Black Friday. Sounds like the most fabulous shopping day of the year doesn’t it? Or maybe it’s the day you hide at home because you can’t stand the crowds. Maybe you look forward to eating the Thanksgiving leftovers. In our house, it’s no longer about sales, shopping, leftover turkey sandwiches or the start of the holiday season. At our house, it’s the day our lives changed forever. It’s the day we heard the words “Your daughter has Leukemia”. Black Friday. A fitting description for what took place in our lives on that day.
November 28, 2008 we found out that our delightful, beautiful daughter, was very, very sick. If you had seen her that very day, you never would have guessed it. She was cheerful, playful, energetic and happy. Never would you have looked at her and said “that child has cancer”. But she did.
Ellie May was diagnosed with high-risk pre b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We were told that her treatment would span nearly two and a half years. She has had a very tough road with many detours, but that cancer? We haven’t seen it since day 8. It is our hope and prayer each day that we never see that cancer ever again.
Our journey has introduced us to many other families traveling this same road. We’ve spent countless hours in the hospital together; stood side by side watching our children have procedure after procedure, chemo after chemo, waited impatiently and prayerfully through surgeries, we’ve spent holidays there together. In short, we’ve become family. Unfortunately, many of those children are not still with us. We’ve lost our friends. We’ve had our hearts broken, but our pain is only a fraction of what their family’s pain is each day. It’s the kind of thing that makes everything in you scream out “This isn’t right!!!! “ It spurs you to action.
When I heard about the 46 Mommas, I grew very excited. What a fantastic way to show people exactly what childhood cancer looks like, who it affects, and why we need a change. Survival rates have been stagnant for too long. Long term, late effects and secondary cancers are far too heavy a burden for these children to be shouldered with; many before they can even walk or talk! More must be done! I have joined with the 46 Mommas for 2011 in order to bring more awareness about childhood cancer, so that more funds will be raised and better treatments and cures can be found. Please, join me and all the other Mommas and help conquer kids’ cancer!
