Day 13

When your child has cancer, a lot of people make assumptions about you.
-People assumed that Shane’s cancer was genetic.
It wasn’t.
-Some assumed that I did something, i.e the food I ate.
Nope. We only eat organic fruits and vegetables and I’m pretty sure at the time, Paul was annoyed that I always shopped at “whole paycheck.”
-Many suggested that St. Jude’s could save Shane.
Unfortunately, you cannot seek help from St. Jude unless they are studying that exact cancer at that exact time. They weren’t.
-Most said to us, “I couldn’t even imagine.”
Honestly, you can’t, until you’re faced with it.
-Others said “you must be so strong.”
As the saying goes: “you don’t know how strong you are until you have no choice.”
We had no choice.
Shane’s cancer (alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma) was treatable in terms of keeping him at a decent quality of life, but for how long? It is not curable because it’s known to come back. When it comes back, the fight gets harder.
We had no choice, but to give him chemotherapy (at 8 months old!?!). Surgery was not an option for him based on the initial tumor’s location. We eventually chose radiation to attempt to keep him alive longer in hopes of a clinical trial or new treatment option.
Make no assumptions, we fought for Shane.
We continue to fight for children like Shane.
If it were your child, you would too.
Childhood cancer is not rare.
Childhood cancer is the #1 cause of death by disease for children in the United States. Childhood cancer receives less than 4% of the federal budget for cancer research.
#SFD #HelpShaneFightCancer #ARMSaware #letsdobetter

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