Donna Day 2014
i am an odd duck in this Donna Day family. i don't have kids. i have never been touched by cancer in any close or serious way. i am not a writer.
but i have always been fascinated by childhood illnesses. to know that someone so young and so small can deal with hardships that i would never even get out of bed to face is just amazing. i read about diabetes and cystic fibrosis when i was very young and couldn't quite get over the fact that those diseases are something that those kids have to live with every day. it was a journey i never faced that i couldn't read enough about. to learn, to empathize, to imagine what it would be like to have to deal with something like that.
then i read Donna's story. it was told from her mother, Sheila's, point of view, since Donna herself was only 4. i saw it on ChicagoNow, a blogging website connected to the chicago tribune. in dedication for Childhood Cancer awareness, Donna's mom was going to be sharing one month of Donna's journey every day for the entire month of September. do that math... 30 months of chemo, stem cell harvesting, hair loss, recovery, relapse and, eventually, death.
i read a story about how this 20 month old darling girl was diagnosed with papillary meningioma, an aggressive type of brain tumor. i saw the pictures of Donna's adorable face, saw videos of her singing, dancing, laughing with her newborn brother. some pics with hair, some without, some with a little baby legging covering her permanent port access in her arm, some without. seeing a three-year-old go through a stem cell harvest will certainly change your perspective on a lot of things.
because of Donna, i learned that only about 4% of cancer donations goes to children's cancer. that 1 in 300 kids will be diagnosed with some type of cancer. i also found out that they use adult chemo drugs on kids because they don't have any other option. parents have to travel around the globe to find hospitals that have certain cancer trials that match the kind of cancer their child has. and i found out that a lot of research facilities and pharma companies are too afraid to do research on children because the stakes are so high. to think that children are treated the same as adults in the cancer world is selling our children's lives short in so many ways. the stakes are high no matter how you look at it.
but i also found out that there are several options to help change childhood cancer outlook. here in chicago, you can donate directly to Lurie's Children's Hospital. This amazing hospital is on the leading edge of childhood illness research. and all of your donations go directly toward that goal.
please listen Sheila and her husband, Jeremy, in Donna's Storysong in this Radiothon by The Mix, held to benefit Lurie's Children's Hospital.
you can also donate to Donna's Good Things shave event for St. Baldrick's. The Donna's Good Things St. Baldrick's shave event is March 29, 2014. St. Baldrick's is known for their support of childhood cancer research. they take the money that's donated and turn into grants for research centered solely on kids.
last March, i met Sheila. i had knit a ton of hats for the people who were getting their heads shaved for the St. Baldrick's event she had last year. as i stood and talked to her, i couldn't get over the fact that i was talking to a woman who has had to bury a child. she has been through the worst thing a parent should never have to go through, and here she stands, witty, funny, nice, and so grateful for the people who help and perpetuate Donna's Good Things, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing fun to those who face adversity. To look at Sheila is to see determination for the highest cause... keeping our kids healthy and safe and in our arms to enjoy for as long as humanly possible.
but i have always been fascinated by childhood illnesses. to know that someone so young and so small can deal with hardships that i would never even get out of bed to face is just amazing. i read about diabetes and cystic fibrosis when i was very young and couldn't quite get over the fact that those diseases are something that those kids have to live with every day. it was a journey i never faced that i couldn't read enough about. to learn, to empathize, to imagine what it would be like to have to deal with something like that.
then i read Donna's story. it was told from her mother, Sheila's, point of view, since Donna herself was only 4. i saw it on ChicagoNow, a blogging website connected to the chicago tribune. in dedication for Childhood Cancer awareness, Donna's mom was going to be sharing one month of Donna's journey every day for the entire month of September. do that math... 30 months of chemo, stem cell harvesting, hair loss, recovery, relapse and, eventually, death.
i read a story about how this 20 month old darling girl was diagnosed with papillary meningioma, an aggressive type of brain tumor. i saw the pictures of Donna's adorable face, saw videos of her singing, dancing, laughing with her newborn brother. some pics with hair, some without, some with a little baby legging covering her permanent port access in her arm, some without. seeing a three-year-old go through a stem cell harvest will certainly change your perspective on a lot of things.
because of Donna, i learned that only about 4% of cancer donations goes to children's cancer. that 1 in 300 kids will be diagnosed with some type of cancer. i also found out that they use adult chemo drugs on kids because they don't have any other option. parents have to travel around the globe to find hospitals that have certain cancer trials that match the kind of cancer their child has. and i found out that a lot of research facilities and pharma companies are too afraid to do research on children because the stakes are so high. to think that children are treated the same as adults in the cancer world is selling our children's lives short in so many ways. the stakes are high no matter how you look at it.
but i also found out that there are several options to help change childhood cancer outlook. here in chicago, you can donate directly to Lurie's Children's Hospital. This amazing hospital is on the leading edge of childhood illness research. and all of your donations go directly toward that goal.
please listen Sheila and her husband, Jeremy, in Donna's Storysong in this Radiothon by The Mix, held to benefit Lurie's Children's Hospital.
you can also donate to Donna's Good Things shave event for St. Baldrick's. The Donna's Good Things St. Baldrick's shave event is March 29, 2014. St. Baldrick's is known for their support of childhood cancer research. they take the money that's donated and turn into grants for research centered solely on kids.
last March, i met Sheila. i had knit a ton of hats for the people who were getting their heads shaved for the St. Baldrick's event she had last year. as i stood and talked to her, i couldn't get over the fact that i was talking to a woman who has had to bury a child. she has been through the worst thing a parent should never have to go through, and here she stands, witty, funny, nice, and so grateful for the people who help and perpetuate Donna's Good Things, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing fun to those who face adversity. To look at Sheila is to see determination for the highest cause... keeping our kids healthy and safe and in our arms to enjoy for as long as humanly possible.
posted by mikraas at 1:10 PM
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