Hi Everyone and thanks so much for joining me this week. This week, I wanted to touch on a not so pleasant topic, pediatric cancer. I am a former pediatric oncology nurse, so I hold this patient population very near and dear to my heart. Being that September is National Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to share some very real facts about this disease.
According to St. Baldrick’s Foundation:
1. Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children in the U.S.
It’s the second leading cause of death (following accidents) in children ages 5-14.
2. Every two minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer.
That’s 300,000 kids around the world every year.
3. The average age of a child diagnosed with cancer is 6.
But you don’t have to be a child to be diagnosed with childhood cancer. Childhood cancer is diagnosed in all ages, from newborn infants to children and young adults.
4. 80% of children diagnosed with cancer are in developing countries.
Childhood cancer is a global problem, and one institution can’t solve it alone. That’s why we fund the very best research, no matter where it takes place.
5. The most common childhood cancer is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
In the 1950s, almost every kid with ALL died. But today, thanks to childhood cancer research, about 90% of children with ALL will survive.
6. In 80% of kids with cancer, the cancer has already spread to other areas of the body by the time it is diagnosed.
That’s why so many children with cancer need to begin treatment right away. Many adult cancers can be diagnosed early.
7. Much of what we know about treating adult cancers has been learned from childhood cancer research.
Some aspects of cancer treatment today, such as combination chemotherapy, can be traced to pediatric cancer research.
8. There are over a dozen types of childhood cancer and hundred of different subtypes.
The more rare types, when added together, account for about 30% of cancers in children and adolescents. But because so few children are diagnosed with each type, it’s very difficult to do research on these cancers.
9. One in five children diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. will not survive.
For the ones who do, the battle is never over.
10. Because of the treatments they had as kids, more than 99% of childhood cancer survivors will have a chronic health problem and 96% will have severe or life-threatening conditions.
By the time they’re 50 years old, survivors of childhood cancer experience about 5 severe or life-threatening chronic health conditions on average.
These statistics are jaw dropping. Finding a cure can be a reality for our children. I am just one person trying to do my part in helping, by donating 100% of proceeds I earn in 2018 from both book and e-book sales of The Wish to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. My intention of getting published has always been to use it as a means to “pay it forward” and help others. I figured, I enjoy writing and if others enjoy reading what I write, maybe we can do something together to help others. So this is one of the few times a year I reach out to you, my followers, visitors and supporters, to spread the word about my ‘pay it forward’ campaign and let others know that by just purchasing a copy of The Wish, they are doing more than buying a book. They are becoming the piece of a bigger picture in helping others!
til next week….keep the hope for a cure in your thoughts.
E.V. Jones