July of 2015 our family experienced a plot twist when our youngest son was diagnosed with medulloblastoma. Medulloblastoma is the most common type of malignant pediatric brain tumor, which results in approximately 400-500 cases a year.
As Jonah's best chance, his treatment plan involved 6 rounds of high dose chemotherapy, which affectionally gets called the "kitchen sink" followed by radiation. That's his best chance.
Today, Jonah is out of treatment and managing through the long term effects of treatment - a walker, hearing aides, learning difficulties. We are so very grateful to be on this side of treatment dealing with these side effects as opposed to the alternative, but the cost of surviving treatment is high.
Kids' cancers are different from adult cancers. It's true. And childhood cancer research is extremely underfunded. It's not as glamorous, easy or profitable as any adult cancer research. As it stands, only 4% of US federal funding is solely dedicated to pediatric research.By sharing the gifts of your time, talent and money with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, you're supporting research to give all of the 300,000 kids diagnosed with with cancer a year a better chance for a cure.Feel free to follow along on Jonah's progress at http://thegoodalllife.com