A child was just diagnosed with cancer.And since 1 in 285 children in the U.S. will have cancer, there’s a good chance that if you don’t know the child just diagnosed, you someday will know a child diagnosed.What are we going to do about that? Unlike the diagnosed children, who don’t get to decide whether they get cancer or not, (most childhood cancers aren’t caused by lifestyle choices as many adult cancers are), we have a choice. We can do nothing, and the problem will never be solved, or we can act.I choose action.I’m not smart enough to cure cancer. And you, Dear Reader, probably aren’t smart enough to cure cancer either (despite your obvious wisdom as a reader of this blog). But just because we’re not smart enough to cure cancer, don’t think for a minute that our help isn’t needed. In fact, without you and me, cancer will never be cured.Who’s going to raise awareness, if not us? Who’s going to tell these stories, if not us? Who’s going to donate money for research, if not us? Who’s going to get their friends to donate money for research, if not us? Childhood cancer research is severely underfunded by the government. We’re on our own in this, folks. We can wait for a cure, or we can help to find a cure.This blog post is going to help cure cancer. Everything helps. Anything helps. It’s time for each of us to do our part.It’s easy to choose inaction. All you have to do is nothing, and what’s easier than nothing?But if you choose nothing, and I choose nothing, and everyone else chooses nothing, then what happens? More kids get cancer. More kids die from cancer.We have so many things to worry about in this world that it’s understandable if we don’t want to worry about childhood cancer.Until your child is diagnosed. Then it becomes the most important thing in the world. Nothing else will matter. You’ll understand the urgency. You’ll begin learning scary facts, like more kids in the U.S. die from cancer than any other disease. Or that 80% of all childhood cancers have already spread by the time they’re detected. Or that 95% of childhood cancer survivors will still suffer from chronic health problems as an adult.But if we do something, if we each do our part, however small it may seem, then we’re that much closer to the day where you don’t have to worry about your child being diagnosed with cancer. So donate a little bit of money today, spread the word, help cure childhood cancer, and you’ll have one less thing to worry about in the future.
This plea comes to you on Donna Day. Fellow ChicagoNow blogger Mary Tyler Mom began Donna Day five years ago to honor the memory of her daughter, Donna, who died from childhood cancer when she was four years old.So today, many ChicagoNow bloggers will write about Donna, and about childhood cancer. We’ll cite a bunch of figures, and provide a bunch of links, and try to persuade you into taking action.But really what we’re doing is talking about hope. And every good thing begins with hope.There’s hope that we’ll all donate some money. And hope that some scientist whose name we don’t know, and whose work we don’t understand, will figure out a way to cure our children. And hope that Donna’s story will spur you into action if my words fail to do so. But most of all, we hope that in the future people think of childhood cancer the way we think of smallpox.Read more about childhood cancer on the St. Baldrick’s website. Donate to the fundraising event being held by Donna's Good Things, an organization setup by her parents to do good things in her memory.. Share this post on Facebook. Spread the word.I've written almost 700 words. If you read at average speed, you've spent three minutes reading my words. So that horrific timer is about to go off yet again. Three minutes is up.Another child has cancer.Let's do something.Did you like what you just read? If so, just enter your e-mail, and I'll let you know when I write something new. I promise I won't send you any crap, and you can ditch me any time you want.
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