Outcomes

 This is a hard post to write, not just because reflecting on the sad things in life can be difficult, but also because the sorrow that has been felt over what I am going to share is so deep and wide.

As I mentioned in September, my brother is a long term survivor, with minimal side effects. He is a healthy young adult, a little shy, but as "normal" as anyone else. But when he was diagnosed, there were other children who were diagnosed with rhabdo, around the same time or within a few months to a year. I watched my brother get better, with treatments ending and check ups getting more and more spread out.

The other families though? They did not get this. They may have gotten a reprieve, a remission, but it was always followed with a relapse. Like so many families, they did not get to long term survivor. Because childhood cancer is a monster, and, unfortunately, is still a killer.

We need an end to this outcome. The death of a child from disease outside of the most extreme of circumstances, especially a disease as well researched in other areas as cancer, is unacceptable. We need treatments, we need solutions. We do not need platitudes, we need action.

September is over, but childhood cancer continues. Be an advocate, speak out. Share statistics, stories, donation sites. Together, we can end childhood cancer.