Thursday, September 20, 2012

Cancer sucks



This being Pediatric Cancer Awareness month has been a very sobering month for me. A friend of mine, who is also extended family, has a child with Cancer. Now, I’ve had a run in with cancer before, my older brother fought it a few years back. But since Becky, my friend, has been posting things about her daughter, Kinley, I have definitely become more aware. Kin is 12 years old and has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a big scary name for a big scary disease.  When Becky posted little by little about how Kinley was doing I was always concerned but said a prayer and kept moving. But lately she has been having some toxicity issues with the Chemo. These stories are very scary for me, the adult across the country who is a friend and does not have cancer. I can’t imagine how Becky feels let alone Kinley.
This month Becky has posted so many facts about Pediatric Cancer. She has shared other kids Facebook pages and blogs. Everyday my heart breaks a little more. I wish I could magically cure them all. I wish there was a solution, an easy fix. I feel guilty for mentioning my crummy day because it certainly wasn’t full of chemotherapy or not being able to walk or forgetting my speech from the toxicity of the chemo. It wasn’t watching my child suffer or being asked to stay away from my suffering baby because the chemo could hurt me. My life is unicorns, sparkles, and butterflies compared to these children and their parent’s.
I started to like these suppose pages and found that daily there are children who “earn their wings”. Obviously, Cancer kills but somehow I thought there was a better handle on this craziness. There isn’t. Do you know how much of the research funds go to this cause? Well, let me start by telling you that 4.6 billion dollars of the federal budget goes to The National Cancer Institute. Breast Cancer gets 12%, Prostate Cancer gets 7%, and (here’s the kicker) all 12 of the major groups of pediatric cancers combined receives less than 3%. Where is the justice in this? These are kids getting cancer. I don’t understand.
Anyway, my heart has been so heavy on this topic. I feel like I’m being pulled on this one by God to assist in some way. I just haven’t figured out what I’m being asked to do.
On a different note, I think I am going to start a small business. Details to follow. Keep posted. I have a talent and I think I can make money doing it. Doing my market research on it and once I determine if there is a market for this then I will spill the beans!