Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Little Ones Can Get Cancer

After experiencing cancer myself firsthand, and being there during my mom’s treatments, I think that I have grown tougher than your average 28-year-old when it comes to handling tragedy.  There is one exception to this: childhood cancer.

Maybe it is because I am a mommy, and because I am painfully aware of  exactly what is involved in cancer treatments and the disease itself, but I am unable to accept or to grasp the concept of a child suffering in such a tragic way before they even stand a chance at life.

I am drawn to stories about these little warriors, following several of them on blogs and facebook, praying for them, checking in to see how they are doing, celebrating their achievements, and feeling heartbroken if their diseases progress.

I recently stumbled across a blog called RockstarRonan, where a mom has been writing about her three year old who passed away from stage 4 Neuroblastoma cancer last May.



I listened to a song that was written about this little boy, and the first time that I heard it, I couldn’t get past the first two verses before I started crying and had to turn it off.  I eventually forced myself to listen to the whole song, but I still tear up just thinking about it.  No matter what your feelings are about Taylor Swift, I think that it would be virtually impossible for someone to hear this and not be touched by the lyrics.

Ronan by Taylor Swift

I remember your bare feet down the hallway
I remember your little laugh
Race cars on the kitchen floor
Plastic dinosaurs
I love you to the moon and back

I remember your blue eyes looking into mine 
Like we had our own secret club
I remember you dancing before bed time 
Then jumping on me waking me up
I can still feel you hold my hand
Little man
From even that moment I knew
You fought it hard like an army guy
Remember I leaned in and whispered to you

Come on baby with me 
We're gonna fly away from here
You were my best four years

I remember the drive home when the blind hope
Turned to crying and screaming, "Why?"
Flowers piled up in the worst way
No one knows what to say about a beautiful boy who died

And it's about to be Halloween 
You could be anything 
You wanted if you were still here

I remember the last day 
When I kissed your face
I whispered in your ear

Come on baby with me 
We're gonna fly away from here
Out of this curtained room in this hospital
We'll just disappear

Come on baby with me
We're gonna fly away from here
You were my best four years

What if I'm standing in your closet trying to talk to you?
What if I kept the hand me downs you won't grow into?
And what if I really thought some miracle would see us through?
But maybe the miracle was even getting one moment with you



I can not think of a more worthy cause than to help the sick children and their families who are going through this terrible illness and grief.  September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Please consider donating to The Ronan Thompson Foundation or any of the other pediatric cancer groups.

Also, we need to educate ourselves on the signs and symptoms of cancer in young children in order to help catch it early.  I’m not sure if many of you know this, but my mom actually recognized the symptoms of brain cancer in a toddler that she worked with.  She mentioned to the child’s parents that they should get the little girl checked out by a doctor, and thankfully, they caught the tumor early enough.

Please take a look at this list of symptoms that are broken down into categories for different types of childhood cancers.  It never hurts to be more knowledgeable about important, life-saving things!



2 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this, Dana. Cancer is terrible, especially for children. My dear friend just celebrated her daughter's would-be 9th birthday yesterday. Her daughter died at the tender age of 2 from a brain tumor in the arms of her parents. I'm so glad to hear about the Ronan Foundation. It sounds like it's a great cause! Again, thank you for sharing!

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  2. @The Bobos- I am sorry to hear about your friend's daughter. It completely breaks my heart that this happens to such innocent little people. Your friend must be a very strong woman. I will keep her in my prayers.

    I hope that you and your sweet girls are doing well, and that your pregnancy is going smoothly. How exciting that you will soon have 3 little ones running around!!

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