My St. Baldrick's...

My name is Jennifer Dickerson and I’m mom to three great kids and wife to a wonderful husband who’s also a member of the US Army.  With a husband who’s always gone... somewhere I’ve had to take on the responsibility of being both parents, and all that comes with that.

I first learned about St. Baldrick’s back in March 2008, while my husband was stationed in Iraq.  I heard an ad on the radio about the local St. Baldrick’s event, and I thought “Wow, that’s a great organization!”  That night I went home and signed up in honor of a little boy I knew, the same age as my youngest son, who had died a year prior from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).

The feeling I had after the “sheering” was the most amazing thing I’d ever felt and I thought if everyone could experience this feeling then we would have a cure for cancer.

In August, when my son, Adam, was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, finding a cure took on a whole new meaning. I was so scared.  To be a mother you have to be tough, to be a military wife you have to be tougher, but I wasn’t tough enough for that phone call! 

Thankfully, what my son has is very treatable and very manageable. It’s a lifetime thing that we have to watch, but it could be so, so much worse.

Although my son is doing well, I know there are many children out there not as lucky. So next month, on March 20, I’m taking the shavee seat once more in hopes to find a cure for all childhood cancers.