It was almost ten years ago, just about two weeks before 9/11, that our son, Corey, was preliminarily diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, bone cancer in his right femur. He was 8 years old. Needless to say, Kristi and I, along with our family and dear friends, were devastated. What played out over a period of about three weeks was the scariest period of our lives. The real possibility that someone close to you, not to mention your child, had or might have cancer was almost more than we could bear. It was truly a surreal, almost out of body experience. The thought that our little guy, like many his age, so involved in sports and physical activities, might have to suffer the pain and process of fighting such a horrible battle was difficult, at best, to comprehend. I remember sitting one day during this trying period and thinking, “God, if this is what you have in store for him and us, we will fight the good fight but we cannot under any circumstances accept any possibility that we will loss him.” It was, by all accounts, the worst days of Kristi and my life. Fortunately for young Corey, he was not old enough to fully appreciate how potentially devastating this news was and like all parents, we shielded it from him until we knew all the facts. As it turned out, the Good Lord spared Corey from this terrible disease. He was definitively diagnosed with a completely different disease, Histiocytosis. Histiocytosis is autoimmune phenomenon, in which immune cells mistakenly attack the body, rather than fight infections. Extra immune cells may form tumors, which can affect various parts of the body including the bones, skull, and other areas. While this disease can be an extremely difficult one to battle (even fatal), in Corey’s case, he was fortunate in that he had only a single occurrence in a single organ (his right femur bone). Histio patients, especially babies, with multiple occurrences in multiple organs face long battles and even death. Once again, Corey had missed the bullet. He was one of the lucky ones. And the doctors made it a point to tell us this. Like we didn’t know it. He needed only to endure a single invasive surgery, and no chemo or radiation. He missed one season of soccer and wrestling while recovering on crutches. A small price to pay as we witnessed dozens of other young children down at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, who had not been as fortunate as Corey. We all felt a new lease on life. This experience changed all our lives forever. Ten years later, Corey is getting ready to head off to college this Fall, no worse the wear. Thank the Good Lord again, he never had a reoccurrence. Kristi and I have always felt blessed to have been spared what many others had to endure. As a result of this life changing experience, eradicating children’s cancer has always been near and dear to my heart. And Corey’s as well. So when the opportunity to raise some money to fight children’s cancer by shaving my already balding head presented itself, I jumped on board! So this coming Sunday, March 6th, 2011, at O’Loughlin’s Restaurant in Arnold, MD between 2:30 and 4:00, I will be shaving my head to raise money for children’s cancer. These funds benefit the St. Baldrick's Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers. If you can come out and support the cause next Sunday, I can use all the support I can get. Either way, I am asking you for a personal favor to take 5 minutes, right this minute, Click "Make a donation", and donate $10, $20, $100, or whatever you are comfortable with. Your contributions are fully tax deductible and go towards a great cause. Please make this happen so that others who were less fortunate than Corey and us have a fighting chance to avoid a scenario that is utterly unacceptable, the loss of a child’s life to cancer! From 4-7pm, following the shavings, a fantastic Annapolis band, The Rovers, will be performing at O’Loughlins. If you have never seen this Celtic rock band perform before, you’ll be happy you had the chance to see them. Thanks for your time and consideration!!! Mark D. Johnson 410-703-4284

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