feel like doing), and so on.
• Offer to gift a streaming subscription for a few months.
• Send a surprise from the child’s Amazon wish list.
• Drop off a care package for parents and/or siblings.
• Offer to clean or hire a cleaning service.
• Take a meal. Take a freezer meal. Take treats.
• Be very careful about germs. Germs are a cancer parent’s worst nightmare.
• Donate to organizations who specialize in childhood cancer research.
• Send a note via snail mail.
• If your kids are sick, keep them home. While a cancer kid usually stays close to home during the many months of treatment, siblings don’t, and they can bring germs and sickness home with them.
• If you’re heading to the store, call to see if the family needs anything.
• Ask for specific ways you can help, keeping in mind that sometimes, parents really don’t have an answer. But keep asking!
• Keep in mind that play dates with siblings can be fun, but that can introduce germs into the family.
• Venmo some money to help with the always-mounting hospital, travel, and other expenses.
• Offer to do laundry.
• Help with lawn care.
• Listen. Be a safe place for venting.
• Even if you don’t know how to help, just sending a text that you’re thinking of them, checking in, etc., can mean so much.
• Pray. Just pray. A lot.

Again, above all, please remember to just pray. All the time. Because prayer really can make a huge difference. 🧡 We are all so very grateful for all the prayers that have been and will continue to be offered for our little cancer warrior and our family. So very grateful.